As the Panthers prepare to play their final preseason game tonight at Bank of America Stadium, there are two key roster spots that are still in question: backup running back and nickel cornerback. While the rest of the roster appears to be fairly stable, there is still a place on the bench next to fifth-round pick Jordan Scarlett, whose spot appears to be assured, backing up Christian McCaffrey – that spot will go to either Reggie Bonnafon, Elijah Holyfield or Cameron Artis-Payne – how one of them plays on Thursday night might be the final key to unlocking a seat at the table.
The other hotly contested battle has been at nickel cornerback this summer, with both Corn Elder and Javien Elliott receiving time with the first team and Kevon Seymour, who recently returned from a hamstring injury that kept him out for almost three weeks of camp, throwing a wrench into what appeared to be a two-way battle for one roster spot. The Riot Report caught up with Elder after practice this week to talk about how he’s feeling heading into a big game tonight and what it’s like to be competing with your friends and teammates on a daily basis.
How important is it for you to show out this week against Pittsburgh as you battle for a spot?
Yeah, I mean always, when you go out there on the field, you want to do your best – so it’s important to go out there, show what I can do and try to make plays.
Is it hard balancing between competing with other guys and being a good teammate?
No, it’s not really hard – at the end of the day, we’re all out here trying to do the same thing – have fun and make plays. We’re competing, but it’s all love – we know how everything works and if you try to make it into something that it’s not, it’s going to mess with your head. Just being there for each other and supporting each other is what’s important.
How has the versatility between inside and outside corner helped you and how have they moved you around this summer?
It’s always good to show that you can play both – I feel like I’ve been making a lot of plays at both and we’re just out there having fun, really.
You were hurt your rookie year, so last year was truly your first year. Do you feel like it’s slowing down this year for you?
Definitely. I feel a lot better, I feel healthy, I feel comfortable with everything, I feel full-speed. I pretty much know the defense, so I definitely feel good. Last year, I couldn’t really train in the offseason, I didn’t get to backpedal until the week before OTAs – that was my first time backpedaling and running. So last year, it was kind of tough – throughout the whole season, my knee was kind of bothering me and I had to do a lot to warm it up, but this year I feel fine. Now I can just get out there and move around freely.
I feel healthy, I feel fast – I feel very comfortable, whether it’s inside or outside, whatever – I played a lot on the outside this preseason, I feel good in practice, I’ve been making a lot of plays, so I’m just ready for whatever happens.
Feels like a lot of people don’t realize how important the offseason can be.
Yeah, definitely. Last year, I was just rehabbing my knee, I wasn’t able to run, wasn’t able to work on my technique or anything and once training camp hit, I was in it. So I definitely feel a difference this year.
You switched numbers from 35 to 29 this year – what was behind that number switch?
I wore [29] in college, and this was the number that I wanted when I got here – but Mike Adams had it, so it’s just getting back to the old me.
Are you sick of going up against DJ & Curtis in practice?
Yeah, man! Those guys, they can run – but they make you better everyday. Curt has been unbelievable; from our rookie year to now, he’s gotten so much better. Coming out of college, he was more of a running back, so he’s really smoothing out his routes – he’s been playing phenomenal. As a running back in [Ohio State’s] scheme, they don’t really run a lot of routes – so coming out of college, he was just catching it and he can go. But now he’s really using his speed to his advantage, he learned how to control his speed and run his routes – the thing is, he does everything full-speed. He can come out of his breaks quick, so you can definitely see the difference.
