Here were some other storylines I noticed from Fan Fest:
- While Dillon Gordon and Destiny Vaeao worked on the sidelines with trainers, cornerback Kevon Seymour – who had been impressing coaches this summer – was in street clothes after leaving practice yesterday with an upper leg injury. I wouldn’t expect to see him next week, either – but after his start to camp, hopefully he’ll be able to come back; he missed all of the 2018 season with double shoulder surgery. Trai Turner and Gerald McCoy were given the night off – likely vet days.
- Luke Kuechly, after leaving practice early Wednesday and sitting out practice yesterday, was back in pads but after participating in warmups and some individual drills, Kuechly did not see the field during team drills. Rivera said after practice that the team would continue to be cautious with Kuechly, which is absolutely the right move. No reason to exacerbate a minor injury – whatever it is – by bringing Kuechly back too early during training camp.
- Rashaan Gaulden also was in street clothes at practice after having a back issue that kept him from practice yesterday. In Gaulden’s absence, Cole Luke got the first team reps at the nickelback position. With the Tre Boston signing and assumed taking of the starting free safety position, it would make sense to expect Gaulden to get first shot at the ‘big nickel’ position once he returns from injury. While Boston played with the twos – assuring us again after practice that it wouldn’t be for long, Ross Cockrell took the majority of the free safety reps with the first team. It’s clear they like Cockrell’s versatility as he can play on the outside and might have added value as the backup free safety.
- We’ve gone too long in these dispatches without talking about Curtis Samuel, who blew by James Bradberry for a long touchdown on the first team drills, causing he and Cam to do a ‘shaky knees’ celebration. Cam later dragged Samuel into the spotlight to dance for the crowd to Bad And Boujee – Samuel resisted at first before eventually breaking it down to perhaps the loudest cheers of the night since he had caught the long score.
You love to see it! pic.twitter.com/FkKWcLuxhM
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) August 2, 2019
Give him a beat DJ pic.twitter.com/UaMtL5oNAF
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) August 3, 2019
- While Samuel has been the loudest – at least from a performance perspective – offensive player in camp, DJ Moore continues to have a quietly solid camp, catching a touchdown strike over the middle from Cam Newton during red zone drills and bowing to the crowd. Moore has looked fast and decisive as he continues to grow. The combination of Samuel and Moore looks as good as advertised – something that you couldn’t say after a week of camp last season.
- With Trai Turner out, sixth-round pick Dennis Daley got the nod at right guard with the first team. Daley has been taking reps all over the line, but this would be a big role for the former South Carolina tackle if he were a top backup to Turner, who has missed three games each of the last two seasons.
- Tre Boston was wearing his traditional 33 with Elijah Holyfield – a rookie – transitioning to 21.
- In my favorite sequence of the night, the Panthers ran short-yardage drills from about the 35-yard line, lining up for third (or fourth) and one. After a handoff up the gut to Alex Armah was stuffed, Cam Newton took a play-action bootleg and was met at the top of the rollout by a charging Bruce Irvin, who had the QB dead to rights and did not for an instant fall for the play action fake. After the play was over, Irvin wasn’t shy about letting Newton know about it. The offense huddled up and Cam took the next play, a naked bootleg to the left instead of the right – away from Irvin – and ran untouched 35 yards for a touchdown before sliding joyously into the end zone.
- Daily Brian Burns update: He may have added a bullrush to his repertoire – I saw him bullrush Greg Little into Kyle Allen on one team drill rep. We know he has the speed, it will be interesting to see if the strength is there come the regular season.
- The Panthers had some fun tricks up their sleeves for the fans, unfurling a large flag that took over three sections and was passed around the lower bowl of the stadium – it will be interesting to see if that is a tradition that sticks once the regular season begins.
- He doesn’t get mentioned a lot here, but Michael Palardy was excellent tonight – at one point he had three consecutive punts downed inside the five-yard line, including one that bounced directly out of bounds at the one.
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.
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