Mario Addison has been learning a lot this offseason – as the Panthers have transitioned from a primarily 4-3 to a primarily 3-4 defense, Addison has been asked to stand up more often and occasionally drop back into coverage, something he hasn’t done a whole lot as a pro. While he’s been improving, he still has a ways to go to perfect the ‘Hollywood’, a moniker Everette Brown gave the defensive end/outside linebacker position in the 3-4 – because the quarterback doesn’t know whether you’re rushing or dropping, there’s some presnap acting involved.

But he, along with other rushers that haven’t dropped into coverage, are getting better every practice – although some of them still have a ways to go, which is why Ron Rivera said they may limit the dropbacks for players who previously have rushed the passer for a living.

“Want to limit those opportunities,” said Rivera. “When they first start doing it they kind of look like an awkward giraffe. But as they get used to it, you see the cat-like quickness and you start comparing these guys to cheetahs.”

The defense looked good today as they dominated the offense for most of the first padded practice’s team drills – not a huge surprise as Cam Newton, after throwing for the entirety of practice the past two sessions, took a planned ‘rest day’. Although it wasn’t as restful as days off in the past have been – Newton still threw passes that traveled at least 30 yards on a side field while working with head trainer Ryan Vermillion.

The starting defense should win against a rookie Will Grier taking his first reps with the starters.

He also, in typical Cam fashion, spent a lot of his downtime interacting with the largest crowd of 2019 training camp – and they interacted with the team as well, with multiple Keep Pounding chants and even a Sweet Caroline singalong at one point.

Here are some other storylines I noticed at today’s practice session:

  • It was the hottest day of the summer thus far, and it showed. Multiple players were carted off for (presumably) heat-related issues: Kyle Love, Dillon Gordon, Sione Teuhema, and Bijhon Jackson. Near the end of practice the heat seemed to affect rookie Brian Burns as well as he knelt on the ground drinking Gatorade while Luke Kuechly poured water over his head.
  • Lots of vet days today: Matt Paradis, Mario Addison, Daryl Williams, Bruce Irvin and Greg Olsen all had the day off, but Torrey Smith and Jermaine Carter, Jr – both of whom started camp on the Active PUP list – were activated and participating in practice today.
  • The first padded practice always leads to some fun, but today’s session didn’t seem to have the juice that past practices have – Rivera said after practice that some of the new and young players need to get used to the tempo that the Panthers like to run their practices at and that showed, Norv Turner even said something to the team in between periods.
  • Not surprisingly, Donte Jackson was very talkative during individual drills as the cornerback encouraged the rest of the secondary every time they would hit the sled. He also had a few pass breakups during team drills – but Will Grier placed a beautiful deep ball to Curtis Samuel during one-on-ones that Samuel was able to haul in over the brash cornerback. Samuel has been the star of the first few days of camp, every time he touches the ball, it seems like something exciting happens.
  • During pass protection drills, running back Jordan Scarlett was bowled over as he tried to pick up Luke Kuechly – seems like that may have been his ‘Welcome to the NFL’ moment. Elijah Holyfield followed that with a great rep, but he may have drawn a flag as Jermaine Carter’s helmet popped off.

  • Individual wide receiver drills were thrown by Grier and Kyle Allen for the most part – Grier has such a pretty deep ball with great touch; they always seem to drop softly over the receiver’s shoulders and into their hands – that happened with Deandrew White, Samuel and Chris Hogan on more than one occasion.
  • Kevon Seymour had a great rep against DJ Moore where Moore fell down trying to make a cut with Seymour all over him and Seymour, who seems to have one of the backup outside corner spots sewn up, grabbed a pick-six – not something you see often during WR 1-on-1s. However, on their next matchup, Moore stuck his foot in the ground and left Seymour behind on an inside slant.
  • Speaking of the secondary, while Corn Elder continues to get the first team nickel reps, the second team appears to look like this: Seymour and Cockrell on the outside and Cole Luke at nickel with Colin Jones and Damian Parms at safety. Later team drills saw Cockrell take some snaps at free safety in lieu of Gaulden – that will be an interesting development if it continues.
  • Brian Burns continues to impress – with Addison and Irvin both out today, Burns and Marquis Haynes got the ‘start’ – the rookie seems to be in the backfield on every play and certainly turned Panthers nation into the personification of the Larry David gif as he blew past Greg Little during 1-on-1s. Better to be excited about Burns’ move or worried that Little made the mistake? Those drills are tilted towards the defender and rushing to judgement after one rep – but the more highlights Burns produces, the faster the hype train will roll down the tracks.

Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
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.