As training camp winds down here in Spartanburg, the Carolina Panthers’ defense is still attempting to build to their highest potential; the old football cliché is “defense wins championships,” and Defensive Coordinator Eric Washington reflected on the Panthers 28-23 victory against the Bills on Saturday night – he’s proud of the efforts made by the defense, but there is still work to be done.
“Well, I saw a lot of things. I saw a group that was really fighting their tails off,” Washington said. “Good speed. Good energy. Obviously, the eight play drive for a score, we want to cut that out… A lot of things to build on and that’s why we are here in training camp.”
The Panthers’ defense allowed the Bills to score 23 points in the first exhibition game and score easily on their first drive – the Buffalo quarterback group of Nathan Peterman, Josh Allen and AJ McCarron collectively completed 25 of their 39 pass attempts for 338 yards. That’s not going to be good enough in the regular season.
Despite the defensive lapses, Washington said he is proud of defensive efforts.
Woes in the Secondary
The Panthers were without many of their players in the secondary for Saturday’s practice, as only Lorenzo Doss, Captain Munnerlyn and Donte Jackson were available. Regardless of the depleted secondary, Washington is adamant that they will be prepared come Week One when the Panthers host the Dallas Cowboys on September 9th.
“We’re coming,” Washington said. “We are doing some good things. We want to keep finding the right rotation. We want to keep making sure we are productive as we can be. We’re working a different combination of guys. Obviously, Donte Jackson and Rashaan Gaulden is going to be huge for us.”
There is a good chance that both rookies, Jackson and Gaulden could start against the Cowboys. Washington said he is fine with that.
“We drafted those guys for a reason. and they both have an exceptional skill set. They do a lot of great things that you like,” Washington said, adding that both Jackson and Gaulden are learning the system and how fast the game can be in the NFL.
“We drafted those guys to help us,” Washington said. “Whether they’re starters or whether their in the rotation, we will just let it play out.”
As Washington continues to implement his philosophies into this defense, he makes it very clear that he wants to continue to build on what former defensive coordinator Steve Wilks did with this team. Washington said his focus is making sure they continue to make progress.
“The things we are emphasizing are the things that inherently is our system,” Washington said. “We want to be an aggressive, attacking defense. We want to create negative plays. We want to be able to pressure with out front four and compliment that with our blitz.”
Shaq Thompson continues to thrive
One player who continues to make an impact on the defense is Shaq Thompson, who has four turnovers forced in the past week, including a diving interception on Thursday night in Buffalo – Washington praised Thompson and his defensive efforts, but hinted that we may not have seen everything the linebacker entering his fourth year has to offer.
Not yet.
“Shaq is a phenomenal athlete,” Washington said. “Where he is right now, we really like his ability to impact our defense. He’s been making tremendous progress. I’m excited about him. We can still can play Shaq in a lot of difference positions. We got some packages that we are going to utilize later that are going to feature Shaq. He’s doing a great job. He just needs to keep going.”
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