With training camp set to begin for the Panthers tomorrow night at Gibbs Stadium, questions swirled about the health of multiple players, from two projected starters on the offensive line to a young tight end to the franchise quarterback – and those questions have been answered, at least for now, as Cam Newton, Matt Paradis, Daryl Williams and Ian Thomas will all begin training camp on the active roster.
Marty Hurney announced Wednesday that wide receiver Torrey Smith, who had knee surgery during the 2018 season, second-year linebacker Jermaine Carter, Jr., who injured his right knee during the spring and did not participate in minicamp, and linebacker Brandon Chubb will all begin camp on the Active PUP list, which means that they can be brought off that list at any time but are not eligible to practice until activated.
Hurney says that both Carter and Smith are both “doing great, but not quite 100%” and Chubb had a procedure earlier this month that will keep him off the field.
Center Matt Paradis, who suffered a fractured fibula during last season and was signed to a three-year deal this offseason, “did great in his conditioning test and is going to go,” according to Hurney and Daryl Williams, who was also inked to a one-year deal after suffering a season-ending injury in 2018, has “made great strides.”
However, those who thought it was a foregone conclusion that Daryl Williams would slot in at left guard and Greg Little would occupy the left tackle position from Week 1 may have spoken too soon – a lot can happen during training camp.
“If you know Coach Matsko….it’s all about position flexibility,” said Hurney. “Daryl worked a lot at left tackle in minicamp and OTAs and I think he’ll work at left guard and has worked at left guard. Guys switch, you’ve got to have position flexibility among your offensive line. He’s going to get work at left tackle and guard as well and we’ll see how it goes.”
C Matt Paradis
Hurney and Ron Rivera laid out the plan for perhaps the most important Panthers player as Rivera said that the team and training staff would continue according to plan to keep Cam Newton on track to be completely healthy once the season began on September 9th – and that means utilizing a ‘pitch count’ and limiting the quarterback’s reps throughout camp….but Rivera said he believed that Newton would be “ready to roll” tomorrow night.
“It’s going to be structured around our installation. So based on the things that we have as far as going in with our install will dictate what he does,” Rivera said. “All of his reps will be monitored, they’ll be scripted out, and we’ll just follow that pattern as we go through it.”
“There will be a [pitch] count, obviously.”
As camp begins, the Panthers made some roster moves to round out their roster where they needed depth. The Panthers waived guard Ian Silberman (non-football illness) and defensive tackle Elijah Qualls (non-football injury), as well as running back Elijah Hood, who spent last season on injured reserve and was dropped off at training camp Wednesday morning by his fiancée and baby daughter.
“I’ve watched Elijah since he was in seventh grade, but it came down to a numbers thing,” said a chagrined Hurney. “We needed to add a receiver.”
“He’s a very good running back and our kind of guy – that was hard.”
The Panthers added former Jaguars wide receiver and kick returner Jaydon Mickens, who is expected to compete immediately for the open returner job, as well as guard Norman Price and defensive lineman Bijhon Jackson.
