One of the most divisive players on the 2017 Carolina Panthers is left tackle Matt Kalil, the protector of Cam Newton’s blind side and he of the five-year, $55 million offseason contract. While it can be easy to assess Kalil’s struggles as the reason for the Panthers offensive issues at times, the “curse of the left tackle” is that the mistakes are magnified just as good play is ignored. While Kalil struggled to adjust to Cam Newton and the Panthers offense at the beginning of the season, he had a long stretch of excellent play before making some mistakes and having some issues against Cam Jordan and the New Orleans Saints pass rush.
Kalil now faces off against his former team in the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, and he was the talk of the locker room this week. First, hear what offensive coordinator Mike Shula had to say when asked about Kalil:
Shula: I think that he’s like a lot of guys. First of all, he’s very talented; I think he strives for the consistency- a couple things, the consistency and the technique, which is what a lot of guys do, especially at that position. I mean, you get some elite rushers over there. And then, just kind of getting, there’s always little things as you go with different teams, that need- he might have been used to doing it a different way, you know? And that didn’t come up the week before because it was a different style.
The other thing is, we probably relied on him maybe more so than some of the other guys the last couple of years in regards to one-on-one blocks as opposed to sliding guys to him or having a back or a tight end to help chip. And again, there’s been a lot of times where you don’t ever notice that rusher, but that’s the nature of his position. No one asks about it, but that’s good news. Unfortunately, there’s the ones that show up, whether or not it’s a penalty or maybe a bad technique or the guy gets a good rush and then it’s, “Oh man, how’s he playing?”
But that position’s a little bit like the quarterback position where you can make a lot of good decisions and have one or two bad decisions or plays, in this matter, and unfortunately, it gets highlighted. Again, I’m thrilled that we have him and I feel like we’re lucky to have him.
How would you compare how stable you guys are at left tackle to the last three or four years?
Shula: I think that’s, and again, he’s got to continue to get better, but it has allowed- you’re not sitting there every week, saying “Oh man, we have to by scheme continue to constantly give our left tackle help.” I’m not saying we had to do that all the time last year, but we feel like we’ve got a good matchup for most weeks going in there with him which allows us to do other things with Christian or Cam or Greg when he’s healthy.
Ron Rivera on how it will be for Kalil playing against his former team this week: I think it will be very emotional for him. You know, from my experience as a coach, I never had it as a player, but as a coach, it’s always kind of fun to be able to play against the head coaches you’ve worked for.
Has [Kalil] been what you’d thought he would be?
Rivera: I think he’s a guys that fights, claws, scratches, does everything he can. I think he’s learning, developing into our system; I don’t think it’s an easy transition, from a pure dropback standpoint to some of the zone-read stuff we do, the play-action packages that we run, based on what he’d done in the past. But I think he gives a great effort; I’ll tell you this much, you guys didn’t know this, but he was sick [Sunday against the Saints]; came in just before the game and got some medicine, had an IV before he played. He gutted it out and played every snap.
How would you assess his run blocking vs. his pass blocking?
Rivera: Oh, I think he’s done a terrific job of run blocking. You watch him, he’s athletic, he gets outside and pulls very nicely, blocks well in space; he had a couple of really nice down-blocks, a couple of buddy blocks up to the next level that were really good. Pass protecting: I think he’s done some really good things, I think some of the things that he struggles with are the pure athletic speed guys that convert to power, I think that’s one of the things that he continues to work on and he gets better and better at; as I said, a lot of it has to do with the way we drop as opposed to what he’s used to and what he’s developed initially in his career.
Kalil himself on his technique since he came to Carolina and adjusting to playing with Cam Newton: My technique’s been the the same, obviously [running game coordinator John] Matsko’s made it a lot better; Cam’s been great in the pocket and he’s done some great stuff so he gets us out of a lot of bad situations when we make mistakes. That’s the great thing about him, he’s been great all year, getting better and better each week.
One of the things Coach Shula said was that when you don’t give up a sack, nobody notices you, but then a mistake happens, it’s kind of like the quarterback position in that sense, is that something you’ve had to deal with over the years? Is it easier to deal with now?
Kalil: No, I would say I just deal with-if I make a bad play, everyone’s on me, but if I play well, no one says anything, so that’s the kind of stuff I’ve got to deal with, but it doesn’t really get to me; just going out there and just playing my game and getting after it. Sometimes you get beat, sometimes you don’t and you want to win more often than you lose.
That’s kind of the curse of the offensive lineman.
Kalil: Yeah, usually you don’t want your name to get called.
Will your familiarity with [the Vikings] and particularly Everson [Griffen] be to your advantage potentially?
Kalil: Yeah, you know I played against them a lot, but a lot of those practices, too, I wasn’t 100%. I was injured, so it’ll be a little different from my point of view and the things I can do, so I’ll definitely get after it and I’ll probably be a different guy than they’re used to the last few years.
How so?
Kalil: Because like I said, I was playing injured for the past few years, so it’s a little different when you’re not 100% so I’ve been getting stronger and better each week and my confidence is getting higher and higher so I’m just ready to get after it.
A lot of guys will say that they think they’re getting through an injury, and then you go back and you watch yourself on film and you’re like “What was happening? I must have been still hurt.” Did you have an experience like that?
Kalil: No, I definitely felt hurt, so it didn’t have anything to with that. Sometimes you’ve just got to play through it and that’s what I did and then got it fixed and now I’m full better.
You mentioned Matsko and then how you’re a different type player, do those have to do with each other?
Kalil: Well, obviously, with Matsko out there, I’m constantly training, working on my pass pro, working on different things and obviously being healthy. I think those two contribute a lot to that and obviously, from a confidence standpoint as well.
What points are taking pridefully in terms of consistency?
Well, it’s just about working your technique every day; being confident in what you do and your ability, so I think from a technique standpoint and from a confidence standpoint, they go a long way.
Three of the next four at home, how is it an advantage getting back in front of the home crowd?
Kalil: It’s always good to stay home and play home. Obviously, when you get a team that can rush the passer, you want to be able to have a count and get off on that. Sometimes, the silent count can get a little challenging, but it’s good to have home-field advantage and you always want to protect your house and win at home.
Mike Tolbert said [before the Buffalo game] that snitches get stitches in terms of talking about your former team, what do you know about Minnesota?
Kalil: Well, I was out all of last year, they’ve probably changed most things. I haven’t been there in almost two years, so I probably wouldn’t be too much help in that aspect.
