CHARLOTTE — That was one good practice.
That was one practice.
The difference between last year's joint workout with the Jets in Spartanburg and this year's at the Bank of America Stadium practice fields Thursday was stark.
Mainly, the Panthers brought a competent offensive product to the field, which wasn't necessarily the case last year.
The Jets were without defensive lineman Quinnen Williams (and disgruntled pass-rusher Hasson Reddick), but they were out there with the rest of a really good defense, and the Panthers moved the ball, hit some shots downfield, and didn't turn it over.
On the other side, working against an Aaron Rodgers-led offense, they created five turnovers (not all against Rodgers, though there was a forced fumble and four interceptions on the day).
But after last year's session against the Jets, when the offense couldn't move at all, and there were fewer flashes on defense, you'll definitely take it. They don't make banners for preseason scrimmage wins, but it was something positive to build on.
And the building is the important part. When you look at the whole of training camp, it's obvious this is a work in progress, and the progress could take more than a year. But that practice was clearly a step forward, and now they need to stack positive results. And I don't mean the game. After that work against the Jets, whatever happens in the game Saturday night means way less. The Panthers looked solid against a good defense and picked off a Hall of Famer a few times.
Understand it was a positive step, but it was one positive step. It's been a minute, and it's OK to enjoy it as long as you keep it in perspective. The work continues, but take the wins where you get them.
On to the mail.
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Gotta say, Darin, I'm starting to get worried about our depth. Injuries over the past two weeks are thinning out our already thin secondary and testing our depth in the trenches. I still have some of the hope from the start of camp, but it's definitely taken some body blows.
I know that Bryce Young and the rest of the offense managed to make huge plays today, and that has helped me stay excited about the game this Saturday and the season overall, but I'm definitely more cautious about what to expect.
I know you've talked a lot about how we have the benefit of being at the top of the waiver wire until Week 4? (Correct me if I'm misremembering), but given our cap situation this year, how realistic is it to think we will manage to be competitive this year within the division? — Nate, Charlotte
It's fair to be worried about the depth for a good reason — they're not deep. Cornerback was a spot they had concerns about anyway, and being without Dane Jackson, for, as Dave Canales said, "six-weeks-ish" is problematic. (Also, I love Dave incorporating "ish" into injury updates; it's not definitive, leaves him some wiggle room, and is so much better than a coach saying someone's "day-to-day" for 42 straight days. Having lived through the John Fox era, that was a thing that happened.) So you might be looking for a temporary starter for a bit out of the committee that includes Chau Smith-Wade, Lamar Jackson, D'Shawn Jamison, and Dicaprio Bootle.
But it doesn't take a long look at the roster and the injury report to realize where they're shallow. They may have as few as seven available offensive linemen again, and that counts a guy they just claimed off waivers yesterday, which is obviously not ideal. (It's eight, now that they've signed veteran guard Ike Boettger.) But if you don't want to play your starting five, and Chandler Zavala, Cade Mays, Badara Traore, and Yosh Nijman aren't available because of injury, you've got to do what you've got to do. Poor Brady Christensen, an established starter in the past, is going to have to play more snaps in a preseason game than he would have otherwise.
Waivers are a wonderful thing and the one benefit of last year's finish. They are first in order through Week 4, so anybody in the league who is waived (players with four or fewer years), if they want him, they can have him. They've claimed two guys already, cutting one immediately when he didn't pass a physical, and I imagine they're going to do a lot of that in the next few weeks. There are some spots on the hypothetical 53 that you can just pencil in as FWHMY (Friend We Haven't Met Yet) because he's probably on someone else's roster right now.
The question of whether they can be competitive in the division is a tricky one. Is the NFC South kind of a trailer park? It is. Does someone get to be the president of the HOA? They do. It's not a good group, but Atlanta and Tampa are probably more stable in terms of personnel at the moment, especially after the Falcons added old heads Justin Simmons and Matthew Judon this week. But no one in this division is a playoff lock or anything, they all have their warts. But it's part of what makes this Jerry Springer episode of a division charming in its own way.
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Hey Darin, I'm sure I may not be the only one wondering this, but does coach Canales plan on having the offensive starters out on the field for a series or two during the preseason? I'm sure he's also taking into consideration any potential injuries given how we've already been hit injury-wise. But given the number of changes in both personnel and staff this past offseason, I'd want to see the offense mesh in-game. — Tom, Florence, KY
I hear you and might agree with you if I hadn't seen them mesh on Thursday. And also, if I hadn't seen 30 years of terrible preseason football.
Here's the biggest difference between a joint practice and a preseason game, and why coaches prefer one over the other — predictable and repeatable reps.
If you want to see your ones get 12 good snaps against a good defense in the red zone, you can schedule it and practice it. If you wait for that condition to happen organically in a game, it might never occur.
The work against the Jets was good. Better than anything you'd have seen on the field against the Patriots' backups last week. Some coaches like to put starters in uniform a time or two, so they're used to important things like pre-game stretching and halftime operations. The actual snaps in the preseason, against a mixed bag of opponent personnel you have no control over, are probably overrated.
For instance, they play the Bills next week. Quarterback Josh Allen has a whole new set of receivers this year. Does he need reps with them? Ostensibly. So he "played" last week and went 2-of-3 for 22 yards over two series. His first series was a three-and-out, and his longest pass was a dump-off to Curtis Samuel for 15 yards. Is he now magically prepared to play the regular season? If he is, it's not because of the eight snaps he played against the Bears.
Again, this team is not deep. Endangering a guy who you know you need in the regular season doesn't seem worth the risk.
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Every year around this time, in August, we start hearing a lot about depth. Injuries pop up all over the field, and depth at different positions becomes the major talking point.
The Panthers, among other deficiencies, haven't seemed to have quality depth in quite a while. There has seemed to be a lot of "cross your fingers and hope the O-line stays healthy." When it doesn't, injuries become the culprit for poor team performance. So, apart from finger-crossing and more appearances at the local Baptist church, what can a team really do to impact depth?
Everyone deals with the salary cap. Everyone is looking at the same people in rounds 3-7 of the draft. What makes an organization good at building depth vs not? Is it all just in the hands of a couple of talent evaluators? Does sustained winning attract better depth pieces in free agency? Is it about stars taking pay cuts so that we don't have to trade them away? Thanks for your insight! — Will, Cornelius, NC
The short answer to that question is "Yes, all of those things." Except maybe the church part. Don't pester God about your football team of preference. She has bigger things to worry about.
As for factors impacting depth, health is the big one. People were banging on their lack of depth last year when they played seven left guards and eight right guards, and (not coincidentally) Bryce was sacked 62 times. No one has the kind of depth at which your fifth- or sixth-string option is capable against an NFL opponent. So you can plan for a lot of stuff, and if you're unlucky, it doesn't matter.
But drafting well is the next big thing that helps. If someone gets hurt, and your fourth- or fifth-round pick can step in and get you through until the starter is back, then bully for you. So, if you want to watch particular dudes over the next two weeks, check out Smith-Wade and Zavala. If it turns out those guys get on the field and play OK, then they've taken a significant step. Third-rounder Trevin Wallace looks like a guy who gets it. I'm getting some very early Will Witherspoon vibes off of that young man. He's big, can run and hit, and doesn't look out of place around older dudes.
Guys like that are important. We talked about Marty Hurney's draft picks last week, and there were a lot of good first-rounders. But getting Geoff Hangartner in the fifth in 2005 was a coup because that dude started 57 games in seven years and could capably start at either guard or center (and also was smart and funny, had a magnificent beard, and they called him Piggy which is a great football nickname). Draft a bunch of cats like Geoff Hangartner, and your team is better in a lot of ways.
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Hi Darin! On today's Jordan & Jake podcast, Jake noted that on last season's practice against the Jets, both OL looked bad, and Adam Thielen was the best option on the passing game - and those three things proved to be true on the regular season. I guess all the fans have already seen some videos and opinions on social media about today's practice against those same Jets. But, as you noted on the Happy Half Hour, it's hard for us to know which of those clips/"takes" are closer to the reality of the team. After watching today's practice, do you have some areas that you're confident or worried about going into during the regular season? Thanks! — Fernando, São Paulo, Brazil
First off, you should listen to Jake. And Jordan. They are wise and also entertaining.
And thanks for listening to the Happy Half Hour as well.
Come to think of it, we've got a lot of cool new podcast content coming your way as well, with Stew and the Crew featuring Jonathan Stewart and friends as the latest addition. There's more on the way, too, as we've added personnel to make the magic happen for your aural pleasure.
Seriously, check out all that podcast content, in multiple languages — English, Spanish, and that which I speak. With the shameless plugs out of the way, here are a few things I can reasonably feel like I've learned this summer.
They ought to be better at two of the foundational elements of the game: running and stopping the run. The offensive line, since the starters are all well, is significantly bigger and stouter than it was last year. That should have the knock-on effect of improving the pass protection. (And I saw Ikem Ekwonu put a dude on the ground in pass pro one-on-ones yesterday, reminding me of 2022 Ickey).
The run defense is absolutely better. A'Shawn Robinson was responsible for one of the five turnovers when he punched the ball out near the goal line yesterday. He's a significant upgrade, and having multiple, reliable, actual inside linebackers (plural) is also a plus. We all loved Frankie Luvu, but for all the things he was great at, he wasn't a natural signal-caller in the middle. Or a natural inside linebacker whose duties include jamming up the run lanes. Having a healthy Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell beside him gives them two guys who can, and that helps the whole defense.
We'll see on the passing game in both directions. They threw it well Thursday without Diontae Johnson, but that's not sustainable in the long term. And they need to find some corner depth, fast, because I'm not sure the pass rush is going to be something they can rely on, with or without Jadeveon Clowney.
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Between work and everyone still wanting to come into town during the summer to see the baby (she's a little older than 1 now; how time flies for us FOTM), I sadly was not able to make it out to at least one training camp practice as I had planned. Therefore, I could not get an in-person look at the guys, although I did meet Johnny Hekker at a farmer's market a couple of months ago, and he was super kind and agreed the vibes are high.
That being said, based on your observations, do you think there will be any 53-man roster surprises coming? — John, Matthews, NC
Yes, there are surprises. Seeing Johnny Hekker at the farmer's market, however, is not one. Hekker is one with the Earth. He owns chickens. He is a responsible member of our community. Him being into sustainable local agriculture and healthy eating is the least surprising thing I've heard all day. The Panthers are better for having Johnny Hekker here, and so is Charlotte.
As mentioned, the big surprises will likely be the FWHMYs, who arrive a week after next. They're probably going to claim a good many guys off waivers in the coming weeks, and if you have that ability, you should exercise it.
There will be some guys released whose names we know based on familiarity, but if you want to be cold and pragmatic about it, having a bunch of familiar faces from a team that went 2-15 isn't ideal, either. You can't get rid of everybody, and there are some good players here, but this roster probably needs a good shake.
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Hey Darin, welcome back. (Oh wait, you didn't go anywhere except for work. Unlike you, however, I'm retired and didn't do anything that even approached work all summer.) Well, anyway, we're all back now and ready to watch some football! I'm watching the New England game, and I've been pleasantly surprised by several of our new guys. Others, not so much. I'm not going to name names yet. I'll do that in a couple of weeks. I'm trying to be more charitable and more positive this year. I hope you'll be able to recognize that in my letters to the Mailbag this year.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I'll end with this. I love to watch the duo of JJ Jansen and Hekker do their thing. They just come off as so polished and professional, and I could watch Hekker punt a hundred times a game. I'm praying he won't be called on to do anything like that, but his mastery of his craft is a sight to behold. Jansen is money with every snap. Glad it's Panthers game time again, and if I haven't told you yet - welcome back! — Jeff, Concord, NC
Happy to (have been) here, Jeff (who is one of the Good Jeffs, and I'm seriously worrying about Jeff From Fuquay-Varina. We need to find him, soon).
On a young and developing team, it's good to have things you don't have to worry about. And Hekker and Jansen provide just that.
Also, good stories and a sense of comedic timing that you only develop over the years. But these two are practically joined at the hip, and I'm contractually bound to mention one if the other ever comes up.
Yes, there's a ceiling for how often you want to see Johnny punt, but it's good to know you have somebody who's really good at it. I also am openly lobbying for him to throw a pass this year. He's connected with Nick Scott in the past, and I'd love to see it again.
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Long-time listener, first-time caller. Is there any way the Panthers can create some cap space easily? Restructure Taylor Moton, possibly? Not sure that the front office would want to mess with the cap at this point in the rebuild, but it sure would be nice to add a Stephon Gilmore/Patrick Peterson/Carl Lawson to this team. I'm naturally a pessimist, but I think this team can win even with running the ball and a good defense. Currently, they sit near the bottom in cap space with only ~$6 million. I'll hang up and hear your thoughts. — Derek, Cary, NC
I understand why fans can look at a cap space chart on the internet and panic (the internet was built for panicking and is really efficient at fomenting it), but the one thing they have to remember is that sometimes that's on purpose. The front office didn't restructure every available contract they could have this offseason. That allows flexibility for the future. Every time you restructure, it pushes money into future years. But sometimes, it's smarter not to do that, so you have more space later.
Trust me, if they needed money to sign the right veteran, they could create it with a stroke of a pen. It's not that hard, and Brandt Tilis is very smart. And if they don't sign a particular veteran, it might not be just because they don't have the money to do so.
This is a building project. Teams that are close to the Super Bowl often try to squeeze every nickel out of their cap space to sign one more veteran. And if you're one piece away, that has value. But the Panthers may not be one piece away right now, so you have to balance the needs and the wants. Does spending on the credit card for a luxury item right now make the most sense? Depends on which luxury item.
In football and life, it's wise to save for a rainy day and not take out a line of credit on the house or get a new credit card every time you're offered one so you can go on a cruise, buy a giant TV, or trade for a fancy new car every two years. It's not as much fun, but the people who demand instant gratification often lack substance. And isn't substance what we ought to be seeking?
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First time for me to ever do something like this. I do appreciate your insights, young man, and I hope you can do so once again. Players talk about the competition of beating the man across from them as part of the game, and yet sometimes it gets personal, and scrums or fights break out. Both head coaches of the Panthers and the Jets were very complimentary of each other, and it made me wonder: How competitive are coaches in comparison to other coaches on different teams? Does it ever become personal? I am not talking about actual blows, but they would do almost anything to beat the coach across the field. — Shawn, Mifflinburg, PA
Oh, god yes. Grudges are the fuel that sustains a thousand fires across the NFL, many of which burn hotter than the sun. A convention of NFL people like the combine is pettier than a middle school lunchroom.
I know many coaches, here and on other teams, who love nothing more than sticking it to another team because of a real or perceived slight from 10 or 20 years ago. Players are great at this (Remember the Steve Smith "blood and guts and goggles" game?), but so are scouts and GMs and coaches and staffers in every department. And reporters carry grudges, too. Take my word for it.
Dave Canales and Robert Saleh are old pals, and they were hugging it out before practice the other day, but not everybody is as close as these two.
(I also wondered while watching Canales and Saleh chat in the quiet moments before practice that if coaches and GMs from every NFL team were tag-team wrestlers, whether the Panthers would have the one-seed in that tournament in Canales and Dan Morgan. Saleh is jacked, and GM Joe Douglas doubtless has strength and a low center of gravity, but he's kind of the Ole Anderson to Saleh's Lex Luger. I don't think anybody wants Canales and Morgan in a cage match. San Francisco GM John Lynch would be a tough pin, but his partner is wrestling in a different weight class.)
Also, my mind wanders a lot, and to strange places, in the quiet moments before practice. And for leading me down that particular rabbit hole, I'm making Shawn this week's Friend Of The Mailbag and getting the appropriate honorarium on the way to him soon. (Also, Mifflinburg sounds made-up, but it's not. Dunderville, on the other hand, ...)
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Darin, I wanted to thank you for showing Marty Hurney so much love in your story about JP's induction into the HOF. I never understood the Hurney Hatred Brigade. He created an amazing team (see Dave Gettleman's praise for Marty after he took the GM job) and crafted SB teams. It doesn't surprise me that he was so low-key at the ceremony. I got the pleasure of coaching Pop Warner with him one season between his Panther GM gigs and found him to be humble, self-deprecating, and a dude with a great sense of humor. Quick Pop Warner story: he was high on one kid that had really good size and pretty good speed during evaluations and couldn't wait to let this kid run the rock. It turns out that when you got the kid in pads, he couldn't quite figure it out. So, myself and rest of the staff gave him a bunch of good-natured crap about this kid being his second Eric Shelton pick. I said, "Coach, you drafted this kid in the first round; at least you waited until the third to draft Shelton," and he immediately hit back with, "Nope, I drafted Shelton in the second round!"
Thanks again for defending Hurney. It's obvious he was loved and respected by many inside the Panthers' organization, and that's all he cared about. He had an uncanny knack for tuning out the noise from the outside. — Scott, Granbury, TX
It's not so much defending him as pointing out the accurate record. The facts speak for themselves.
Marty was good at a lot of things, but tuning out the noise wasn't always his best quality. He could be rabbit-eared at times, and his Irish heritage meant he was blessed with a long memory. Check the previous question about grudges. That guy, fortunately, has old man strength because he's still carrying around some from the 1980s. I respect that about him, honestly. He's consistent.
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G'day Darin. Thanks, as always, for the updates and this Q&A forum. I've just finished reading "The Best Game Ever" by Mark Bowden, and it got me thinking about whether there were any Panthers-related sports books you'd recommend. Anything like "Collision Low Crossers" but with more Carolina content? Or, failing that, anything about another team apart from the Patriots? Thanks very much. — Pete, Brisbane, Australia
Haven't seen much correspondence from Pete since the Australian punter Lachlan Edwards days of 2021, and it's good to hear what I imagine his voice sounds like.
The book I'd absolutely recommend is "The Carolina Panthers: The First Season of the Most Successful Expansion Team in NFL History" by Joe Menzer. What it lacks in a catchy title, it makes up for in depth and perspective when telling the story of the 1995 team. Otherwise, there's not a lot else on the market of substance that I can think of; perhaps that will change someday.
It's also not specific to one team, but the last football book I read was the sensational "The Forgotten First" by Bob Glauber. It details the story of four players who broke the NFL's color barrier in 1946 — Kenny Washington, Woody Strode, Marion Motley, and Bill Willis. It's immaculately researched and written; it's historically important, and if you buy it, you would help my dear friend Bob sustain his unproductive retirement. (Although, maybe if he'd write more, we'd all be happier. He's really good at it, both writing and being retired. I admire him.)
I don't read a ton of football books during football season, but I am currently and slowly making my way through "How to Watch Basketball Like a Genius" by Nick Greene. It's built on an interesting premise, asking experts from non-sports fields to explain sports concepts. It's both clever and smart, and those aren't the same thing.
Go buy all three of those books at your local independent bookstore (I prefer Park Road Books when I'm at home). Or check them out from a library. When it comes to books, I'm kind of a socialist, at least until I write one. Power to the people. Buy them from a large internet retailer if you must, but read them all, regardless.
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Not a football question this week, forgive me. I read your article about Jordan Matthews (as always, a master class in sports journalism), and I noticed the repeated use of the term "sandbagging.") I understand that it is a somewhat generic term, but its most notable use is in the game of Spades when a player repeatedly underbids his hand. So, the question of the week, in my opinion, has to be: are you a Spades aficionado? And more importantly, if so, how many times have you pulled off a blind nil? — Chris, Greensboro, NC
Not to sandbag, but I may have played a hand or two in my day. Mostly in college, for beer-and-gas money (and those two funds were never used at the same time). And while we called it blind low, the point stands. Turning something into nothing is a real skill, and it was kind of my move. Any goofball can accidentally win a set number of tricks. Losing them all takes work.
I haven't played in a while, though, but the wife is trying to teach me to play bridge. The gameplay is remarkably similar, though bidding is like learning a new language. Since I can play cards capably and make funny jokes, I'm good for the table, even if I annoy some of the more, shall we say, seasoned ladies at the Charlotte Bridge Center. One of them gave me a dirty look the other week when I saw a particular bid and replied: "Ahhh, the Amway Convention." And I almost got, perhaps accidentally, whacked with a cane when I described another play as "a Manhattan Transfer."
Bridge people can lack a sense of humor sometimes.
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Here's my all-time team: Offense: WR Smith, WR Muhammad, WR/RB McCaffrey, RB Stewart, TE Olsen, T Gross, G Wharton, C Kalil, G Norwell, T Moton, QB Newton.
Defense: CB Norman, S Minter, S Cota, CB Gamble, WLB T Davis, MLB Kuechly, SLB Lathon, DE Peppers, DT Brown, DT Jenkins, DE Greene.
Special teams: LS Jansen, P Baker, K Kasay, KR Bates, PR Byrd.
Thoughts? — Cliff, Cornelius, NC
My thought is I was not expecting an Ike Byrd reference today. Oh wait, you probably meant Damiere. Either way, a deep cut. I respect it. And that's an unconventional defensive alignment. It's hard not to find room for Eric Davis in there, but reasonable minds can disagree; that's why this is a fun exercise.
This came up in last week's Mailbag, and I'm happy to entertain submissions. We get enough of them, and I'll be backed into a corner to do mine.
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And on that note, let's go lightning round, brought to you by the patron saint of the lightning round Jeff from Fuquay-Varina, to close it out this week.
Is there any way next year the team could do a practice or event in Spartanburg, even if it is a one-day thing? — Chris, Inman, SC
There are no concrete plans right now, but this time last year, I didn't know training camp would be in Charlotte this year either (or that it would go so well). There are also not plans to not do that, is what I'm saying. We're still working on getting this week taken care of. What I know for sure is there's interest all across the Carolinas. It would be cool to have events in non-traditional spaces. The Falcons had their Back Together Saturday event at a high school and it was well-received.
How cool would it be to go to West Charlotte High, or District Three Stadium in Rock Hill, or Gibbs Stadium at Wofford again, or Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at South Carolina State in Orangeburg? I'm down for a road trip.
Why can't I find the preseason game on my television? — Katie, Charlotte
Got a lot of these last week. Apparently the channel guides on some of the streaming service gave inaccurate information. Here's the deal. Go to the channel in your area listed here. Click it, even if it says something else is on. Await entertainment.
Who was this year's training camp MVP? — Will, Rock Hill, SC
I'm going off the menu here. The real MVP may have been football operations intern Connor Armistead. He's got the face of an 11-year-old, but he works like a man with 10 kids. For the last year, he's run all the errands, done all the dirty work, made sure thankless jobs got done, and he did it all well, in a hurry, without complaint, and with a smile on his face. His internship is up today, and he's taking a lucrative job in the private sector en route to the White House (it seems inevitable). I'd vote for him right now, though he'd probably prefer to be chief of staff. There aren't enough Connors in the world. Wish there were more.
What do you think the Panthers season is going to be this year? — Kenneth, Philadelphia, PA
Long, that's what I think it will be. Eighteen weeks, including a bye, and a trip to Germany. And we have no idea how any of it will turn out, that's why we follow along. Life is about the journey, not the destination.
That's why it's important to not overreact to any one particular event, whether good or bad. Like that joint practice. Take the wins where you get them.
