Icege

Unable to find the streams for the press conference. Going to grab relevant tweets instead.

Catching up on the pressers for summaries Early notes Diontae Johnson out with an illness Canales hopes all of the starters will play some vs. Buffalo, including Bryce and Diontae Starters expected to play for more than one series

That's the part that's crazy to me. People are making clearly definitive statements and then dogging out other posters for not having the same perspective only to turn around and cry victim when they're told to keep pounding sand. Being critical is more than okay. I was incredibly hard on Chuba his first season because of all of the drops that he had and gave immediate praise during his second season when he showed improvement. At no time did I make the declaration that he'd never be able to play RB in the NFL because that just isn't something that can be known from that rookie season. I was even more critical of YGM up until last season when his effort and motor paid off some because he was on the field more often to use it to his advantage (Yetur made his impact by wearing down opposing OL and still having his foot on the gas late in the game). I didn't think that he needed to be resigned this offseason but didn't spend every day of the offseason jumping into threads and rolling my eyes at folks that thought he should stay. Clearly, the issue isn't being critical of a player. It's the derailing of threads and condescending attitude of a select few posters that have been an issue to the point of where a compliment sandwich thread was created to make it less insufferable. I miss when fans had this attitude tbh:

Seconding on uBlock origin. Might be able to download a pre-made blocklist that can help there. That's what I ended up doing to get around a lot of the paywalls that news sites use. Going through that gave me the outline for how to add my own blocks for local + regional sites.

Such bad luck for Tommy. Finally gets a chance to be ahead of Ian Thomas on the depth chart and can't get his hamstring right after the Panthers took a highly touted TE prospect in the draft.

Not at Panthers practice but somewhat Panthers related...

Interesting perspective from somebody that played against the Panthers twice last season. Cam Jordan is clearly a fan of letting QBs sit and develop. Shout outs to Taylor Moton for being one of the rare Panthers' dubs in the second round. Fingers crossed that Icky ascends this season and shows himself worthy of that bonus fifth-year on his rookie contract and the incoming free agent guards show worthy of their deals. Then of course there is Corbett kicking over to center. It'll be interesting whenever we get to see this starting OL's potential. That is... if we get to see it. We certainly were confident marching into last season with an OL that showed promise under Wilks only to never have the unit play a snap together during the regular season. Corbett was coming off of the ACL from the end of the previous season and Brady Christensen tore his bicep in week 1. Then the team cycled through guards until Corbett came back and tore his MCL in the same knee. We ended up with 9 different starting guards over the course of the season. This offensive line has already seen injury scares to the two free agent starters (DLew - shoulder, Hunt - shoulder, knee?) as well as primary backups (Mays - shoulder, Zavala - hamstring, Nijman - PUP). There are questions about Corbett anchoring the middle after the wear and tear on his knee. It's been said by some of the content creators that visited training camp that the starting OL has an NFL look and feel to it. If they (and Diontae Johnson) can stay healthy, the team is going to get the best evaluation of Bryce that they can before deciding next steps.

It's one thing to make declarations like, "I don't believe Bryce will ever be an NFL QB but would love to be proven wrong." Those folks will have their crow and celebrate with other fans should Bryce have a solid year, no issue. Then there's folks that were going out of their way in nearly every thread (as far back as January) to not just bash Bryce but also bash the fans that weren't convinced that he couldn't be successful in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised to see those folks get it as bad as they dished it out, and seeing how they've responded lately... ooh wee mayne. That'll get ugly before it gets better. I hope I'm wrong and end up eating crow tho...

"Bryce just can't play QB in the NFL... but I'd love to be wrong!" is not the hedged bet that they think it is.

Sounds like OL coach Joe GIlbert was at the podium today but the stream crapped out.

Ikem Ekwonu Wore a Providence Day School Chargers (Icky's HS) t-shirt for the upcoming Keep Pounding Classic vs. Weddington HS tomorrow @ BOA. Wanted to talk about how excited he is for it and thinks it can become a long standing tradition for the area. A lot of the stuff that Icky noticed while self scouting the OL coach Joe Gilbert had seen as well. Coach already had a tape made, went over with Icky what his expectations were, and for what Icky to focus on during the offseason. Stuff was clear when he took a step back and looked at everything in the season while in the moment he didn't catch it as fast as he should have. Was a lot easier to see those mistakes on the outside looking in. Having the guys they have on the iOL encapsulate how physical they want to play. Lots of knowledge being brought to the OL that has led to a big improvement. Austin has been great at center in case the press is wondering. He can play anywhere, has the IQ and skillset to do so. He could play tackle if they asked, had experience at Nevada doing so. Footwork, hitting landmarks on run, and the flow is starting to show a lot more as they get reps. All three of the iOL guys are mean, tough, and nasty. They all have the same traits, just depends on the situation he guesses. He's all three too. Wants to throw dominant in there because the OL is going to want to run the ball and enforce their will. Only thing they really talked about last year was fixing your mistakes. Last year sucked but you gotta move forward. They've been acknowledging shortcomings and getting better day-in-day-out. Couple of the new guys that came in last week and played a whole game on short notice was impressive to see. Spoke to the type of guys and players that they are to step in and ball out while also speaking to the type of coaches that they have who got them ready. Wouldn't mind going against somebody else that doesn't know their offense well because the Panthers' defense cheats sometimes with their knowledge. Would like to go up a good DL like what Buffalo has. Won't say whether people are sleeping on the OL group. At the end of the day they know who they are and are working every day to achieve their goals for themselves. Advice for guys trying to make the OL roster: go out and play free. Whoever is front of him that day is gonna get it, and that's the mindset they need. Go in relaxed, without nerves, and ready to play. Fastest OL are Icky + Brady. Some say they're better on the field but Icky says the tape is the tape. Strongest is tough because of all of the lifts they do. Lower body might be Corbett. He saw a video of Corbett cleaning & jerking 315. Upper body Icky had to give it to himself, DLew is up there for sure and he's seen him put good weight on the bar. Wasn't going to say he put up himself, but he puts up enough. Doesn't base speed off of the 10yd split because he thought his wasn't that good and they're going to be racing 30 - 40yds, not just 10. Had a few plays where he was downfield in full pads. Enjoying himself and getting to know the guys. Energy around the building is that they're excited to go out, play their brand of football, and have fun doing it. Asked which OL is the best at catching TD passes. Icky says it's him and that he has the best hands on the team. One of the guys called him out and he quickly corrected to say the best hands for the OL group. Excited to be an honourary captain for the 2nd year in a row. Doesn't know if he'll call the coinflip even though he's consistent, but he might whisper it into the ear of whoever is calling it. Big part of Bryce's game is his ability to run around and find space. He's really good at it and that means as an OL he might have to block a little longer but he doesn't mind when he hits a deep ball for 40yds (LET THE DEBATE REIGNITE!). Has to keep it in his head to stick to his guy and give Bryce time. Asked about a play to JT Sanders, wasn't able to see because he was busy locking his guy up. Asked who in the OL group has the best arm. Good question, might be Robert Hunt. Icky likes to work on the JUGS machines. That's it. No 3rd person today. Sounds like a lighter practice tomorrow before they take the day off on Friday and kickoff @ 1pm on Saturday!