friday practice observations

[rayzor]

[edit: evening practice notes here.]

i went to the first practice today and will be back at the 2nd this evening. if you were there and have some i'd like to see it. here's mine.

first thing....like has already been said, smith was practicing. he looked really good like usual. didn't notice any restriction of motion. he didn't take part in the contact drills but was active in all the rest of the passing drills.

second thing....no stewart. starting to worry just a tad. 3rd day in a row but word is he's resting his ankle/achilles. probably the best thing for him if it's sore. he knows what he's supposed to do. no sense in risking it.

i will say regarding stewart if he, or williams, for that matter miss any time mike goodson is in there a lot taking up the slack. they aren't going to be messing around with shuffling the load to one of them. they have a formula that works in splitting the carries between two RBs pretty evenly and it will shift to goodson. he as working with the 1s just as much as stewart does. he's not as powerful but he's got some awesome speed and moves and more power than you would expect with a nice push up the middle. i didn't see any stiff arm but i did see him run in goal line situations along with williams.

oh...RBs were catching a lot out of the backfield. a couple times lined up as WRs, especially goodson. both were targeted in goal line work as well.

when i first arrived the DBs were working on breaking up passes and the LBs were working on stripping the ball and then getting after it on the ground.

one thing to look for....17 to 82. jake has a favorite TE target. gary barnidge. i saw quite a few passes go to him. there were several times that they had him line up WR. one particular formation had moose and barnidge on the right with 82 on the inside and smith and jarrett on the left side...89 inside. barnidge was jake's target. on the end zone and red zone work i saw some 2 TE sets with rosario and barnidge and the ball went to barnidge. king was working out with the 2nd and third team. he's still solid, he's just been passed by someone that jake like to throw to and can do something after the catch other than fall down.

defense is working hard on causing turnovers. every play they have to be trying to get that ball away. as a result the offense is doing a better job with protecting it. they have it wrapped up well all the time. if a weak attempt is made to take away the ball you hear it from the rest of the defense on the sideline. their swarming to the ball is no joke either. one guy may be working on getting that ball loose or getting the INT but the rest of the defense is crowding around the ball carrier so if he gets loose he gets gang tackled. pass D is quick and relentless.i didn't see anyone take it easy. if someone did you heard about across the field from the D coaches. those guys are harsh.

saw some good catches. smith made a nice jump. jason carter made a really nice diving catch in the end zone. jarret made a really good one handed catch right in front of me. there were some good INTs as well. Gamble and CJ wilson had some pretty ones. captain munnerlyn and richard marshall are very similar. they don't give their man any room. marshall did get burned once by jason chery, but he corrected himself and made it back quick enough to break up the pass.

moose made a nice cut back when gamble was covering him and then had gamble on his heels the whole time after the catch but made it into the endzone. one of them was screaming like a girl but i couldn't tell who but it had everyone laughing including them when the play was done. gamble said when they were walking back that he was hoping that moose wasn't going to keep running.

ryne robinson ran some good routes and made a couple nice grabs. marcus monk is tall but not very good (in case you are wondering). kenny moore and jason carter can make some really good catches. they have talent.

oh, and rhys lloyd was doing field goals today. that dude has a leg on him. if there are any FG attempts from 50+ yards that guy is all over it.

one of the things i saw rip working with the QBs on was making them throw over defenders with their hands up. he had one of those blocking shields and was running up to the QB and raised it high forcing the throw over it. good thing to do after favorite blocked one of moore's throws.

thats about it. i'll be back tonight for more.

[Fireball77]

GREAT STUFF RAYZOR!

+rep!

Thanks!

Love that stuff with Barnidge in the slot, RBs catching & the D making plays.

Also the thing with Rip making them throw over the shields. At one point in the season Jake had a bad streak of batted passes which I do think was due to his getting used to being able to deliver the ball differently, but still something to be worked on.

[OneBadassCat]

The redzone is going to be sick this year with Barnidge and Jarrett.

[Peppers90 NC]

that's a great write up, thanks. I hope this transitions into the games.

[monstercat]

Thanks Razor. It really sounds like Barnidge is the real deal. I just hope it carries over into the regular season. I miss the days when Wesley Walls was money in the bank...hopefully, Barnidge can duplicate that production, or at least get as close to it as possible on a run first team.

[Kettle]

~78 hrs till kickoff.

[mountainpantherfan]

Great report Rayzor! Thanks so much.

One question, who is starting at DT? And how much has Brayton and Johnson been rotating into the DT position? I've not heard many reports on DT from camp.

[pstall]

not bad for a Byrnes guy

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Thanks for posting this. Great stuff.

I'm really excited to see how our passing game progresses next year with Jarrett, Barnidge, Goodson, and the inclusion of our current backs. We've got the potential to really confuse some defenses and make them pay. I just hope we use it.

[AKPantherFan]

thnx!

[rayzor]

Great report Rayzor! Thanks so much.

One question, who is starting at DT? And how much has Brayton and Johnson been rotating into the DT position? I've not heard many reports on DT from camp.

i didn't see one person n there consistently. someone else who was there may have picked up on it. i know lewis was back and looked good.

brayton seemed to have bit of a limp i noticed but it was more in between plays. he was doing a lot of running. i saw him working with the ones more than anyone except pep at DE.

i'll pay more attention to DT tonight.

[cookinwithgas]

Come on Jason! Show em what you got!

[firstdayfan]

Hey Rayzor can you keep a eye on the QB competition and let us know who you think has the upper hand. And also what about the DT rotation. Who's the first off the bench. I read an article the other day that when lewis was resting that Favorite took his spot instead of Irvin, made me wonder about Irvin.

[mountainpantherfan]

i didn't see one person n there consistently. someone else who was there may have picked up on it. i know lewis was back and looked good.

brayton seemed to have bit of a limp i noticed but it was more in between plays. he was doing a lot of running. i saw him working with the ones more than anyone except pep at DE.

i'll pay more attention to DT tonight.

Thanks Rayzor!