Sunday Practice News & Tweets - incl Injury Update

[CarolinaSamurai]

Tighter probably means hotter?

Alot of sports clothes are tight and breath well and do very well with sweat. So I doubt that's why 

[Udogg]

Yep.  beating TEs or not getting blocked--he did get a pressure vs Brady after his sack....

Isn't that what he is supposed to do?  If he did not get blocked and still didn't make the sack that would be worse right?

[Cuttinedge]

FYI... Corey has spent extra time after every practice his entire pro career catching passes. 

Well that's depressing and sad at the same time.  

[KB_fan]

Bill Voth has a ton of great stuff now in his roundup of today's practice.  Lots of interesting observations & quotes:

http://blackandbluereview.com/panthers-health-watch-aug-30/

Some excerpts:

Observations

• Funchess appeared to run better than he did in his return to practice last week. He was also involved in three plays that were reminders to temper expectations.

1) While matched up against CB Carrington Byndom, Funchess tried and failed to make a one-hand grab of a Derek Anderson pass in the end zone. It was the type of play Kelvin Benjamin made last summer when it was becoming obvious he wasn’t a typical rookie.

2) A few minutes later, Anderson and Funchess attempted to connect on a deep ball that landed long.

3) Late in practice, Joe Webb threw slightly high, but the ball hit Funchess in the hands before it fell to the ground.

At least for this one practice, WR Corey Brown made good on his vow to stop trying to catch the ball with his body. He had a solid day using his hands and then stayed afterward to catch extra passes from Anderson.

• CB Josh Norman, who said he’d catch 5,000 balls this week after dropping an interception against the Patriots, was on the JUGS machine when practice started. After it ended, Norman and CB Bené Benwikere were the last two players on the field.

• With Tillman and White out, Teddy Williams took most first-team snaps across from Norman.

• With Kalil and Folkerts out, Mike Remmers and Chris Scott split snaps at C.

• LB Luke Kuechly practiced with a bandage on his left leg. Kuechly was cut when he got some of TE Scott Chandler’s cleat while making a second-quarter tackle.

• In red zone drills, TE Greg Olsen beat Kuechly and S Kurt Coleman to make a nice over the-shoulder-grab of a Cam Newton pass.

• S Dean Marlowe has steadily improved since coming to Carolina in the spring. The James Madison product was one of the Panthers’ priority undrafted free agents, and with Colin Jones struggling with a groin injury, the door may have been open for Marlowe to sneak on the final roster. But Rivera pretty much closed that door while hinting at a practice squad invite:

“He’s a long ways away from where we need him to be, but he’s a young guy that’s got a chance,” Rivera said. “He’ll grow. A good year of seasoning, a good year of opportunity to watch and grow. I think he’s going to be a quality football player some day.”

 

[beastson]

Listen I don't care how Corey catches the ball

Just catch the damn ball

[Snake]

Practice observations from David Newton:

http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/15336/panthers-wr-devin-funchess-misses-one-handed-catch-but-returns-full-go

Here are excerpts:

Overtime: Wide receiver Corey Brown, who dropped four passes in Friday night’s 17-16 loss to New England and two the previous week against Miami, didn’t appear to have any misses in practice. But he did spend time after practice working individually on catching passes on out patterns with his hands instead of his body.

Red zone work: While the rest of the team worked on special teams, quarterback Cam Newton worked with tight end Greg Olsen, Funchess and Brown on goal line passes. The Panthers ranked 26^th in the NFL last season in scoring touchdowns inside the 20.

Cat scratch: Pro bowl middle linebacker Luke Kuechly appeared to be limping at one point, but it wasn’t anything serious. He received a deep scratch after being caught by a cleat.

Back to work: Funchess wasn’t the only player back from injury. Defensive end Charles Johnson (calf), offensive guard Amini Silatolu (knee) and Kawann Short (back) were full go after sitting out Friday night. Barring a setback all will participate in Thursday night’s preseason finale at Pittsburgh.

Lost in the Pats game was we were using our back up line with CJ, KK, and Star out and we still dominated there offense. 

Coaches are determined to make Brown a starter on this team.  I guess they like his route running and think the drops can be fixed.  Lets hope so. 

Well what do you expect?  Them to give up after two games like you and others have? 

[caatfan]

Well that's depressing and sad at the same time.  

It shouldn't be. Plenty of athletes, in every sport, are better performers precisely because they put in extra practice.

[Cuttinedge]

It shouldn't be. Plenty of athletes, in every sport, are better performers precisely because they put in extra practice.

That's my point he's been putting in the extra work and he still can't catch. Depressing

[Smithers]

 

Well what do you expect?  Them to give up after two games like you and others have? 

Very judgmental comment...especially considering the fact that I started a thread last week titled "Corey will be OK."  And posted in another thread today that I think Corey will overcome his mental issues that are resulting in recent drops. 

In case that wasn't enough...can you explain what in my post that you replied to indicated that I have given up on Brown?  Was it the part where I acknowledged his route running?  Or the part where I said that I hoped the mental issues leading to his drops are fixed soon?  Or could it just be that it is you who are jumping to conclusions?  

[KB_fan]

Here's more on the play by play of various receivers' catches and drops for those of you who want to know all the details...:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article32828574.html

▪ Rookie receiver Devin Funchess had one drop and couldn’t come down with another pass that would have been a touchdown as he worked with the second-string offense Sunday. Funchess tried to one-hand a touchdown pass from Derek Anderson against Carrington Byndom and couldn’t come up with it. Later, on another Anderson pass, Funchess jumped slightly early and let the ball go through his hands across the middle.

▪ Receiver Jarrett Boykin continued his sporadic play Sunday with two drops. He dropped one pass on a comeback route that bounced off his chest. Later he dropped an Anderson pass as he was on a knee at the sideline.

▪ Tight end Greg Olsen caught a 20-yard touchdown pass from Cam Newton against Luke Kuechly and Kurt Coleman. Olsen looked up at the last moment and found the pass and hauled it in over his shoulder. Newton did the Harlem Shake dance after throwing the touchdown.

[MHS831]

He did just fine throughout the game. So, yeah, like Rivera noted he made most of his opportunities. That's all that matters.

Hope so, but sacking the QB when you weren't blocked is all you can do---I still want to see him beat a LT consistently and hold up vs. the run.  "Just fine" is subjective too--I didn't criticize Ealy, but I don't think he proved much.  I want him to break out this year, so I hope he can get it done all season..  An unblocked sack in a preseason game is not "all that matters."  The fact is, nothing matters until game 1. 

[Jeremy Igo]

practice play by play...... yeesh

[MHS831]

He did okay setting the edge, he wasn't pancaked, he played the run better than in previous games, he almost deflected a pass, he performed an excellent swim move on the inside and beat his guy, etc. What the fug else do you want? Ealy did his job. Good god.

Shall we save the criticism for Day One?

Reflect---I said it wasn't criticism--it was simply not enough to make me feel all fuzzy.  If you want to dispute my opinions, fine, but don't put words in my mouth so you can make a point.  Reading comprehension is a powerful tool.  Damn son.. 

[pantherclaw]

Lost in the Pats game was we were using our back up line with CJ, KK, and Star out and we still dominated there offense. 

an offense that had three new starters on their oline, not a single starting receiver, and without their biggest offensive weapo , Gronk. 

 

You're right though, we dominated. 

Whoopie.