2020 Training camp observations 8/28: Defense has a big day

[WarPanthers89]

From Panthers.com

CHARLOTTE — Following Wednesday night's session at Bank of America Stadium, the Panthers were back on the practice field Friday.

The defense had a big day, picking off several passes over the course of the morning.

Here are some things that stood out during the session:

— There was a jersey swap of sorts, keeping things fresh. The offensive players wore white jerseys instead of the blue they've sported throughout camp. The defensive players were all in black, as opposed to just the day's starters. The quarterbacks remained in green, though.

— Kaare Vedvik kicked field goals with Joseph Charlton holding as practice began. Vedvik has spent most of his time with Carolina punting, but he has the versatility to do both. That could be important in 2020, given the unpredictability of COVID-19. Head coach Matt Rhule later said there's a possibility the Panthers could keep an extra leg on this year's 16-man practice squad.

The starting offense went against the reserve defense in a two-minute drill to begin the first 11-on-11 period. Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater connected with wide receiver Robby Anderson on a deep route to the right, putting the offense in the red zone. But the unit couldn't complete the objective, as Bridgewater's fourth-down pass with four seconds left was high and out of the end zone. He didn't appear to have anyone open.

— Jack-of-all-trades Myles Hartsfield started a drive at safety and finished it taking a carry on offense. He wore a white penny to signify he was a running back instead of changing his whole jersey.

— Hartsfield's red zone run was on third down and didn't get enough to move the chains. Vedvik nailed a field goal, with the ball going off the camera pole set up dead center between the uprights.

— The Panthers had two simultaneous 11-on-11 drills running on opposite sides of the field. Some of the team's key veterans did not participate, like Bridgewater and defensive tackle Kawann Short. That gave younger players extended reps.

— During that period, wide receiver DJ Moorecaught a deep touchdown in traffic between rookies Kenny Robinson and Stantley Thomas-Oliver III. Moore elevated to catch the pass from quarterback P.J. Walker, securing it before he hit the ground.

On the other field, quarterback Will Grierconnected with wide receiver Marken Michelon several deep passes. On one that went for a touchdown, offensive lineman Mike Horton met Michel in the end zone, and Michel gave Horton the ball for a celebratory spike.

— Linebacker Andre Smith intercepted a Grier pass over the middle during a third-down segment. Grier faced heavy pressure and may have been sacked. But he let it go, and Smith was there to make a play.

— During individual drills, quarterbacks and tight ends worked on red zone routes to the end zone. After throwing his passes, Bridgewater started playing defense to give the tight ends and quarterbacks a better look for proper ball placement and how the route had to be run.

— Wide receivers and quarterbacks competed against cornerbacks in one-on-ones. Cornerback Troy Pride Jr. made a couple of nice plays during the period. On one rep against Ishmael Hyman, Pride batted the ball toward the front corner of the end zone. Then he ripped a ball out of Seth Roberts' hands as the wideout tried to come down with a pass. While Anderson later caught a pass over Pride, Bridgewater's perfect ball placement was the reason why the pass was complete. The quarterback even complimented Pride's coverage on the play.

The defense had a strong seven-on-seven period with a pair of interceptions. Robinson picked off Grier on the defense's left. Then Bridgewater held onto the ball for a long time, and likely would've been sacked, but he fired a deep pass to the left and cornerback Corn Eldercame away with it.

— Cornerback Donte Jackson intercepted a Grier pass that was tipped by Pride and ran it all the way back to the other side of the field to celebrate a "pick six." Even though he was sort of betraying his offensive brethren, Bridgewater ran down to celebrate, too. Linebacker Tahir Whitehead razzed the quarterback a bit for doing so.

"I just get excited when I see guys making plays. It was good for the defense to get their hands on the football today," Bridgewater said. "I just want to celebrate those guys and let them know, hey, I see you making plays as well."

NEWS AND NOTES

— Rhule said the Panthers will have a "big scrimmage" on Saturday at Bank of America Stadium that "will be like the third preseason game." That's part of why Rhule held out some veterans from certain drills on Friday.

"We'll have a great chance to evaluate a lot of the guys trying to make the team," Rhule said. "They went really hard today, and they've got to turn around and do it again tomorrow."

— Rhule said rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown has a "nagging ankle," but doesn't believe it's anything major.

— Linebacker Shaq Thompson did not practice Friday because his groin is still sore. Rhule said Thompson has an abductor issue.

— Carolina added cornerback Jameson Houston and defensive end Austin Larkinshortly before practice. Houston is a Baylor product, so he's familiar with this coaching staff.

"He's a 4.4 (40-yard dash) kid, a smart kid. Really likes to practice," Rhule said.

And with defensive end Marquis Haynes in the concussion protocol, the Panthers wanted to get a look at Larkin, who's spent time with the Cowboys and Falcons.

"One of our things is just giving guys opportunities to get in here and show what they can do," Rhule said. "We're building kind of a bank, a book of business on guys, knowing who's out there if we've had them in camp."

[stbugs]

I’m not getting warm and fuzzies on offense as much as some. Our offense should dominate a very young D with some blatant holes. To see our first team offense not be able to get in the end zone with 4 tries and no one open worries me. I like the promise of the D, but let’s be honest, it will take a year or two more before they gel and are solid/fill the rest of the holes.

Also, LOL at Rhule calling the Baylor guy a 4.4 guy. Every site has him around 4.6. If I had a nickel for every time someone said “he’s got 4.4 speed”, I’d be rich. I still don’t think people realize how fast 4.4 is. That’s fast for the NFL. If you break 4.4, even say 4.39, you are blazing and at the top of the draft class in speed.

[WarPanthers89]

I hope this is a sign of the defense being young and fast. They could surprise this season especially if our d line improves. Chinn could be the X factor if he impresses and plays above average at multiple positions. We can’t be much worse than last year...we have no where to go but up. I know we will start rough but hopefully the young players improve as the season goes on.

[Wolfcop]

At this point of the preseason the defense starts to recognize play calls since they have seen them so much. I'd be willing to bet money that our offense will be well ahead of our D this year. 

[07579394]

I have noticed Jameson Houston in Baylor's tapes,he have good sense,but lack of EXP.Likely to PS.

[pantherclaw]

Everyone has been under estimating our defense. 

Especially every one on the huddle. 

[kungfoodude]

43 minutes ago, pantherclaw said:

Everyone has been under estimating our defense. 

Especially every one on the huddle. 

Hard to say. We will know more in about two weeks.

 

[stbugs]

11 hours ago, WarPanthers89 said:

I hope this is a sign of the defense being young and fast. They could surprise this season especially if our d line improves. Chinn could be the X factor if he impresses and plays above average at multiple positions. We can’t be much worse than last year...we have no where to go but up. I know we will start rough but hopefully the young players improve as the season goes on.

Just want to make sure you didn’t miss the fact that it was our 2nd team D that stopped the first team offense. I get that we’ve got a lot to be positive on D, I loved the draft, but one thing we aren’t on this team is deep. Our first team O should dominate our second team D.

Again, trying not to be negative but even our first team D has big holes and is very green. Our QB is very familiar with this offense, that’s why he was signed. It just doesn’t make me feel good that the offense isn’t rolling a green D with real holes in the LB and secondary, let alone the 2nd string. People talk about the O being top 10 easy and able to keep us in games.

At least it’s going to be interesting. This team is like a box of chocolates.

[Jeremy Igo]

Let's not forget that these are scripted play calls that get executed despite what the defense is doing. Much like any preseason game, individual performances matter. Overall outcome, not so much.

[kungfoodude]

3 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Just want to make sure you didn’t miss the fact that it was our 2nd team D that stopped the first team offense. I get that we’ve got a lot to be positive on D, I loved the draft, but one thing we aren’t on this team is deep. Our first team O should dominate our second team D.

Again, trying not to be negative but even our first team D has big holes and is very green. Our QB is very familiar with this offense, that’s why he was signed. It just doesn’t make me feel good that the offense isn’t rolling a green D with real holes in the LB and secondary, let alone the 2nd string. People talk about the O being top 10 easy and able to keep us in games.

At least it’s going to be interesting. This team is like a box of chocolates.

I generally agree with this but they are also going at each other almost every day and mostly know the playbook. 

It may mean something, it may mean nothing. 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

15 hours ago, stbugs said:

I’m not getting warm and fuzzies on offense as much as some. Our offense should dominate a very young D with some blatant holes. To see our first team offense not be able to get in the end zone with 4 tries and no one open worries me. I like the promise of the D, but let’s be honest, it will take a year or two more before they gel and are solid/fill the rest of the holes.

Also, LOL at Rhule calling the Baylor guy a 4.4 guy. Every site has him around 4.6. If I had a nickel for every time someone said “he’s got 4.4 speed”, I’d be rich. I still don’t think people realize how fast 4.4 is. That’s fast for the NFL. If you break 4.4, even say 4.39, you are blazing and at the top of the draft class in speed.

Agreed. IIRC Steve Smith was a 4.4 guy even though he probably played faster than that. Some guys do have a faster game speed than what their 40 says but I do agree with what you said

[stbugs]

2 hours ago, pantherclaw said:

Everyone has been under estimating our defense. 

Especially every one on the huddle. 

Easy to underestimate considering the crap fest we’ve had on D the past two years and then realize how much we’ve lost. There’s some future promise but we don’t have Luke and others. I think many are overestimating how good rookies will be year 1 and especially Short. We’ve had real bad results with guys coming off missing most of a season. I’m not expecting good results, just hoping for a lot of experience and growth in the young guys.

[stbugs]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

I generally agree with this but they are also going at each other almost every day and mostly know the playbook. 

It may mean something, it may mean nothing. 

True, which is why I said it doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies to hear that the second team D stopped the first team O on 4 plays in the red zone or goal line. I couldn’t even tell you who would make up that second team D. I think there’s some assumptions that our O will be top 10 right away. Oh well, going to be an interesting watch.

[kungfoodude]

34 minutes ago, stbugs said:

True, which is why I said it doesn’t give me the warm fuzzies to hear that the second team D stopped the first team O on 4 plays in the red zone or goal line. I couldn’t even tell you who would make up that second team D. I think there’s some assumptions that our O will be top 10 right away. Oh well, going to be an interesting watch.

Eh...I am just not going to get too worked up about it until the bullets are real on Sunday. The level of unknowns makes a lot of the things we are seeing a bit hard to interpret right now. Like Jeremy said, we can get an idea about individual battles but how good a lot of these individual players are is still a huge question. The list of guys we have a pretty complete picture of is pretty short.