The Sam Mills Fan Training Camp Report

[Sam Mills Fan]

I highly suggest everybody checks out the Twitter update threads on here to get a good sense of what went down at practice today. (Nice job with posting it on here everyone.) Stream of consciousness post incoming:

- I couldn't believe how many people were in that stadium. I've gone to Fan Fests in 2006, 2010, and 2011 and this year's dwarfed all the others including 2006 coming off an NFC CG appearance.

- We have some HARDCORE redneck fans. People with rat tail/mullets, a crazy lady with a Steve Smith tattoo on her shoulder with a weird Steve Smith worshipping sign, a guy with Cam's face woven into a Confederate flag that I really wish I had taken a picture of.

- There was an energy on the field and in the stands that I have never sensed in a practice environment. Everybody is anticipating September.

- Rookie standout surprises included Josh Norman and Joe Adams. Norman got beat by 89 at least once, but he blanketed some guys really well. It's easy to see why he was running with the 1s when Gamble took himself out. In fact, he might have been the best cover guy out there with Captain Munnerlyn being weirdly angry throughout the practice. Adams is super fast, turns on a dime, and looks like a seasoned pro when it comes to returning punts. I did notice some Mike Goodson in him though in that he dropped a punt and had a pretty bad dropped pass. Still...first practice for a rookie.

- Kuechly: Like Joe Adams, this guy looks like he already gets it. Had a laser focus on the ball carrier or whoever he was covering.

- Cam: Had the most picks today: Martin, Beason, Fua. The Beason one came off a bad deflection by Olsen however. There will probably be someone that makes a big deal out of that, but let me tell you: He was just fine. Throws such a beautiful deep ball and has uber chemistry with 89.

- TD: He looked just as good as the guys they had starting which was a welcome sight. I didn't notice a single ACL related thing going on with him except the presence of that bulky brace. It was a little painful watching him on special teams though, not because he wouldn't be a beast there, but because you know it had to be killing him to be with the 2s mainly and on special teams with all the action Kuechly was getting. By the way, Kuechly was at weakside linebacker whenever he was on the field with Beason and Beason was in the middle. Anderson strongside usually.

- Byron Bell looked really great, welcome surprise. Maybe another reason why they felt comfortable trading Otah.

- Depth receivers that looked strong included Darvin Adams and Seyi Ajirotutu. Both had great grabs, very consistent.

- Armanti Edwards: I don't know if he's mentally checked out now or what, but he had the worst drops of anybody today and more than one too. I'm really starting to feel bad for this guy, but I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't even make it past the first round of cuts.

I guess that's all for now. Oh, the cheerleaders are looking even hotter which is cool. Finally trying to respond to the LadyCats competition I guess.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

Was waiting on a training camp write up! Thanks Sam Mills Fan, I enjoyed reading it. Anything on Silatolu and Frank Alexander? How did Hardy look?

[ACobra289]

Thanks man.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Silatolu looked like a super huge dude. Defensive linemen were running drills as far from me as possible. As for the mini-scrimmages, I never noticed them do anything individually, but I do know the offensive line was routinely getting the better of the defensive no matter if it was the 1s, the 2s, or the 3s.

[Jackofalltrades]

Big thanks to you for the update.

[KillerKat]

So the tweet about the starting LBs being Davis-Beason-Kuechly was wrong

[Black]

Goodshit.

[Jackofalltrades]

I thought someone said Kuechley was playing Sam instead of Will, reporter maybe.

[Sam Mills Fan]

From my untrained eye and wondering eye, I mostly saw Beason/Kuechly/Anderson when I was checking out the 1s. It's entirely possible I was looking at the rare times that was happening, but TD was definitely doing special teams drills and definitely started out with the 2s at the start of practice.

[Marguide]

Thanks SMF. This makes it official...football is back.

[TruCatzFan]

From my untrained eye and wondering eye,

Whoa... My eyes have been known to wander... But wonder...

You need to teach me how you made your eyes think!

Did appreciate the write up :-)

[Sam Mills Fan]

It's late bro; it's late.

[Swaggasaurus]

I thought someone said Kuechley was playing Sam instead of Will, reporter maybe.

“I think with Luke’s stoutness and size, he really helps us on the strong side with the running game. I kind of like what we’ve got going right now,” said Rivera, adding Kuechly would also get reps in the middle in the event Beason is re-injured.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/28/3413534/panthers-defense-gets-its-picks.html

Perhaps it was this little nugget from Ron Riv?

I

Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/07/28/3413534/panthers-defense-gets-its-picks.html#storylink=cpy

[Sam Mills Fan]

Okay so when I say I saw something "usually" happen, it may very well have been the one or two times I was paying attention. That's the thing about these write-ups, lots of things happening, hard to focus on more than one thing unless it's Cam. I would obviously go with, you know, Rivera over me.