Tuesday, the Carolina Panthers held their first joint practice with the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Here are my observations from the session.
The Competition
Both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold struggled to connect with their receivers early in practice. Some of that was due to good coverage by New England’s secondary, but a considerable amount seemed due to timing. The offense failed to move the ball downfield during the first team period, with many pass attempts sailing past or above their intended receivers. Once the Panthers settle on a starting quarterback, improving that timing will have to be focus.
Despite struggling early, things improved for both Baker and Sam during the two-minute drill near the end of practice. Baker, who has shown the ability to move the ball down field during these situations all camp, made some of his best throws during the period – putting the Panthers in scoring position inside the five yard line after connecting with Christian McCaffrey for a nearly forty yard gain. Darnold was also better during his two-minute reps – getting the ball down to the Patriots’ 25 yard line before a batted pass was intercepted.
In terms of the competition for QB1, Baker Mayfield continues to lead Darnold. I expect Matt Rhule and company will make it official after Friday’s preseason game.
The Squabbling
Things got testy between the Panthers’ defense and the Patriots’ offense during their competitive sessions. Two separate fights broke out and several players were dismissed from practice, including Panthers’ safety Kenny Robinson. Carolina’s defense was vocal and physical – challenging everything, punching at balls and talking trash. It was a vast difference from what we saw during the team’s joint practices against Indianapolis last year when they were man-handled the first day. Tuesday, the Panthers defense had the juice and with the exception of a few chunk plays, won the day against the Pats offense.
The Rook
First round draft pick Ikem Ekwonu worked exclusively with the first team at left tackle. After practice Matt Rhule said that the plan was to see how Ikem performed during the first preseason game and then based on that evaluation give him the reps at the position they drafted him to play. With Ickey’s place at LT now cemented, Brady Christensen and Michael Jordan will compete to start at left guard.
Note: Bradley Bozeman injured himself during an eleven vs eleven period and was carted to the locker room. There has been no update on the extent of the injury, but it did appear to be lower body.
The Consensus
Although the Panthers didn’t look great in their first joint practice, they looked far from bad and that’s an improvement from last year. Carolina’s sideline was active and engaged, which gave practice a jolt of energy. The first team offense’s ability to move the ball during the two-minute drill and first team defense ending their series with an interception near the end zone put good cap on the day.
The Standouts
- Frankie Luvu continues to make impressive plays. During Tuesday’s practice he had several tackles, an interception and tackle for a loss.
- Johnny Hekker was booting punts during the special teams period. We don’t talk about it much, but he’s going to be a huge asset to special teams.
- Keith Taylor Jr wasted no time making his presence known after being sidelined with a hamstring injury. The second year cornerback had several impressive pass breakups.
The Panthers will hold their second, and final, joint practice Wednesday before facing the Patriots Friday night at 7pm.