The Carolina Panthers and New York Jets held a joint practice Thursday morning ahead of their Saturday preseason match up. With the starters not playing in the Panthers’ first preseason game against the Patriots, yesterday’s session gave us the first true glimpse of what this team could be. Here’s what we learned:
Progress
The past three years Carolina has held joint practices against the Colts, Patriots and Jets. The offense was dominated by the opposing defense during each of those sessions, in what would be a precursor for what we could expect during the regular season. That’s why Thursday’s practice was so important. Not only did the new Dave Canales-led offense get work against someone other than their teammates, it was against a defense that’s one of the best in the league.
So what did we see?
Bryce Young dotted up the ops (was efficient in the passing game against the opposing defense) in the first team period. The first play was a short pass to Adam Thielen. The second play was a Chuba Hubbard rush. But it was the third play that was the tone-setter: a back corner pass to Terrace Marshall Jr. who snagged the ball in the end zone over Jets corner back DJ Reed for the score. That set the tone for a practice where if score was being taken the Panthers would’ve won.
THAT was the most important thing. Has the Panthers’ offense made progress? If we’re determining that based on yesterday’s practice, they have.
Pass Rush
While the main focus was on Bryce Young and Carolina’s offense, the Panthers’ defense was going up against future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers. That’s not an easy task for any defense.
Rodgers didn’t have much trouble moving the ball down the field. The Panthers’ defense was able to get turnovers – including back-to-back takeaways with a forced fumble and an end zone interception by rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace. And while the training camp focus on getting takeaways paid off Thursday, there was one thing that was noticeably absent. A pass rush.
It’s important to note that with DJ Wonnum and Amare Barno sidelined, the Panthers are already thin at the edge rush position. Add to that Jadeveon Clowney being given the day off, the defense struggled to get any pressure on Rodgers, who took advantage of the time by driving the ball down the field effortlessly.
The coaching staff has said that they are comfortable with their pass rush group, but outside of Clowney, no one has consistently proven that they are able to apply pressure. Add to that a now banged-up secondary, a defensive unit that has always been the lone bright spot could become a weakness.
Dawgs
Everyone has their own philosophy on joint practice scuffles. I’m of the opinion that they are a good thing – as long as they don’t completely disrupt practice. While the Panthers’ defense and Jets offense remained relatively fight free, there were multiple dust-ups between Carolina’s offense and New York’s defense, with the first widely considered the most egregious.
After catching his first touchdown of the day, as described above, wide receiver Terrace Marshall threw the ball at his defender’s back. DJ Reed’s teammates took exception with the move and rushed to defend him. Panthers players then got involved and Reed threw the ball at the back of Marshall as he headed to the sideline. The whole ordeal lasted about two minutes as players dispersed fairly quickly.
That action by Marshall in a game would cost the team 15 yards. In practice it caused a minor scuffle. I understand the importance of establishing good habits and Canales used the incident as a coaching moment, but Dan Morgan has been very clear that he wants a team full of “dawgs.” You can’t want a team full of dawgs and get mad when they bark. The Panthers’ offense has been so bland the past few years, that it was good to see some spice. Now they just have to carry that edge into the regular season.