Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Notes from Tuesday's Panther camp

A few notes from the Panthers' padded practice Tuesday, which was intense, sometimes sloppy and sometimes very entertaining:

-- Steve Smith's finger injury, likely to keep him out a week or so after he injured it in practice, will give the younger receivers a chance to make some plays against the New York Giants Saturday night (I certainly wouldn't expect Smith to play in that game). On the other hand, it may make it harder for either Jimmy Clausen or Cam Newton to look good.

-- The best and worst of Newton was on display. He fumbled one ball that might have gotten returned for a TD in a real game, but also made an incredible touch pass to Jeremy Shockey over James Anderson.

-- I still would like to see Jimmy Clausen throw more downfield, but he was more consistent than Newton Tuesday.

-- Brandon LaFell made a terrific catch off a tipped ball.

-- Coach Ron Rivera didn't sound terribly pleased after the practice, as he believes the Panthers aren't performing consistently enough.

-- Interesting to hear Rivera's take on why Eric Norwood has moved ahead of Everette Brown to become a starter at defensive end (at least for now).

Rivera said Norwood has been extremely physical in camp, while Brown -- despite the speed rush that sometimes gets him to the quarterback -- has been a little too much of a finesse player and sometimes isn't as consistent. That's the sort of honest explanation you never would have heard from John Fox.

4 comments:

Bay Area Dude said...

Thank Heavens that Coach Ultra Conservative (Fox) has left the building! Now we have a coach that looks to be willing to take chances, blitz more often and be aggressive on both sides of the ball! If nothing else, this season should prove to be something new and fresh, rather than the same old, same old that we got from Coach Ultra Conservative! Pity the poor Denver Broncos and their fans!

Sportsdon said...

I'm not sure Clausen can throw down field, his yards per attempt average last season was 5.2yd and he never passed for more than 195yds total in a game. During a season they were behind a lot and the run game was not working.

Let's put it this way, where would Clausen be picked in a fantasy draft? But there are still fans and reporters that think he can do it this year.

Anonymous said...

Re: the fallout from Smitty's injury..."on the other hand"?

www.salamanca-3d.com said...

It won't work in actual fact, that is what I suppose.