Panthers to hold free and open practice in stadium June 14th

Breaking with tradition, the Carolina Panthers will hold a free and open practice on Thursday, June 14th, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. in Bank of America Stadium. Fans are welcome to come to the non-contact practice, although there will not be a chance to get auotographs.

The extra chance for fans to see the Panthers in their home stadium was head coach Ron Rivera's idea, and I believe it's an excellent one. He wants his players -- the new ones especially -- to get a feel for the B of A stadium atmosphere. The practice will be their final one of a mandatory three-day minicamp next week (players will then be off until reporting to Spartanburg and Wofford College for training camp on Friday, July 27th).

"We sure would love our fans to come out," Rivera said of the open practice next week in Charlotte. "... It will give our players a chance to get inside the stadium and kind of introduce them to the stadium and the fans of Charlotte."

The practice will be a no-frills affair, unlike FanFest (which is scheduled this year for Saturday, Aug.4th). The Panthers always bring out the bells and whistles for their annual FanFest -- cheerleaders, the Sir Purr mascot, games for the kids outside and so on.

This one will have no cheerleaders, no mascots, no games outside -- just a practice. And, again, no autographs, the team says. The team does plan to make limited concessions available.

The June 14th practice will give Panther fans a chance to see the new version of their team six weeks earlier than usual. The team has traditionally not opened any practices to fans until late July in Spartanburg, when all training-camp practices are free and open to the public at Wofford.

As for Thursday's workout, Rivera said: "Fans will see what they would see if they came up to Wofford, but there will be no contact.... We traditionally have never practiced in our stadium until we get to FanFest, and then we get our first preseason game. It’s an opportunity for our guys to get on the field… So the first time we do it so we’re not in awe.

"As for our fans," Rivera continued, "we know not everybody can get down to Wofford from Charlotte. So if our fans want to come out, great. We’d love to have 'em. But the biggest thing is to create the atmosphere of our stadium for our guys."

In other Panther news Thursday:

-- Linebacker Jon Beason looked strong in his limited work and told me afterward, jokingly, he feels "150 percent, maybe 149."

-- I will be writing about Haruki Nakamura, who is competing for a starting safety job against Sherrod Martin and others, for Friday's newspaper and online. Beason told me that Nakamura "kind of reminds me of [former Panther safety] Chris Harris but with a lot more ability."

Fun fact about Nakamura: he was a national judo champ in the junior division as a kid. (UPDATE: Here's the link to the Nakamura story).

Does Brandon LaFell really symbolize Panthers? Rivera thinks so

The Observer's Joseph Person had a very interesting, one-on-one interview with Panther coach Ron Rivera last week that he split into two parts and has published it here and here.

After reading it all, the most unusual analogy I thought Rivera made was when he said: "I guess, to me, Brandon LaFell encapsulates who we are."

Brandon LaFell? The Panthers' No.2 receiver? The one who holds the team record with a 91-yard touchdown reception but who also had nine games last season in which he had two or fewer catches?

That's the Panthers' symbol? Not Cam Newton? Not Jon Beason? Not Double Trouble or Jordan Gross or Ryan Kalil or any other more high-profile Panther?

When you think about it, though, the analogy does make some sense. Rivera used it after saying earlier in the interview of LaFell: "I didn't want him to feel like he's arrived." I think the thing that Brandon has to always keep in front of him is the big picture and that is his continual growth."

Of the Panthers, Rivera later said: "We've got to keep the carrot in front of us."
In other words, keep working. Stay hungry. Rivera said he doesn't "give a crap" that some people are picking the Panthers to win the NFC South over controversy-ridden New Orleans this season.

And he's right. This team does have some stars. But it's the middle third of the roster -- say, players No.10-35 on the roster -- that probably really needs to get better for it to go from 6-10 in 2011 to a playoff team in 2012.

LaFell is a truer indication of the team's roster than an athletic outlier like Newton.

It's players like LaFell (who had 36 catches for 613 yards in 2011 as a parttime starter but who needs to show he can make more tough catches over the middle this season and improve his blocking).

And it's whoever the No.2 cornerback turns out to be. And veteran defensive tackle Ron Edwards, returning from injury. And punt returner Joe Adams. And new utility back Mike Tolbert and Luke Kuechly and second tight end Gary Barnidge so on and so on.

Those are the guys who will play such a large part in making or breaking the season -- the guys who will be given opportunities to make plays when the other team tries to take away Newton, Steve Smith, Beason, Double Trouble, Greg Olsen and so on.

So while I had never thought of it that way -- the Panthers being symbolized by LaFell -- I'm now somewhat enamored with Rivera's analogy. It's going to make me track his progress more closely this season, and see whether it really does mirror the team's performance.

Panther scorecard so far....

While the Carolina Panthers' spending binge has slowed down for a couple of moments -- they did agree to terms with safety Sean Considine today apparently but that's not a major money deal -- I figured I would look back at the last two dizzying days and see what has transpired so far. (UPDATE: Now they have also made a trade for TE Greg Olsen, who is a good pass-catcher and gives them a complete overhaul at tight end. I'll evaluate that deal once we know what the Panthers gave Chicago to get Olsen).

Meanwhile, a few of the highlights so far....

Biggest shocker: John Kasay getting a pink slip from the Panthers. My column on why the Panthers must honor Kasay, the last original Panthers, is here.

The Steve Smith saga: Now he says he wants to be a "Panther for life," according to reports. Good. I've been advocating this -- the trade value was just too low for Smith and the Panthers need him this year as much as ever.

Quarterback countdown: Cam Newton hasn't been announced as signing his deal yet, but that figures to be a formality given the newly-instituted rookie wage scale. But who will the veteran be? I've been campaigning for Jake Delhomme (see previous blog posts), but who knows?

He's springing for dinner: Charles Johnson can't stay under the radar anymore, not after that $72-million mega-deal. Expect plenty of ribbing from Panthers teammates for that one.

The running back stable: With DeAngelo Williams back in the fold, the Panthers have one of the best running back stables in the NFL. I like this move, because the nature of the position is someone will likely be hurt in training camp.

So far, mostly so good. In Tuesday's newspaper, I advocated the Panthers doing five things right away... They've done 3.5 so far... A review...

1) Sign Charles Johnson. Check

2) Sign DeAngelo Williams. Check

3) Sign Cam Newton. No check yet, but surely this isn't going to be too difficult given the parameters established by the new CBA.

4) Sign a veteran defensive tackle and a veteran QB. DT Ron Edwards (check). The QB? Not yet. Half-credit.

5) Solve the Steve Smith situation. Check -- he's expected to be reporting for the Panthers Friday morning in Spartanburg.