The Carolina Panthers began the second portion of their 2019 offseason team activities with a Tuesday morning practice.
Here’s a few takeaways from the media.
1. Still no Cam Newton
The franchise quarterback was nowhere to be found today. Newton underwent surgery on his throwing shoulder a few months ago and has not been expected to practice, but he has been around. Apparently, Newton was excused for a personal day.
Last week, coach Ron Rivera told reporters there is no timetable for Newton’s return.
In other injury-related news, tight end Ian Thomas, linebacker Christian Miller and wide receiver Torrey Smith also did not practice. Meanwhile, guard Trai Turner, center Matt Paradis and offensive tackle Daryl Williams were held out of team drills. Tight end Greg Olsen and linebacker Shaq Thompson spent the second half of practice working with trainers.
2. Kuechly, Samuel and Jackson made plays
It sounds like there was an unusual number of highlight-reel worthy plays at today’s practice. Superstar middle linebacker Luke Kuechly, wide receiver Curtis Samuel and cornerback Donte Jackson all turned heads.
Kuechly had a pick-six on the first play of the day:
Jackson did his best Odell Beckham impression:
Finally, Samuel made an applause-worthy diving catch:
Rivera told the media that Samuel had the wind knocked out of him.
Samuel sat out the first three games of the 2018 season after undergoing a heart procedure, but if it slowed him down it didn’t show.
3. Ron Rivera got egg on his face
After practice, coach Rivera took part in the Crack Cancer challenge, allowing some long-time players to smash some eggs on his head.
Tight end Greg Olsen admitted he’d been waiting to do it for nine years.
Rivera challenged Bills coach Sean McDermott, Ravens coach John Harbaugh and Giants coach Pat Shurmur.
4. Rivera punted on Gerald McCoy question
The Panthers were recently reported to be interested in free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, who spent the first nine years of his career with the division rival Buccaneers. While no meetings have been reported as of yet between Carolina and McCoy, it’s not hard to see why they would be interested.
When coach Rivera was asked about McCoy, he stated the obvious but also deferred to general manager Marty Hurney on the question.
McCoy is one of the best interior defensive linemen in the NFL today and there’s no doubt that bringing him in would boost Carolina’s pass rush and run defense.
However, McCoy is not going to come cheaply and the Panthers already have as much money invested at DT as any other team in the league. Signing him would definitely qualify as overkill unless they’re going to deal away Vernon Butler or Dontari Poe to another team.
