The Carolina Panthers have seen themselves a whole lot of yellow throughout the 2021 season. So, to help counteract that color rush, they decided to add a little black and white to practice.
On Wednesday, head coach Matt Rhule brought in Atlantic Coast Conference officials to keep tabs on his team’s proceedings. The goal, as Rhule described, was to “arm guys with information.”
“It’s crazy about our penalties,” said Rhule, who’s currently at the helm of the third-most penalized team in football. “The last 54 plays to start a drive, the last 54 drives—we’ve started with 10 penalties. So our penalties actually start happening on the first play of drives.”
Entering Week 14, their 88 flags sit behind only that of the Dallas Cowboys’ 96 and the Las Vegas Raiders’ 95. Rhule believes, however, their missteps are way more mental than anything else.
“So when you have those things, is it a lack of discipline? Yes, at times it is, don’t get me wrong,” he added. “It’s also you’re trying too hard to win because you care about the team that you’re doing a little too much, not technique. So I think for our guys hearing that was like ‘Wow, we are really hurting ourselves at times.'”
Bringing in referees to officiate practices is, of course, more of an approach taken during training camps. But, with the flags still flying and the Panthers’ playoff hopes just about grounded, you gotta try something, right?
