Panther Talk | August 11, 2025

This week on Panther Talk, Anish, Jim and Eugene speak with Dave Canales, Xavier Legette, and Andre Ware about the Panthers preseason opener, this week's preseason matchup against the Texans.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is an exclusive presentation of the Carolina Panthers
and the National Football League.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
And they're tell, and they're tell, and they're doll. This
is Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Network.

Speaker 3 (00:16):
Pocket breaks down. He rolls out to the right side
at the fifteen, directing traffic at the ten. Brums backly
and so Jalli Tunger's got it Tucker for the touchdown
of the Panthers score first.

Speaker 4 (00:25):
You know, primarily what I saw was a group that's
dedicated playing physical. I was really pleased with the level
of fitness of the guys. They looked like they handled
it great, just kind of throwing them a couple of
series and then you know, to be able to move
the ball down there come away with a touchdown, you know,
I thought was awesome. I was really happy with the
operation on the offensive side. Defense of the communication was

(00:45):
was really good as well.

Speaker 5 (00:46):
So I was really pleased with their work.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
And now, along with Jim Zoki and Eugene Robinson, here's
a Niche Shroff with Panther Talk live from the Panthers
broadcast facility, Bank of America.

Speaker 6 (01:04):
You know that feeling when you haven't eaten all day
and then they put a plate of food in front
of you and it doesn't really matter what it is,
but it tastes good. That's preseason preason in so long.
It doesn't matter what it is. We're gonna devour it,

(01:26):
We're gonna overanalyze it, We're gonna jump to conclusions because
we have not had a real football in a long time.
And preseason game number one, of course you get all
the hot takes. Hey should do this, should do that.
This is what we saw, this is what we didn't see.
It's preseason games don't count. There's a purpose, there's a plan.

(01:50):
It is a slow build to week one. Having said
all that, it's time to jump to conclusions.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Jimski, what would be the fun in the next hour.

Speaker 6 (01:58):
You know, we need something to talk about. But in
all seriousness, jim the three names that I wrote down
Jalen Coker, Nick Gorton, and Corey Thornton. Cocher. The wide
receiver made some really good plays. One of them was
called back because of a penalty. Nonetheless, he did make
a tremendous reaching one handed grabs. Gorton's hustle play where

(02:19):
he chased Shador Sanders lost Shador and then ran the
width of the field to track him down and to
prevent a gain on the play. To me, that was
the film room play from the preseason game. And then
Corey Thornton, whose name has generated all sorts of buzz,
free agent, undrafted cornerback rookie out of Louisville, He's generated

(02:40):
a lot of buzz here in training camp. He validated
that with the way he played against Cleveland on Friday.

Speaker 3 (02:46):
And again, regardless of the position, he is this year's
version at this moment of DEMONI Richardson or Jalen Coker,
undrafted rookie who just is like humble and it comes in,
works hard, and just right now is probably your third
cornerback behind the two starters. And I think he continues
to be a big story that the w w EA
style tackle he made lifting up the back and dropping

(03:08):
them so and then his coverage was crazy coverabus And
then yeah, I think everything you said about those guys
is right. I think there's some other interesting players we
were talking before we came out. I wrote down James
Mitchell the tight end uh And again, these are you
depth pieces, obviously, but they're they're critical and I think
there's a lot to be taken. And I think people

(03:29):
again do over analyze. I mean, we've got a stat
book in front of it. It's like you can't look
at the statsu. I think this time here it is
the eyeball test. It's looking at them and we don't
have the eyeballs of Eugene Robinson and the coaching staff.
But isn't that what it's more about Eugene in general.
It's like it's not like you know this stat or
this that's like it's really analyzing seeing what these guys do.
Can they translate what happened in practice and take it

(03:51):
to the game setting.

Speaker 7 (03:52):
And Thoughton was definitely able to do that, and and
and to the point, I know when we make the analogy,
the food is in front of us. We don't care
what it is with us. Eat As you're a player,
you got J. C. Horn who's sitting out, and then
you have the opportunity to be the starter. You got
to eat. You gotta go ahead and eat. And I
tell you what, Thornton played exceptionally well. I mean every

(04:14):
time the ball was run to the side, he showed
up like, oh, I'm a good tackler. No doubt and
then I'm a good cover man. And so from that
stay point, I'm sitting and going. He just elevated himself
among all the other defensive backs out there. Whether it's
a safety, whether it's a strong safety, whether it's corner
and a nickel, it don't matter. He just said, I'm
your guy. I'm your guy that you can depend on.

(04:36):
And so for him, man, he had a great game
that absolutely mattered. That put him in my opinion on
this team or somebody else's team based on the way
he played.

Speaker 6 (04:47):
He's challenging for absolutely.

Speaker 7 (04:50):
And so what a good commodity to have knowing that
you got a J. C. Horn, you got a Jackson
on other side, and you can bring this young man
in here and he really doesn't care who he faces.
And so from nest standpoint, I thought defensively, I was
really he was my guy. He was my most valuable
player on defense in a losing effort. But he was

(05:11):
my most valuable player because I think that young man
showed up time.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
At the time.

Speaker 6 (05:16):
On philm the starters played two series. On Friday, Bryce
Young led the Panthers to their lone touchdown. They got
the first score of the game Cleveland then scored the
next thirty points in a row before Carolina added a
field goal late. The big topic of Bryce was what
does he do in year three after a pretty strong
finished year two only two drives, three and out And

(05:40):
then we saw some of what we saw the second
half of last year. The throw to McMillan along the
sideline with the first round pick makes a great catch,
great throw, great catch. And then the improv. That's when
he's at his best. The play breaks down, he's rolling
out of the pocket. He does the whole Merlin Houdini

(06:01):
and he can make things happen, and he finds Jalen
Cocher in the back of the end zone. To me again,
if you're looking for something, and again Cleveland didn't play
at starters, which is needed context. But if you're looking
for something, you say, yeah, that was the Bryce Young
we saw at the tail end of last year.

Speaker 5 (06:20):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (06:20):
And don't forget Brush Young his theling team, Mac and Jalen.

Speaker 5 (06:24):
Cocher in that series.

Speaker 7 (06:26):
So the ball is distributed across the field to not
just one guy like when thelan used to be the
guy and he used to throwing a ball to theling
That ball went across the field to everyone. And so
from that standpoint, you see that variety, you see that distribution,
that means it tells you his eyes are down the
field and he's reading first, second, third, Whereas my option

(06:48):
is that he's reading all that stuff to be able
to hit three different receivers on that series of ten
play drive and then to culminate with to touch out.
And when he moved out of the pocket, he wasn't
moving out of the pocket like hurry trying to run.
He was keeping his eyes down the field and directing traffic,
if you will. And then I threw a little dart
in there. So from that's standpoint, this is the Bryce

(07:11):
we talked about last week talking about Hey this, you know,
the subject is is Bryce gonna be the guy?

Speaker 5 (07:19):
Well, guess what I'm gonna tell you right now.

Speaker 7 (07:20):
Bryce is your guy that he has a patience about
him and he has a confidence about him to go
ahead and throw.

Speaker 5 (07:27):
The ball and make plays. He picked.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
We talked all year will we pick up where he
left off that phrase, and that he did, and now
be interesting to see actually where it goes in the
regular season, because again these are kind of base plays.

Speaker 5 (07:39):
But not only did Koker move.

Speaker 3 (07:41):
Bryce moved him like he's he's looking downfield, just that
processing that he could see that on the run pocket
broke down.

Speaker 2 (07:47):
He's like the.

Speaker 5 (07:47):
Matrix out there, just like oo, everything's slowing.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Down and he moves him over and it's perfectly slid
around the back side of the end zone for the touchdown.
But to add some context to you know, Ky, what
you talk about, this is like a learning session on
top of the playing a game. Setting is they're trying
to make situational football happen. They only ran the ball
fourteen times. The Panthers are thirty five passes, so you're
you're really, you know, Andy Dalton's like Joe flaccod, you
know's got Joe flaccol He didn't play.

Speaker 5 (08:11):
You know what you have in Andy Dalton.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
But you wanted to get a look at the receivers
and what you have, and you needed a guy out
there to be that coach on the field to throw
the ball into the right spots and give them a
chance to evaluate all those players.

Speaker 5 (08:21):
So there's an evaluation going on.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
I thought the other component of that is to tire
Carter starting at guard in a regular season game, that's
probably gonna be Brady Christian center, it's gonna be Kade
Mays now at Austin Corbett's the starting center. Yes, so
you've got But because he was out, I mean, it's
like you want to look at other players and see
what they can do. And so to me, I thought,
you know, that's again just adding context that Yes, it's preseason.

(08:45):
You always want the culture of winning, and you're never
happy when you're not winning. But at the same time,
you really only have these three games to evaluate on field,
in a game setting, what these different components can do.

Speaker 7 (08:53):
And that's why it was so important for coach Canalis
to have the starters play. I mean, look at all
the data he's got. There's a lot of data that
he could go ahead and use it. Go okay, yes, no, no, yes,
this guy right here, oh no, oh, what if we
put this guy in a different situation. I thought one
of the other stories there is t Mac. I thought
that t Max stepped up to the play. I mean,

(09:15):
the first ball goes to who t Mac? I'm looking
for the number one guy to see if you're gonna
make a play, And guess what he's making plays out there?
So he was another story that we need to talk about.

Speaker 6 (09:26):
He made the one great catch down the sideline, and
then there was the play where he was lined up
on the far side. You see the corner back back
off and Bryce recognizes it to t Mac recognizes it.
I don't know if it was a planned hot router
that was the route, but all of a sudden it's
a quick slant, boom, easy yards. Now, the one rookie

(09:48):
mistake was Bryce put a ball on his fingertips and
you saw T Max's reaction. And Dave can Al has
talked about this, and you'll hear it when we played
Dave Canalis his interview from earlier today later on in
the show. Yeah, he kind of gives him the thumbs
up like Okay, I got you, Like, all right, this
is what this is what I know I need to do.

Speaker 5 (10:10):
And Steve Smith on.

Speaker 6 (10:11):
The TV broadcasta he kind of brought up the point like, okay,
this is the NFL now, College Open is no longer
a thing. The ball is gonna get on you quicker
it is.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
And it was just that split second of like ball
hits him in the hands, but his eyes weren't there yet,
exit hadn't turned his head, so even though Bryce do
it so perfectly it almost took his fingers off. His
eyes were just a half a second behind, and you
just you just have to fight through that that defensive
pressure and get your head turned quickly. But Bryce do
it perfectly through that fade route you talked about perfectly.
So that's that's the bigger thing. That stuff will calm

(10:42):
because this is tmax learning time.

Speaker 5 (10:43):
You want him.

Speaker 3 (10:44):
If he's gonna drop it, drop it in August, you know,
not in the regular seasons where the learning happens.

Speaker 7 (10:49):
We called it a whip roadfficules the outside, a snag
when it comes back to the inside. And so it's
a double move enough to double move that second move,
especially when you're in the end zone the red zone.
So as you make that move, you gotta be looking
because the ball's gonna be on you because typically the
quarterback always throws the ball before you make your break,
and so by the time you make your break, you

(11:10):
go that the ball should be on top of me.
So he's gonna learn that that the ball's gonna be
on top of you right now.

Speaker 5 (11:16):
Off a double move, particularly in.

Speaker 6 (11:17):
The resionace, something interesting I think to watch and we'll
see how it plays out over these next few weeks.
Jalen Coker played well, Yes he did. Xavierly get first
round pick a year ago, was ejected early in the
game for throwing punches, and we're gonna hear from Excel Jim.

(11:38):
You had a chance to talk to him today. He
addresses that he knows he made a mistake. Dave Kanalis said, hey,
I teach these guys to hold and engage till the
end of the play, and he got caught and then
all of a sudden he struck back and we saw
what happened. But Cocher showed well last year.

Speaker 5 (11:57):
In his opportunities.

Speaker 6 (11:59):
I think if you get past the pedigree, one guy
was undrafted, one guy was a first round pick. Listen,
I think Jalen Cocher can make a case for more
playing time when Week one rolls around, and if you're
Saviorly get hey, they drafted Tedro McMillan. Jalen Cocher is

(12:20):
still here, Hunter Renfro's got a chance to make the team.
Those mistakes have to start to go away.

Speaker 3 (12:28):
And the thing about making rosters is the more you
can do. Some do special teams, and that's not really
his biggest thing. There are some receivers that do special teams.
But he can play any of the receiver positions. You
can put them in the slot, you can pum on
the outside. Some guys are just slatter. They're much better
in one position or another. You can use them, literally,
Eugenie at any of the receiving positions.

Speaker 7 (12:46):
As a free agent, and I'm a free agent. Coaches
love when free agents. You come in and you make
plays and then don't care where they put you at.
You still make plays. They're gonna kick you on the field.
They're gonna put you on a field because you're a
guy that makes plays. All the pedigree goes out the window.
It's about making plays. And that's what Jalen Coker does.
He just makes plays. He's a big body, and I'm like, dude,

(13:09):
I gotta get him more touches. And I know that
coach Canals is saying to himself, Oh, we got to
get this guy more touch touches here. He needs to
get the ball in his hand because you can see
what he can do.

Speaker 6 (13:20):
Listen, you know Canalys has said, Hey, I want to
get the ball to our best guys. They may take
seven receivers Eugene. You know this, It's not like they're
gonna have seven different receivers catch a pass every game.
They're gonna try to get it to their top three
or four exactly.

Speaker 7 (13:34):
And we saw that with Bryce, we saw that with
Thilan a t Max Jaalen Coker. We saw that the
distribution is I wonder what coach Canals is saying to Uh,
to Bryce, Look, make sure you go through your progressions,
hit that open guy, get to the ball, get him
right now, get him right now.

Speaker 5 (13:50):
And that's what we saw. And I think as that continues.

Speaker 7 (13:54):
This this room of rookie of receivers, man, they're too good.
And I ain't even say talk about her rent Row
because when he get in the mix, I'm just telling
you that dude right there, he's special. He's absolutely special
in the slot. So good luck trying to cover that
dude in the slot. Good luck putting a title on
the field, because you've got too many receivers who can eat.
And so I'm just telling you this is a great

(14:16):
problem for a coast Canalis to have.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
Great problem.

Speaker 3 (14:19):
Do you remember having this conversation two years ago? No,
you don't remember having that conversation two years ago.

Speaker 6 (14:24):
You right about that, Zil It's opportunity cost right, You've
right about the lee get gets ejected. Cocher takes his
spot and then makes the most of his opportunity. And
we saw what Cocher can do last year. A couple
of news items. Austin Corbett officially named the starting center
and we expect to see Derek Brown play oh onst

(14:46):
weekend in Houston. I think that's a site for sore
eyes ninety five back out on the field.

Speaker 5 (14:51):
He was out there in pads a full go today.
Now it's a great sign. And it's been almost a
whole year.

Speaker 3 (14:56):
You go back to the regular season opener last year
and just being careful and you know the thing has
been said before. You know Tommy Tremble, their goal is
still week one for him. So getting a guy that's
I think he's keeping getting better and better every year.
The tight end position we can talk about a little
bit later on. I think there's some some question marks.
That's why we talk about James Mitchell and some other
things about who's gonna play wide and how many reps
and so forth. But some guys coming back to health

(15:17):
and it's good to see coming back from surgeries.

Speaker 7 (15:19):
You know, and particularly what we saw in that game,
the edge was precarious at best, and you know, not
focusing on the edge and getting guys to take that. Well,
when you put him in that four or five technique
on top of that that tackle, I mean, you got
a guy but Brown who can destroy your tackle, destroy him,
and so trying to get on the outside of him,

(15:41):
and you got a guy a lineback on the outside
of that, it's gonna be very difficult to do.

Speaker 5 (15:45):
All right.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
Still head here on Panther Talk. We will hear from
Dave Canalis. Coming up, we'll hear from Xavier Leaguet as well,
and Andre Ware joins us. He's the radio analyst for
the Houston Texans. Former Heisman Trophy winner also talks quarterback.
All that coming up here on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
This is Panther Talk. Ron Do you buy Bank of America?
What would you like the power to do?

Speaker 4 (16:11):
We certainly wanted to run the ball at the same time.
You know, I know who Tuba is, I know who
Rico Dadell is, and so we kind of mixed some
runs in there to make sure that you know, they
can kind of just get the field, get their feet
underneath them defensively, you know, to see the guys run, hit,
show up physically. You know, Trevin Wallace, I thought, had
some really nice tackles, some real physical play. It presented

(16:34):
itself for us to be able to see some of
the receivers, see what they could do with the ball
in their hands, and you know, get get a couple
of balls up the t Mac and Jalen Koker made
some plays, and you know, Jimmy Horn kind of had
a couple of flashes there in the second half. You know,
on the other side of it, Corey Thornton, you know,
continuing to do a great job, show up physical, whether
it's in the past game or the run game. You know,

(16:54):
just to be able to evaluate, you know, some of
the young guys they may be able to help us
this year.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panther's Radio network.

Speaker 6 (17:02):
Welcome back to Panther Talk here with Panthers head coach
Dave Kanalis. You guys had a special guest come talk
to the team today, author John Gordon, tell us about
his message to you guys.

Speaker 4 (17:15):
He was unbelievable, absolutely dynamite, and I think the thing
that he brought to us was the gift of commitment.
And you know, he wrote a book, The Seven Commitments
of you know, successful Teams, and he started walking us
through the power of commitment to each other, the power
of commitment to processes commitment to. Instead of just writing

(17:39):
goals down, write what you're willing to commit to, and
then that's more powerful, that gets you to the places.
And then of course, you know, in his in his
own fashion, he talked about the power of positivity, the
power of being optimistic and looking at challenges as a
good thing, you know, and and you know, just coming
together and finding finding ways through solutions through problems in

(18:05):
a way that excites the group, you know. And so
a really amazing.

Speaker 6 (18:08):
Time hearing him speak about the aspect of positivity and
leadership that that seems to resonate with what you do.
Where did that approach come from?

Speaker 4 (18:22):
I think, first and foremost it's from my faith. Growing up,
my grandpa and Grandma were really really strong in their
faith and believe that God has a plan and that
if you if you trust in the Lord, if you
spend time in prayer and you connect with him, that
he will he'll show you where he wants you to
go and that you can achieve anything, you know, and

(18:45):
that was passed on to my dad and my mom.
They raised this the same way me and my brothers,
that like, this guy's the limit and it's all about
opportunities and this hopefulness of what life can become, you know,
And so that's kind of really where it started. And
then I was fortunate to be around a guy named
John Featherstone at al Camino College who's a legend at
the junior at the community college level for football. And

(19:08):
then of course Pete Carroll for fourteen years, who was
an incredible leader and always looking for, you know, opportunities
and always felt like pursuing your best is the best
way to do life, you know, when forever is all
about just finding your best. And so I've had a
lot of strong influences in my life that way.

Speaker 6 (19:27):
How did John Gordon's message resonate with the players?

Speaker 4 (19:31):
It was great because I see our locker room becoming
what he was talking about. The commitment to each other,
the commitment to a style of play that's got to
look and feel the right way, a commitment to practice
that coming alive in practice. We're not talking about the games.
The games should just be a byproduct of what we
practice every day and the habits that we have, and

(19:55):
then just this culture of connection, you know, and that's
happening here, you know, in our stadium here at Bank
of America Stadium, and in the halls of people just
loving and respecting each other. I'm working really hard, you know,
And I mean it's kind of basic. It comes down
to that. You know, that's a really great culture to
work in, and I see our players doing.

Speaker 6 (20:13):
It, all right. So I heard him speak earlier today
as well, I'm going to kind of go off as
playbook since you guys are coming off your first game,
he said, one of the things you do when you're
kind of assessing an outcome, let's start with what did
you do well when you walked away from the Cleveland game?
What did you feel like you did well?

Speaker 4 (20:31):
Played physical? We played fast and physical. We played with
great effort, great enthusiasm, great toughness. Did we play as
smart as I.

Speaker 5 (20:38):
Would like to?

Speaker 4 (20:40):
No, we had mistakes. We had some things that we
can clean up. And I loved our finish. I loved
Jack Plumber going out there with the guys putting a
successful drive together Ryan finishing with the kick. It wasn't
to win the game, but it was finishing the right way.
It was all the way until there's no more time.
Can we continue to execute and do right longer? That's
what I thought we did well.

Speaker 6 (21:00):
And then when you look at what you could do better,
what did you identify?

Speaker 4 (21:04):
Yeah, you know, we averaged like two points something yards
per carry in the first half. I would like to
see better. The Browns, you know, created some challenges for us,
and we didn't stay on our blocks long enough. They
had a couple of looks that we hadn't scouted U
that causes some issues. And then you know, I think, uh,
I think just you know, kind of the penalties. You know,

(21:25):
that's that's something that we have to clean up. Two
turnovers that can't be a part.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
Of our game.

Speaker 4 (21:31):
You know, we put a we put a bit a
return on the turf. I mean that is a huge play.
You know, it's a fifty yard swing. And then and
then Andy's interception I just thought was a bad decision.
You know, you try to squeeze the ball in there,
didn't see a guy. You know, that's probably just throw
it away. Live to see another down. So there were
just some moments Xavier getting ejected. These are moments that
can't be a part of our football that we talked

(21:53):
about and the guys all agreed to. They would all
sit there and tell you they'd like to do better.

Speaker 6 (21:57):
And then what do you learn from a game like that?
I know, it's still preseason, whether it's personnel or otherwise.

Speaker 4 (22:04):
Yeah, I mean, my favorite part of this job is
that you learn about players that are going to show
up when the big lights come on, you know, and
watching Corey Thornton make plays, carry it over from the
practice field out there into the football field. To see
Jalen Kocher doing it again, you know, to see team
at go up and get a ball down down the sideline.
You know, see Trevor at t end you know, play

(22:25):
with some juice, Nick Scrton, relentless effort. You know, just
some new guys that were around that really showed me something,
you know. And I could go all the way through
the whole roster and just kind of point out some
of the things that I learned. But yeah, and we learned.
We learned some other things about guys that didn't show
up so well that we were counting on that kind

(22:45):
of let us down in ways, and you know, I
won't go into that, but we've talked to those guys
and say, hey, look, the consistency part of it's got
to show up on game day.

Speaker 6 (22:53):
You know, one last thing, coach you said earlier today,
Austin Corbett will be the starting center. What was it
that tipped the scales in his favor.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Yeah, I gotta say Kid Mays did a great job
and it was closer than people we'll ever know because
of just the coaches and how we've kind of graded
him every day, and and we just felt like Austin
brings a level of leadership to that group, to that
room that really just like he is a leader on
this team. He is a voice. People listen to him,

(23:25):
he brings a presence. And I think that that was,
you know, his kind of nudge for us that the
center position leadership is really important. Not that Kid didn't
do a good job, It's just that I think I
think Austin is a dynamic leader, and I'm really proud
of the way that those guys went about the competition.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
We're back after this on the Carolina Panthers a radio network.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
This is Panther talk brought do you buy Atrian health type?
Atrian Health, we do more to keep you moving, achieving,
striving at every age and stage so you can live fully.

Speaker 4 (24:05):
Two turnovers minus four and the explosives, like, that's what
the score is going to look like what it did today,
And I think it just allows me to be hard
on the guys in the right ways.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
Like our play style.

Speaker 4 (24:17):
You know, we talk about playing with great effort. That
was their enthusiasm. The guys were jacked for each other.
The toughness showed up. We had some great running and hitting.
We had some physical runs fired up about that play
and smart is the fourth part of our play style
and that did not show up for us today. The
penalties showed it. We were even with six and six penalty,
but it was when they happened, you know, that really

(24:38):
made the difference. So I get to show them, guys,
we can make football really simple if we can clean
these things up, you know, and they're they're gonna they're
gonna be receptive for it. But you know, you talk
about the depth of this team. Man, we're young, We're
very young, and these are the types of things that
happened with a young team where there's teachable moments and
we'll grow from it.

Speaker 2 (24:57):
This is Panther talk on the Carolina PAP. There is
radio network.

Speaker 6 (25:01):
Shotgun, snap, helmet high rice throws back of the end.
So touchdown excel x Xavier League yet his fourth touchdown
of the season.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Gid Up, I talk about Xavier League, get getting ready
for Houston Week and savior for you this time this
year versus last year when you were a rookie?

Speaker 5 (25:18):
Is it night and day?

Speaker 3 (25:19):
As far as just your knowledge and how you feel
up to speed?

Speaker 8 (25:21):
Oh yeah, man, I think it's a whole lot different,
just by the way that I'm my mechanics and how
moving and everything in that sense is hell.

Speaker 3 (25:29):
And you guys have such a great receiver room. What
has been Are you somewhat helping someone like tedor Roy
McMillan going through rookie things As far as mentoring him,
is that more Adam feeling Hunter run for? How's the
room kind of associate with him?

Speaker 8 (25:42):
Mine? We all coming together as a whole, so everybody,
we all got examples of how you could have did something.
And even he even can voice his opinion of some weed.
Noel Isle, what.

Speaker 3 (25:53):
Kind of stuff does he say to you guys as
far as coming out of college game when he kind
of talks about his game and what would help their
unit overall.

Speaker 8 (26:00):
And just things and the way how the like trying
to catch the ball on the defimble if we could
have did like a bump technique or a little like
a little push off in a sense. And there that's
all I do.

Speaker 3 (26:12):
And then Jalen Cocher, you guys came up together last
year and the same thing. Where he's in his second year.
You guys both look like you've progressed a lot from
where you were last year.

Speaker 8 (26:19):
Oh yeah, more differently, man, Jalen Cole, he's a great player.
I've been telling folks there since last year. And man,
ever since he'd been here, he'd been putting it on others.

Speaker 3 (26:27):
We'll talk about the joint practices, but working against your
own guys, working against Mike Jack JC when he's out there,
some of these other guys, uh even somebody like throwing
out there. How good are they making you guys in practice?
Working against that kind of secondary?

Speaker 8 (26:39):
Oh man, going against them, guy, they go hard every
day every day. It ain't no downfall so bad every
day we gotta be on point with it as well.

Speaker 3 (26:48):
Got the joint practice session with Houston in the preseason
game coming up here too. Did you enjoy the Cleveland
practice sessions last week as you getting ready for this
week's practice sessions.

Speaker 8 (26:57):
Oh yeah, for Shure, for show, Micaus, the brono they
got on was over there. Everybody that we're gonna play again.
They have some good some good competition over there on
the defensive set. So man, every day we gonna have
to come.

Speaker 3 (27:07):
To walk you and Coach covered the fact that you
got kicked out of the game with the scrum during
the preseason game, but he said, you bounced back in
this practice on Monday. What does that mean to you
as far as him kind of recognizing that, you know,
that's a teachable moment and that's something that.

Speaker 5 (27:21):
You move forward in a positive way.

Speaker 8 (27:22):
From Oh man, well, really, mind, I wouldn't even say
it's something that I'm coming back from because that's something
I'm supposed to do. Come back to work and maybe
as the main thing is football, So we'll have him
on Friday. I'm gonna leave out on the field. I mean,
I wasn't supposed to do it, but I just got
a good worry about the future.

Speaker 3 (27:39):
Finally, just with you and and Bryce, the chemistry we're
seeing with all the receivers and him having that full
time quarterback, knowing who it is coming in this season
and that he's gonna be in that position for the
long term. How does that settle that position for you
guys man?

Speaker 8 (27:51):
That's good for us mine because right now while we
incamptly still building and it's just gonna only get build.

Speaker 5 (27:57):
Sounds good. Thank you, Exavier for sure.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Panther Talk coming up after this.

Speaker 2 (28:03):
This is Panther Talk ponting coke. He deserves the great
taste of Goca Cola because fan work is thirsty work.

Speaker 6 (28:13):
Panther Talk continues and Carolina this weekend heads to h
town Houston one joint practice with the Texans and then
preseason game number two on Saturday at Houston. We bring
in a good pal of mine. He is the radio
analyst for the Houston Texans. Former Heisman Trophy winner Michael
Padre on ESPN on Friday nights. Andre. Where Andre, appreciate

(28:38):
you joining us as always. You know the quarterback position
as well as anybody, and I'm gonna take our fans
behind the scenes a little bit something you told me
when Bryce Young was going through it here in Carolina.
You said, hey, patience, he's going to be okay. And
we watched him come through the fire, played the position.

(29:01):
What kind of gave you that sense of sometimes not
these guys all don't develop at the same pace.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
No, they don't. And the one thing that fans really
have to take a close look at him because every
fan thinks, you know, this point in the year, you
know your team has an opportunity to win the Super Bowl,
and everybody's hoping and hanging on those things for the
twenty twenty five season and previous seasons. But there's a
reason that Bryce Young was chosen number one overall to

(29:30):
the Carolina Panthers, that they'd come up short the year
before and had the number one pick, which also means
that there's not a whole lot of talent around him
yet and at that particular position, you're going to need
it now. I don't care how good you are, I
don't care how you know what you have coming back

(29:51):
skill position wise, the one group that you have to
have it from are the five guys up front. If
you can't protect that direct affects the quarterback and how
he's going to do his job. It basically eliminates any
type of running game, so there's even more pressure on
a young player like Bryce Young. I thought after he
had a chance to sit, things kind of developed within

(30:13):
the offense last year, the offensive line started to come
around chemistry wise. Then he was reinserted. He played a
whole lot better. I think he won four starts out
of his last six or so. I don't know that
right off the top of my head, but it was
a much better finish to the season than it was
a start. You've got to have players around him, You've

(30:35):
got to have weapons, but most importantly, you've got to
be able to take care of the quarterback.

Speaker 6 (30:39):
You got a front row seat to CJ Stroud two
years in the league, two division titles, He's won a
playoff game each year. What is it about him that
you feel has made him so successful so early?

Speaker 1 (30:54):
I think CJ is just a natural leader, And when
you have that, guys want to play for you. And
so not only the guys that are drafted to this
team or guys that are already on the team that
have been here before CJ, but guys that have come
after free agents want to come to Houston to play
for CJ or play with CJ. Stroud, and then you know,

(31:16):
once they're here, he kind of embraces them. He's just
unique in that way where he can kind of rally everybody.
And I'm not just talking guys on the offensive side
of the ball. Defense. You see him in practice constantly
talking to the leaders of the defense and things of
that sort. That's when you've been fully embraced as a

(31:37):
team's leader, and that's exactly what he is. There is
no doubting who the franchise, The face of this franchise
is here in Houston and the unequivocal leader of the
Houston Texans at CJ.

Speaker 5 (31:49):
Stroud Andrea.

Speaker 6 (31:50):
Look at the AFC right, Buffalo feels they've got the
quarterback and the team that can go win a Super Bowl.
The Ravens feel that way as well with Jackson, and
they've been close. Cincinnati still has Joe Burrow, Kansas City
with Mahomes Herbert with the Chargers. Houston's kind of one

(32:11):
of these ascending teams. What will it take to take
that next step to kind of be in that very
top tier of the AFC, which really puts you in
that Super Bowl contender territory.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Really, it's two things in these it's because because one,
this defense is going to be phenomenal. I mean they
are gonna from top to bottom. The secondary, which used
to be the achilles heel of this defensive unit, is
now one of the strongest in the entire NFL. And
they're young. They're pretty much young across the board. Great
pass rushers, got good run stoppers inside, and linebackers that

(32:49):
can make plays from sideline to sideline. The two things
I'm talking about offensive line play, which we just spent
a little bit of time talking about a few minutes,
a few seconds ago. Up front, it's basic a new group,
Cam Robinson or Ursery at left tackle. You've got guys
in the middle at guard, whether it's moving Titus out

(33:09):
to tackle, Titus Howard to tackle or will he play guard?
How much or how fast can Blake Fisher step up?
Who was a second round pick a year ago, Juke Scruggs,
is he going to be a center or guard right now?
He's kind of started the preseason at left guard. And
then receivers, can someone develop outside of Nico Collins, which

(33:31):
you can be a reliable weapon because Tank Dale's still
you don't know if you're gonna have him at all
this year, and if so, how long? And then the
tight end Schultz, Jordan's Stover, three really good tight ends
that will have to be weapons in this offense until
the younger receivers like Jayden Higgins and Jalen Knowle, the

(33:54):
two guys from Iowa State come along, because there is
going to be some growing pains for those guys. But
who can step up in those roles to give CJ
another target outside of Nico. The running game I think
will be fine. That's provided that Joe Mixon come back healthy.
Chubb is going to certainly provide a spark Damian Pierce

(34:15):
when he's healthy. And then there are a couple of
younger backs behind those guys. That actually becomes how many
will you keep? Because it's such a talented running back room,
But those are the two areas it's wide receiver. And
then more importantly, how fast can the chemistry blend itself
together along the offensive line to give CJ enough time

(34:35):
to do his thing?

Speaker 6 (34:37):
No, we had Dylan Gabriel here on Friday. He's now
at the Cleveland Browns. You and I talked a lot
about him when he was in college three stops. Yeah,
you played the quarterback position. What does that do to
your development when you're learning a new offense and you
don't get to stack concepts on top of that because

(34:57):
we have so much movement in the college game, you
have all these coaches. They keep it simple. They tell
us this, Hey, we have to keep it simple. When
you have thirty forty guys, it's hard to build on
your playbook and add more things. Does that impact development
for a lot of these guys when they get to
the NFL?

Speaker 1 (35:15):
I think absolutely, because you're learning offenses and then I
guess the positive about that is that a guy can
learn his third fourth offense in that amount of years.
But you know, it's tough because every time you come
back to a new offensive system, it's like being a
freshman again on the collegiate level, and it's like being

(35:36):
a rookie again on the NFL level because you and
here's the best example for fans. If you're going to
go out and learn a new language, you can't keep
going back and forth in Spanish and saying, oh, this
word means this in English. You'll never learn it. It
will take you forever. You actually have to just dive
into it, forget the English part of it, or that

(35:59):
you know English, and take it for what it is.
And that's all the way down to learn in the
ABC's of whatever it is that you're learning. Well, offenses
are the same exact way for quarterbacks. You cannot continue
to compare and go back and forth or this concept
was like this one when I ran it in Detroit,
and no, it's something totally different. It's called something totally

(36:20):
different and you have to take it for what it is.
Otherwise you're going to be stuck in neutral for a
long long time. And once once you figure that part
of it out, then you're well on your way and
just accept the calls for what they are. You're basically
starting over again. Guys don't want to hear that. They
want the foundation in which to build on. Look at
Tom Brady, you know you be at New England. It

(36:43):
was the same foundation of plays over and over and
over again, and then they had you know, that's why
he's the greatest because he played basically one system his
entire career. Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw, the greats of the
greats played in one system. The guys that were from
sins the system or free agents, and they're moving constantly.

(37:03):
There's only one that I knew that was that successful
or had success doing that, and that was Warren Moon
playing in the run and shoot with the Oilers and
then going to Minnesota playing in a more conventional offense.
It is tough to do, and you've got to be
a very special individual. I went through it three offenses
in four years in Detroit. Every year I felt like
I was a rookie coming back. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (37:24):
It's funny because people hear the word system quarterback and
it's stigma, and you just rattled off the name of
a bunch of Hall of famers who were essentially what
system quarterbacks.

Speaker 1 (37:34):
Yeah, Dan Marino, I mean Hall of Famer, but played
in the same system with Don Shulup essentially his entire career.
When you get that lucky and you can stay in
one offense, one play caller your entire career, especially at
that position, boy, you are well way ahead.

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Of the game.

Speaker 6 (37:56):
That is Andre where this is Panther Talk on the
Carolina Panthers Radio network.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.

Speaker 6 (38:11):
And he shrop Eugene Robinson, Jimzoki. Preseason game number two
against Houston starters expected to get two three series on Saturday.
If Houston plays its starters, that's gonna be a really
good test that Texans defense, especially the back end, is
the real deal.

Speaker 3 (38:30):
Now they are, and you know, you look at what
they did, not only defensively, but now CJ. Stroud to
be a great test for our defense. Yes, I guess
based on their depth chart. Nick Chubbs are starting running
back Athough he's coming out concussion protocol, so I don't
know that we'll see him in this game, but they've
had some injuries to deal with. I got Nico Collins
back obviously too, So yeah, I think, yeah, that's that's
a really good test. And it's like I'd like the

(38:52):
two different things because you get what you get out
of the joint practice sessions where the coaches can do
what they want. But I think we do some good
comments by the coaching staff last week too, like they
like not knowing too, So I think that's where the
preseason game comes in. Goods like is not knowing and
how players react to not being told that we're gonna
do this play and then we're gonna do it again.

Speaker 5 (39:08):
It's like again, stop and start. You know, this is
like live football.

Speaker 3 (39:10):
So I think it's a it's a nice combination to
do both things like that.

Speaker 7 (39:13):
And I also think that coach Kanalis will get the
chance to see what our running game looks like. I mean,
there was a lack of running game, and maybe I
was that was by design. I'm anxious to see because
I've always thought the bread and butter and the and
and just the identity of this team has always been
we can run the ball. And whenever you can run
the ball, then you can absolutely pass the ball. And

(39:33):
so I want to see, you know, I want to
see Chuba, I want to see double, I want to
see in Tienna. I want to see what they look
like in this scheme and really pressing against Houston. So
I'm looking forward to much more of a sixty forty
running to passing game because I think that's our bread

(39:55):
and butter h for sure, and they're big.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
I'm practicing the things you're gonna do. So even if
that sounds sort of mundane, it's like will they don't
want to go into the regular season and like not
have practiced in you know, real speed or close to
real speed. The things that are gonna be staples of
what you're gonna do on the football field in real games.

Speaker 7 (40:11):
And absolutely and what they're gonna be able to do
when they have the joint practice. They're gonna do the
nine to seven, which is gonna be the simulated run
nine guys on seven guys, and you get after it.

Speaker 5 (40:19):
And so that's another place where you.

Speaker 7 (40:21):
Can go ahead and say, oh, okay, we can go
ahead and try out someplace here and try out something here,
see if this works on that it's nine against seven.

Speaker 5 (40:28):
Let's see what it looks like.

Speaker 7 (40:29):
And so I'm looking forward to you coach dial back
the passes as much and really concentrate on give Tuba
to Rock.

Speaker 5 (40:37):
Don't forget Cuba. Hubbard was a beast last year.

Speaker 7 (40:41):
He was a guy that steadily climbed up the ladder
and showed out and so his numbers were outstanding. So
I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do with
Cuba and once again dow to another crew.

Speaker 6 (40:54):
You bring up a great point too, experimentation, trying certain
things a certain way. I equate it to spring training
in baseball. You have a pitcher. I'm gonna experiment with
sequencing my pitches in a different way. Results aren't as important.
Let's see if this works. Or Hey, I'm a guy
who throws a fastball on a slider, but I'm working

(41:15):
on a changeup. I'm gonna feature the change up a
little more. Now you read the box score and you say, wow,
he got hit pretty hard. But was he getting hit
on the pitch that he may not use in the
regular season, or was he getting hit by sequencing in
a way that he would not sequence in the regular season.
I think sometimes we lose sight of that when we're
watching the games. L brad Idseach is calling plays, or

(41:37):
Jonathan Cooley is calling plays. Dave Canalis is giving these
guys a chance to put their own twist, their own
wrinkle on it. And sometimes it is by design, and
it's not so much about the result in the outcome,
but the process.

Speaker 5 (41:51):
Now that's a great point.

Speaker 3 (41:52):
And so it's a combination of two things, creating that
culture doing what you're going to do in the regular season,
but also trying these things you can't do in a
regular season game.

Speaker 6 (42:00):
We got about thirty seconds to go. This will be
the last game for the starters Houston, Week two of
the preseason.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
This has been Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network,
brought to you by Atrium Health. At Atrium Health, we
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(42:28):
deserves the great taste of Coca Cola because fan work
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