August 4, 2025 • 41 mins
This week on Panther Talk, Anish, Jim and Eugene speak with Dave Canales, Demani Richardson, and Andrew Siciliano about training camp, the Panthers roster, this Friday's preseason opener against the Browns and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is an exclusive presentation of the Carolina Panthers
and the National Football League Panther Tell and They're Tell
and They't. This is Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Network.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
See guys battling all the way through the depth you
know for places on this team is really exciting to me.
And it elevates the practice, It elevates the energy, it
elevates the intentionality, and guys just really you know, trying
to find their best and making each other better as
a result of that, which is going to be our goal.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
And now, along with Jim Zoki and Eugene Robinson, here's
a Niche shrouff with Panther Talk live from the Panthers
broadcast facility at Bank of America Stadium.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You know how, you know, it feels like a new year.
Look around you. Eugene Robinson, best shape of his life.
Jim Zochie better every day.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Right, No, just better every day. We used to do
one better, but that's that's our studio.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And you're gonna be able to see this at some point.
We're gonna have a video element, or so I'm told
for this show. The production values in here are amazing.
You know that these nice walls with these sharp things
on them. We've got two monitors.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What a description?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Two monitors which say panther talk, so we know what
the name of the show is, Eugene.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Is that Andy Dalton staring the brother in?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
There is a Andy Dalton mini fat head behind him?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
See?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Is the Matt Black helmet for anyone? Or is that
just for staying here?
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Like? Could anyone have that?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We've got a shelf with all sorts of Matt Black helmet.
There's a silver helmet. There's a Darren Gant Hall of
Fame press pass.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
It's a new season, fellas it is.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
It's a new season, but I think it's important to
pick up where we actually began in this building in
the studio last year, we all said twenty twenty four
would be a successful season if when we walked away
after week eighteen and said we have a quarterback and
(02:23):
Bryce Young is that guy, Jim. It wasn't a linear
progression to get there. It was a wild ride to
get there. But when we got to week eighteen of
last year, there was no question Bryce is the guy.
And now that becomes the jumping off point for twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
He has a phrase that's paraphrasing literally a bumpy road.
It was a bumpy road that led to a quarterback
change that brought Price Young back in and uh Andy
Dalton still in the quarterback room too, because we'll talk
about that. I'm sure in a little bit having a
veteran quarterback that doesn't mind being in the role of
being a mentor. We're gonna say a Cleveland team, Joe
Flacco said earlier. I think in the spring, I'm not
(03:02):
here to mentor anybody. If they learned something by watching me, great,
So I'm here to win the job. So you need
the right kind of veteran behind Bryce. But the bigger
point is that Bryce is Bryce and that he finished
great and at the end of the year coach said
he's the guy. There wasn't a question going to the
off season, and you can now build your program as
it were, around that, you know, bring in a top
receiver in the draft, put other elements around him, build
(03:25):
up that running game, and it kind of tailored to
the skills of your quarterback as opposed to whoever the
quarterback may be. And that's that's huge. It was great
Eugene watching Bryce's confidence kind of grow every week and
the numbers that came with it, the bigger chunks in
the passing game, and his ability to decisively run. So
it'll be interesting to see where he launches from this
point moving forward now.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
And I think he only gets better. I think he
gets better because of the people that Dan Morgan is
surrounding him with.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
Me.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
You know, I just keep hearing Hunter Riffel's name keeps
coming up. It just keeps coming up. We talked about
in fan Fest, leget make it. I mean, it's just
that has the look of like we got some we
got some guys around him to go ahead who can
make some plays and having their confidence, you know, up
(04:13):
and not from year, you know, from from what they
were last year. To get Cocher. I'll tell you what.
Theelan's back in the mix Renfros of my man horn.
There is so much to be excited about, and there's
so many weapons that Bryce could go ahead and utilize.
I'm excited and I cannot wait to see what Coach
(04:35):
unveils this year with this crew.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You sound like O Joe Sinko now, who is very
praiseworthy of this Carolina Panthers receiving room, But more than anything,
it's the continuity across the offense. Start with bringing back
your head coach and play caller, bringing back the entire
offensive staff, the top nine on the offensive line return
that is unprecedented at any level of football. Huge, So
(05:01):
Bryce knows who's in front of him. The running back room,
who's been upgraded. You added Rico Dowdell, a thousand yard
rusher to pair with Chuba Hubber who ran for close
to twelve hundred last year. Trevor Etn joins the party
from the draft. The receiving room, as you mentioned, incredibly deep.
There's excitement about Tedoroa McMillan. Okay, maybe some questions that
(05:24):
tight end Tommy Trimble's hurt.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
What does J T.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Sanders do in year two? The other guy right now
is a rookie and Mitchell Evans. But overall, to me,
you can now expand the menu in terms of play calling,
in terms of the playbook on offense, and this was
an offense that down the stretch last year it felt
Jim at times they had to score on almost every drive.
And we'll get to the defense because the defense couldn't
(05:49):
stop anybody, and the offense I thought played pretty well
in the last five six games of the season. Now
you have an entire offseason of sameness, continuity, routine, and
you can build off that.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Yeah, and it was interesting the year before. Of course,
it was the defense that was kind of keeping you
in games, and then the offense wasn't putting up out there,
and then defensively you blew the biggest tire on the
truck with Derek Brown, got hurt to make one, and
they just they were just limping and hobbling the whole
rest of the season after that. Shack Thompson came a
few weeks after that, Josie Jewel for a big chunk
of it. So it was just kind of one thing
after Yeah, I want him didn't play to the deal
(06:22):
like the Munich game. I think so that it just
took a lot of time to get any pieces to
even play with. You had guys like Trevin Wallace wearing
the green communications dot, but he was still trying to
figure out what his job was, let alone trying to
be the sort of the communications captain out there for
a period of time. But I think they really, you know,
went into free agency plugged holes with bringing in Bobby Brown,
and Turk Wharton and Patrick Jones. Obviously in the draft
(06:44):
you get the two edge guys in the second and
third round with Corting and mon Meellen and then bringing
in Americ in the safety bay. All three levels. They
really went after it and kept Mike Jack guys like that.
So I really think, you know, is it outside of
Derek Brown and jac Horn loaded with Pro Bowl put dential?
Maybe not, But I just think it's really deep and
a lot of veteran guys just football players and that fit.
(07:07):
So I think it's gonna be really a cohesive group.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
What do you see, you gene. I like it because
you had to address third down percentage. Third down percentage
last year for defense was fifty point two. That means
you can't stop anybody. A lot of that. I thought. Man,
not having Derek Brown in the mix and having DJ
Wantam come on much much later, and not having those
guys play together, I thought that was huge. I thought
(07:29):
to the fact that our linebackers were in flux. They
were just in flux. When you get all that, I
don't care who's in your secondary, you can't cover, You
can't cover for a long time at all. And the
fact that the quarterbacks will have time to throw the
rock is gonna put a lot of burden on that secondary.
So I think we've upgraded. I think we've gotten better.
(07:51):
And maybe that's not household names, but there's some guys
out there who want to eat and there's some guys
out there who are looking to go ahead and make
a name for themselves. And I think this is I'm
excited to see what we're gonna do because I think
O front seven just got better.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think last year we were all sort of cautiously
ready to dip our toe in and nobody really wanted
to put expectations on this thing because frankly, nobody knew
there is a sense of optimism. You saw it at
FanFest the other night. Yes, you brought up third down, Eugene.
I'd argue that starts with first down. The Panthers gave
(08:27):
up six point two yards per play on first down
last year. So you think about the game of football,
and Eugene, you played it at the highest level. What
happened impacts what is going to happen next. You're in
second and four, you're in third and two. As a
pass rusher, you can't really pin your years back if
you're the defensive coordinator agi ro Rovero, all of a sudden,
(08:48):
your menu shrinks exactly. Instead of calling off plays off
the isle of cart you're going off the kids menu.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Now. There's just not as many options.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
When you're not winning in the second half of games,
it's hard to dial up your pass rush teams that
generally are in the top five and sacks, those are
your better teams because they're playing with the lead. To me,
all this starts with one simple thing. If you can
stop the run, and with Dan Morgan, and Dan Morgan said, okay,
we invested a year ago in the offensive line to
(09:18):
be better in protection and to be able to run
the football. Now we got to get better and stop
the run. Take six point two and turn that into
four point two or four point five on first down.
I mean, that's a win and a half right there, easily.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Easily one hundred and eighty yards they gave it rushing
the ball per game. That is too many yards. It's
just too much. You can't win. You can't win because
the guys could keep running the ball and actually your
point six point two yards, man, when you come up
and second down, were looking at just four yards and
to get it first down. That's incredible. You got a
whole pluffer of players that you can go ahead and employ,
(09:53):
and you can't pin your airs back. You're right. And
so the fact that you're behind the eight ball every
single time on first and second down, no wonder, you're
losing on third down, and no wonder. You're on the
field for a very long time. And now your offense
has a lot of pressure. They gotta score, they gotta
come up. They can't make a mistake, and if they
do make a mistake, it's gonna cost you. And so
(10:13):
I think a lot of that has been cleaned up
and cleared up, and I think that Dan Morgan's right,
Go get me some dolls. Go get me some guys
who want to go ahead and eat defensively. And if
you get me some guys like that, we can win
some games. And we will win a lot more games
than five.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think two they you know, you think about there's
thirty two teams in the league. This league's been around
for how many years? And that was the worst rushing
defense in the history exactly, I mean, not of the
last year, in the history. And it was again, I
mean the injuries happened, but they were like so stacked
in so many positions. You're being guys off the practice
squad to come play, and then the next week they
(10:50):
be starters or they be a special teams guy and
you have to pull them off, you know, with some
of their special team rou teams to come be you know,
linebackers and defensive backs and so forth. So it was
just like this is that deep of the season, just
was no way to really fix it on the fly.
Now they've had an off season to go after it again.
Spend your second third round picks on some edge rushers
to go with the guys you got there. Because the
other thing about yeah the run, true, that's that's the
(11:11):
number one thing, no doubt about that. But you also
got to get pressure on the quarterback. And now rotationally,
you've got some depth there where if the two young
guys can do what they're supposed to do early on,
you got dj want and Patrick Jones. Now all of
a sudden, just get some pressure. It doesn't have to
be all the sacks, but just you know, affect the
pocket and you know, alter it, make it make it
easier for the secondary.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You brought up wantum I don't think this gets talked
about enough. He impacted the entire pass rush when he
came back. If you look at the Panthers first nine
games when Wanham did not play, ten sacks. In the
eight games that he did play, twenty two sacks. That's
a little less than three a game in that span.
(11:52):
In the two games against Kansas City and Philly, five
sacks against the Chiefs, four against Philadelphia. Now you're adding
Patrick Jones coming off a career season. As you mentioned,
you got the two rookies. By all accounts, DJ Johnson,
who might be competing for a roster spot, is having
a pretty strong camp. But again also being in a
position where if you're stopping people on first and second down,
(12:16):
you can now even bring that fifth guy and you
can add pressure to the equation. I think all that
holistically helps the pass rush, which again the low hanging
fruit is just to look at that raw number, right,
thirty two sacks, near the bottom of the league. But
when you look at the why and the how, and
the inability to stop the run, to me, impacted everything
(12:37):
you could do on defense last year.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
You're absolutely right, we could not stop the run. And
I just know being in the field all that time
and can't get off the field is just devastating. And
then you're starting to look and you're starting to talk
amongst you. And here's another thing we didn't talk about.
There was no really firm lead out there. There was
nobody to take charge. And I'm always looking for that
(13:00):
Luke Keikley, I'm always looking for that, Dan Morgan. I'm
always looking for that that Mike Minner, somebody who's gonna
go take control. And I didn't see it last year,
I know, and it was unfair for me to go.
Can Wallace be that guy? Hard as a rookie? I know,
I know it's and it's very difficult. And so that's
another thing that you like because there's a lot of
communication that goes down that has to go down across
(13:22):
the board from defensive line, linebacker's the secondary and a
lot of sometimes that that gets missed.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
They've got some guys now and you see it in
camp with Derek Brown being back and he's still working
his way back.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
J C.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Horn has become a leader on this defense. UH spend
some time around Trayvon Merrick in interesting young man guitar player,
big lizard collection, but natural energy, and there's leadership traits there.
Guys like Turk Wharton and Bobby Brown have won Super bowls,
Ayshawn Robinson has won a Super Bowl. So that pet
(14:00):
degree has now been added to the defense and the
arrow is pointing up. It is an exciting season ahead.
The first preseason game is this Friday against the Cleveland Browns.
All right, still to do here on Panther Talk. In
the next segment, we're gonna hear from Panthers head coach
Dave Canalis. We'll hear from Demani Richardson, he's in one
of the big position battles competing to be that's my
(14:22):
safety opposite merrig And then we'll hear from Andrew Siciliano,
play by play voice of the Cleveland Browns and one
of the leading voices in the NFL. All that ahead
here on Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
This is Panther Talk. Not do you buy Bank of America?
What would you like the power to do?
Speaker 6 (14:45):
Having a year last year and then going into this year,
just just buying into to the culture, buying into coaches message,
you know, buying into everything that he presents to us.
On a day to day basis. You know, we've we've
already bought in and now it's just making it our own.
And that's something and that coach always stresses, you know,
which is big for us. We've had that experience now,
so you know, obviously having the same coaching staff, with
(15:07):
just who this coaching staff is, you know, we're super
greatful for them to be here, what they bring. So
you know, we we have a lot of work to do,
but we're grateful for you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Panther Talk continues. We're here with Panthers head coach Dave
Canalis your second season at the Helm, first episode of
the new season of Panther Talk. Anything feel different for
you going into year two?
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think it's the expectation of what our brand of
football looks like from a coaching staff standpoint, and then
certainly from the players. I see players owning our play style,
the way we work, the way practice should feel like,
and the intentionality, the focus that's required all the way
through the day, in the meetings, in the walkthroughs, whatever
it is. I just feel very supported. I feel like
(15:56):
this is a collective thing. That we're becoming something, that
we're becoming a certain mentality of football, and so I'm
really proud of that. I'm proud of the energy that
the guys are bringing every.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Day across the board. It just feels there's far more
depth and that creates competition. How does that look on
the practice field.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, competition is everything, you know, Mine, Dan and I
our dream is to create high level competition at every
position group so that guys are battling for those last
couple of spots with really talented players. And we see
that happening across the board. Speaking to the depth part
of it, it really elevates the practices. It elevates that
(16:37):
competitiveness within each room, but across the ball, you know,
and you got T mac and Xavier going against J. C.
Horn and Mike Jack every day, you know, and you
know Adam Thielen going against Shaw Smith Wade and Hunter
renfro Out here, you know, doing his thing and challenging
the secondary in different ways. You know, you got J. T.
(16:59):
Sanders going to against Pat Jones and DJ Wanham and
Trevin Wallace and Boom having to go against Cewba Rico
and Trevor Aten and you know, just as the defense
comes together, the challenge for Bryce like bring in his
best every day, the defense bringing their best every day
because one little slip up and it's a big play.
The more we become, you know, a stronger unit, knowing
(17:20):
what we're doing, but then also just throwing waves of talent.
You know, at each group, a couple of.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Weeks into training camp, you get a lot of the hey,
he looks really good, and this guy made a couple
of nice catches. But from your standpoint, before you get
into that first preseason game, before that first joint practice,
is there a lot when you're evaluating that you say, yeah,
let's wait, or are there certain things you can kind
of pinpoint already?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean, everything counts. How they conduct themselves in the
meeting rooms, hearing them communicate, letting us know they know
what they're doing, the walk through reps, are they lining
up properly, are they doing their assignment being conscientious about
their technique even in a walk through mode, And then
certainly on the practice field. You know, I've been in
(18:06):
the NFL now for fifteen plus years, and I've seen
guys not make plays in training camp practices, and the
guys who do make plays are typically the ones who
make the plays in the preseason game as well. So
everything matters to us, everything counts. We treat it all
with respect and we approach every single day, every opportunity
as a chance to grow and get better and to
evaluate our team.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
For Bryce Young, now the second year in the system,
where is he in his progression as we kind of
get into the first preseason game.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Ownership, you know, ownership of our core concepts. And once
you own your concepts, then that's where you can add
lib and throw on a check here, a signal there.
You can start get the play off of the play.
You know, when you get your concepts really grooved and
going and they show up with success, you know, that's
kind of like tendencies are okay as long as you
(18:56):
know you have them and they're successful. The defense or
the offense may know what's coming, but then that's where
like the next part of your game happens. In Bryce,
his ownership has allowed us to continue to expand.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
The early returns On Tetero McMillan, it seems anything in
his catch radius is a catch. Listen, it's early, but
it seems like he's a guy to get excited.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
For absolutely, you know, and he fills the urgency of it.
He's handling it with class, he's handling it with maturity.
He's had his challenges out there and he goes to
the next play and you don't see him hang his head,
you don't see him stack up bad place. He rebounds quickly,
which I love to see. That's that's a sign of maturity.
(19:40):
You know, we're gonna be counting on him. He knows that,
and so you know, my message to him is just
take one day at a time, learn the lessons, grow,
find new mistakes the next day, and just continue to
grow with us.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I know, big offseason emphasis was to shore up the
defensive front. You already have a very solid offensive line.
What is the O line told you about what they're
seeing from the front on defense?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I mean, they don't have to say much.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
These are guys that challenge them every day. Bobby Bobby
Brown being out there, Turk Wharton. You know, Ashan looks
as good as he's looked. He's doing an amazing job.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Shy's a veteran guy just like does right, you know,
and and has that effort and finish. We're looking for
and then you talk about the young guys, you know,
Cam Jackson, and you talk about you know Lebriyan Ray,
who's a veteran guy now you know who is really
having an awesome camp. And it's a really competitive room
inside at the defensive tackle spot and certainly at the
(20:33):
outside linebacker spotted with a great rotation of guys with
Pat Jones, DJ Wanham, Nick Gorton, Prince leet Umanmelan, the
young guys finding ways to make plays every day, you know,
thomasin Kombe, DJ Johnson having a heck of a camp,
you know, and all along the front. You know, it's
just a really competitive group. I'm really excited with what
coach Todd Wassh is doing with those guys inside and
(20:56):
what Ac Carter is doing just challenging the guys to
play violin on the.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Last thing, coach insideline backer. I know you guys have
been thinned out a little bit there. What does depth
look like beyond Rose Boom and Trevin Wallace right.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Now, Claude Cherliss having a heck of a camp. Uh,
Kobe Winman competing with Bam Martin Scott, you know, John
Radigan and those three guys really just like you know,
getting the reps and showing that they can understand where
to line up, understand where to fit in the run game.
So there's it's a really competitive room, you know, and
a bunch of good young athletes there that we're waiting
(21:32):
to see, you know, who can step up and be
those consistent guys that we can count on, you know.
After those first couple of guys, Dave, thank you, all right,
Thanks Aniche.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
We're back after this on the Carolina Panthers a radio network.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
This is Panther Talk, brought you buy Atrium Health type
Atrium Health we do more to keep you moving, achieving,
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Speaker 2 (21:59):
This is gonna be a very competitive team. I don't
think people are gonna want to play us by the
style of football that we play. I'm expecting that My
expectations are really high for this group. They are every year,
you know, and we're gonna shoot for as good as
we can get. My language to the group is I
want to make sure we maximize the talent in this
room that'll take us as far as we need to go.
(22:20):
But that's gonna be our focus.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
This is Panther talk on the Carolina Panthers radio network.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Martinez out of the shotgun to throw over the middle,
overthrows this guy that's pickoff at the forty five yard line.
Richardson back to the fortieth. The judge puts it inside
the thirty and he takes it all the way down.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
To their twenty six yard line. Right on queue.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Panther's come through with a big play With Demani Richardson.
I talked about Panthers safety Demani Richardson about the midway
point of training camp and coming up and got the
joint practice sessions with Cleveland in the first preseason game.
We'll talk about all of that. But second year player
coming in after a first year where you went undrafted,
what's it like this year as far as your knowledge,
your confidence and all that After being an undrafted rookie
(22:58):
last year.
Speaker 9 (22:59):
My confidence confidence, whether I'm like first year, it's always high.
So I'm just building on their confidence, working on my
getting better each and every day. I'm a little bit
more familiar with the playbooks, so all of those things
helped me each a little bit, a little bit more
and more so just having that experience just helps me,
Like no, help me play faster and have a little
(23:20):
bit more knowledge.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
At what point of last season did you feel like
maybe it switched from one point oh to two point
oh as far as not being a college player feeling
comfortable as a pro. Was there kind of a juncture
or a month of the season where things kind of
slipped for you at all?
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Really? When I got into like, okay, is like, I
was like this is real, Like this is hard, nos,
Like this is like cutthroat, Like this.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Is a business.
Speaker 9 (23:45):
So I gotta always stay on my A game and
always do everything right and make sure that I'm doing
all the right things.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Guys like you and Jail and Cocher coming in last
year a wide receiver kind of inspiration to guys on
this team that are undrafted rookie free agents coming in.
What was kind of your work to them? And is
it a little bit more difficult when you're not a
draft choice to kind of get everybody's attention.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 9 (24:06):
Just I would tell those guys just make sure're doing
the right all the little things right and make sure
you learn to playbook.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Make sure you're just.
Speaker 9 (24:14):
Like not making the same mistakes twice, and make sure
you like you're like you're producing when you get those
opposite produced, and like not like I said, not making
the same mistakes twice.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
So that was the biggest thing. Produced.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Do all the little things right and try to like
get noticed and be on all the teams as much
as possible, and make sure like they know, like that
you're like that you don't care about undrafted, like you
don't care about any of that stuff or who are
you going against. Just make sure you're going hard on
each and every day and make sure you're like staying
true to your work and trusting in God.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
We work with a guy that played safety for sixteen
years does our radio with us now, Eugene Robinson, right,
sixteen years in the league, and he caught on to
you earlier. He said, Demiani Richards is a really good
football player. When you hear that from a guy that
played sixteen years with fifty eight career interceptions saying that
to you as a rookie, free Jim, what was that
kind to say about your game?
Speaker 9 (25:02):
I just feel like once you if you a football player,
knows a football player.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
So it's good that he noticed that. I hope I can.
Speaker 9 (25:09):
I'm improving right in the future. And by playing a uh,
playing this league a little bit more more so, just
hearing that from her, I'm glad that he realized it.
I just gotta keep working and building all the things.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I know you'd be excited for whatever your role plays
out to be. But the fact that you're competing for
our starting role, what what does that mean in your
second year?
Speaker 5 (25:28):
It means everything.
Speaker 9 (25:29):
The coach is just trusting in me, giving me a chance.
So I just gotta capitalize and keep going to work
each and every day and keep getting.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Better based on doing joint practices last year. What's this
week like with Cleveland coming in for joint practices first
preseason game, everything amps up obviously a little bit more
this week.
Speaker 9 (25:45):
Yes, sir, we just we kind of get a little
bit more in game mode. Always going against another poem
is always good. So it's going against them with Braying,
it's gonna be a little bit more juice. We always
have a juice, but it's gonna be a little bit
more because of a different opponent. Opponent, so just going again,
it'll be fun, all right.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Last thing, we'll let you go trivia. Amrick comes in
from the Raiders with a four year contract. One of
your partners back there obviously on the key members at safety,
but what is he brought immediately to the secondary here?
Speaker 9 (26:10):
He brains fighting is like he's a feisty guy, like
he hit somebody, he'll talk trash. We haven't really saw
much about know it's coming soon. And he's like getting
more and more uncomfortable each and every day. So having tried,
there's his brains a little bit more and more fire
each eas like out of the dB room. So just
being back there with him just like allows you to
(26:32):
play fast, allows you play a little bit more like
with more a little bit more fire.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Love to hear at the money.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Thanks so much, best of Bluck, Yes, sir, thank you.
More Panther talk coming up after this.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
This is panther talk. Long do you buy coke? Dude?
This Zero's the great taste of Coca cola. Because fan
work is thirsty work.
Speaker 7 (26:53):
We just want to get better every single day, bringing
mind set every single day, start back at zero at
every single day. And I think that's the mindset we
have to have, you know, myself and Dave as the leadership,
but I also think our players need to do that too,
and I know that they're they're already doing that. So
you know, we just gotta we gotta earn everything. You know,
(27:15):
you can talk all you want, but we got to
go earn it. And it starts out there on the
football film.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
This is Panther Talk on the Carolina Panther's Radio network.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Panther Talk continues as we count down to the first
preseason game this Friday against the Cleveland Browns, and we
bring in not just the play by play voice of
the Cleveland Browns, but one of the leading voices in
the NFL, Andrew Siciliano. Andrew, appreciate you joining us here
on Panther Talk.
Speaker 8 (27:44):
A niche. It is a pleasure to be with you.
You are far too kind. Did my mother write that
for you on platter?
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Thank you? She did.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
She sends a blueberry pie along with it as well,
which I appreciate, but fantastic good. We'll get into some
stuff with Cleveland, but you've covered this league for a
long time. In the big story right now, Michaeh Parsons
in the situation with Dallas, Oftentimes a player asks for
a trade during a contract dispute. It's just leverage. It's
(28:15):
just words. You guys saw it with Miles Garrett not
too long ago. Does this feel different with Parsons and
Dallas or is this more of kind of what we've
seen over the years from a number of players.
Speaker 8 (28:29):
I would say both both can be true, but I
do think this one feels a bit different. When you
and Niche Dak Prescott, i've Cee Lamb, who have both
gone through similar scenarios the last couple of years, both
go to the podium and both say, you know, this
could have been avoided. It's a shame that we have
to get to this point yet again when you have
multiple players change their social media avatars, their photos on
(28:54):
their profiles. To Adam Michaeh Parsons, this one does feel
a bit different. And look, I've said it all summer,
and I think we even said it last year. Jerry
Jones could have gotten this done weeks months a year ago.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Now.
Speaker 8 (29:09):
There's nothing that says you must pay after year three,
right five year Rosie contract for the first round picks.
You generally know what the quarterbacks you generally pay after
year three, whether it's your first round quarterbacks like Justin
Herbert or Joe Burrow, you pay after year three. The
Bangles waited until after year four for Jamar Chase. The
Cowboys choose to wait until after year four, at least
(29:30):
for now, it seems with Michael Parsons. But it's always
cheaper to pay earlier because the market is only going
on the market has never gone down for any position.
At any time, the camp is going up. You pay earlier,
you saved some money. I think some of the comments
about Treyvon Diggs well Karen Steele, where Jerry Jones when
he opened up his open up camp with his initial
(29:51):
press or at lock starts suggesting that, well, I pay
those guys early, and those were mistakes. That doesn't hit
well in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
This thing all been avoided, Andrew. One of the trends
that we have noticed in the NFL one is that
this is a copycat league, and successful teams last year
committed to running the football. I was just looking up
that in twenty twenty three, for example, not a single
NFL team had a running back with three hundred plus
(30:19):
rush attempts. Last year, six of them did the most
in more than a decade. We saw what the Ravens
did with heavy personnel, certainly the Eagles. There were other
teams in there are we kind of pivoting now getting
back to a running, physical, phone booth bet brand of football.
Speaker 8 (30:40):
Absolutely everything is cyclical, and when defenses go smaller, when
you have two hundred and twenty pound linebackers, it's eventually
going to swing the other way. People are going to
get back on the other side of ball to pounding
the football. In Pittsburgh this week, a Niche they were
experimenting with a four tight end package, like er four
personnel if you want to call it that. John hus
(31:00):
Smith lined up as the tailback, a tight end, and
they had three other tight ends on the field and
they gave John H. Smith the ball. Now, is some
of that all just for show and practice with reporters
watching in every one of the Sands and Latrobe filming
on their cell phone. Sure, But I mean that's an
(31:21):
example of Arthur Smith saying, Hey, you got a light box,
you're gonna go dime. I'm gonna put four tight ends
on the field and I'm gonna hand it to one
of those tight ends and let's let's see what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, we're talking thick now with three seas at the
end instead of two.
Speaker 8 (31:34):
Yeah, exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
You cover the Cleveland Browns. You are their radio voice.
I don't think there is a more intriguing quarterback derby
in training camp anywhere. So Picket, Flacco, Shadoor obviously has
a lot of buzz, Dylan Gabriel, and then you've got
Deshaun Watson who's hurt. But give us the snapshot of
(32:00):
what this quarterback carousel looks like right now.
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Well, I'll give you the headline here today and as
we record this on Monday, should Or Sanders, who's just
at the podium. He says he's good to go, He's
going to be able to practice today. Had a sore
shoulder on Saturday. Said you know he had he had
a similar situation once or twice or whatever in Colorado.
He is fine, No, Mri, He's good. It is a
four quarterback race, but I don't know that it truly is.
(32:25):
I think it's really Kenny Pickett or Joe Flath or
Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett. Now I say this before
the joint practice with the Panthers, before the two joint
practices next week that the Browns have in Philadelphia against
the Eagles. And I say this before three preseason games
in which both rookie quarterbacks will get a lot of
work and they will have a chance to shine, but
(32:45):
in each the brown schedule is brutal. The AFC North
plays the NFC North and it plays the AFC East.
It's not a favorable schedule. The Browns open Bengals at home,
Ravens on the road, Packers at home, Lions on the road,
then to London to face a rested Vikings team because
they will have been in Dublin the week before, and
then they come home and they don't get a buye.
(33:06):
They just have to go to Pittsburgh to faith Aaron
Rodgers and the Steelers. So the idea that you're gonna
start a rookie out of the gate, to me is silly.
I don't think it is going to happen now that
there's always the possibility that one of these rookies could
just light it up and you can't keep them off
the field. I just don't see that scenario playing out.
(33:27):
So I think it's flat over Pickt. And I really
do like Kenny Pickett, but right now he's only doing
individual drills. He's pushing to get back into team stuff
with a handy Joe Flatto right now is the best
quarterback in camp. He can still sling it, but Kenny
Picketts made some throws and I do think it's one
of those. Two are week one, September seventh at home
against the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Now forty year old Joe Flacco. Yeah, with Shador. When
I saw you last at the Combine in Indy. The
debate around Shadoor at that point was is he the
number one pick? And if he's not probably going in
the top three, he ends up going in round five.
There was a lot of smoke and a lot of
noise that came out leading up to the draft and
(34:08):
certainly after the draft. What have been your impressions of
Shador being around training camp?
Speaker 8 (34:16):
The building loves him. He's working his tail off and
that's your number one headline. He has done everything they've asked.
He is almost always one of the first two three
players on the field, sometimes forty minutes before practice, not kidding.
He is always one of the last guys off the field.
He is working his tail off and everyone has truly
(34:39):
learned to like him. So he's endearing himself to the
building and certainly to the city. Understandably, he also had
a lot to learn, and I think that's fair to say.
Coming to the NFL. Dylan Gabriel played at UCF, at Oklahoma,
at Oregon in a lot of different systems. He did
a lot more under center under will Stein at Oregon,
(35:00):
you know, more the stretch game, more the playfake game.
So he had I think a step ahead of Shador
when it came to just processing the offense. They have
both had good days in bad and by the way,
everyone loves Dylan Gabriel in the building as well. I
think Shaudor is a gamer. I think it. Assuming we
see him Friday Night against the Panthers, I think he's
gonna make some plays. I also think Dylan Gabriel will
(35:21):
make plays. Gabriel didn't have a great Friday Saturday of practice,
but he certainly shined earlier in the week. Shoudur is
doing all the right things. He's not getting a lot
of reps in training camp because he is legitimately number four,
so the joint practices in the preseason games will truly
tell the story.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Andrew Siciliano, voice of the Cleveland Browns and one of
the leading voices in the NFL, Andrew appreciate you coming on.
We will see you on Friday and safe travels to Charlotte.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
And he can't wait to see you, can't wait to
get down.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
This is the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
The first preseason game is this Friday, Cleveland Browns in town.
They'll have a joint practice leading up to the game,
and oftentimes that's more of the tell for the coaching
staff and the front office in terms of evaluation. So
we'll see how close the Panthers played to the vest
when it comes to game day on Friday. But the
(36:30):
one big difference this year, Eugene, the Panthers will play
their starters. According to Dave Canalis, in the first two
preseason games last year, they only played one series and
it came in the third game.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
And I've been screaming for that well a very very
long time. I think is so important that you get
your first units. They got to get some game experience
in preseason. I don't want them seeing a team very
cold on the very first game. They need to get this.
They need to go ahead and get the communication. They
(37:02):
gotta they gotta get the win up. You gotta get
a lot of stuff. You gotta get into that little
hitting shape, even if if it's for just a couple
of series, that's better than not doing anything because it's live.
It's live. You're not gonna get anything that's more controlled
than that. So I applaud you, Coach Canalis. It's important
that your guys get some you know, get that russ
(37:25):
off right now in preseason.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I think you're kind of doing it everywhere they can.
Like the practices themselves have been a little bit more
physical than they were last year. You mentioned playing the
starters in the first two preseason games is something he
said last week. And they have two joint practice sessions
Houston next week after this week with Cleveland too. So
I think as far as today's NFL goes, they're taking
it as far up to as physical as they can
(37:48):
be safely. But we've seen, like you know, ten years ago,
Calvin Benjamin at that time was in our number one
receiver of the Super Bowl year and he tears his
ac on a non contact a portion of the Miami
Dolphins uh joint practic session. So injuries happen where they happen,
and so I think you just go ahead and you
play football, right, You just you do what you're trained
to do. And nobody's going to push the envelope too
(38:08):
far as far as you know, trying to you know,
lay out too much or put themselves in danger where
they're gonna have an injury that they're gonna.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
And go force and FanFest they were tackling. I mean,
there was some live sessions and I loved it too,
because this control. It's not like all the way live,
but you you have some sense when you when you
can take a dive down to the growl, dowllads getting
taken to the growl, each hand is getting hit, and
take it down to the ground. He's gonna have to
go ahead and learn the good and get that shake
and that shift, that shime and all that type of stuff.
You learn that in live settings. You don't learn that
(38:36):
just by watching.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
And the injury factor that is sort of the untold
unsaid truth in the NFL. Look at last year, forty
nine ers coming off this great run missed the playoffs
number one in terms of injuries in the NFL. Panthers
were number two. You look at the teams at the
bottom of that list with the fewest injuries that's where
(38:58):
you find the eg you find the Ravens. We can
talk all we want about the personnel, and you got
this guy and this guy and this guy being available,
being healthy. That is as much a factor when it
comes to season long success as maybe anything else.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
And you saw that kind of expanded a little bit
more of the NBA playoffs. It became a battle of
Attritionia I thought the Pacers and the Thunder got there. Yeah,
and then Halliburton gets hurt, you know, the very end.
But you know, those are two healthy, talented teams and
a lot of other teams had you know, we look
at jaj Tadam with the Celtics, and a lot of
teams had major injuries as they went on. So those
things are setbacks, whether they're for a period of time
(39:38):
or for a long period of time. So yeah, it's
it's true of major sports. You get elite athletes out there.
They're paid a lot of money for a reason. That's
why it's not always next band up. There's always not
a next Christian McCaffrey or whoever exactly.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
You know what, you got to be healthy, and no doubt,
you've got to be healthy as you start the season
as you in the midseason, as you get to the playoffs,
you got to be healthy. And if you get hurt,
you know you can you can limit what you you
do or you can be out for a very long time.
But you can't you can't plan for that. I mean,
I could sit you out, man. You can get hurt
at home walking, you know, step you can. So just
(40:11):
you know, this is a game that we signed up for.
This is what we do. You protect your body, you
lift weights, you do all that type of stuff that
will get your body in the great shape to eat
correctly and all that things. And then you throw all
that stuff to the win because you got to play
full speed and you can't be messing around trying to
be to save yourself.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
We said it at the top of the show. That's
the one big difference between this team and last year.
Speaker 5 (40:33):
Depth.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
They're better equipped to handle injuries, certainly on the offensive side,
certainly on the defensive line Shy Tutal and Lebrian Ray.
Right now, we're probably five to six on the defensive
line depth chart. They started twenty four games last year
because of the injuries to guys like Derek Brown. Now
there's certain positions inside linebacker, corner back, maybe safety. You
(40:56):
need good health because you just don't have the same
kind of depth. You want to get through this weekend,
the joint practice, the preseason game doesn't matter if you
win or lose. You want to see the starters have
their moments more than anything. When that injury report comes
out next week. You want to have a clean bill
(41:17):
of health. Stay healthy, stay fresh through the preseason, and
be ready to go in Week one.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
This has been't on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network, brought
to you by Atrium Health. At Atrium Health, we do
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(41:45):
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This He's the Carolina Panthers Radio Network
The following is an exclusive presentation of the Carolina Panthers
and the National Football League Panther Tell and They're Tell
and They't. This is Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Network.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
See guys battling all the way through the depth you
know for places on this team is really exciting to me.
And it elevates the practice, It elevates the energy, it
elevates the intentionality, and guys just really you know, trying
to find their best and making each other better as
a result of that, which is going to be our goal.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
And now, along with Jim Zoki and Eugene Robinson, here's
a Niche shrouff with Panther Talk live from the Panthers
broadcast facility at Bank of America Stadium.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
You know how, you know, it feels like a new year.
Look around you. Eugene Robinson, best shape of his life.
Jim Zochie better every day.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Right, No, just better every day. We used to do
one better, but that's that's our studio.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
And you're gonna be able to see this at some point.
We're gonna have a video element, or so I'm told
for this show. The production values in here are amazing.
You know that these nice walls with these sharp things
on them. We've got two monitors.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
What a description?
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Two monitors which say panther talk, so we know what
the name of the show is, Eugene.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Is that Andy Dalton staring the brother in?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
There is a Andy Dalton mini fat head behind him?
Speaker 5 (01:42):
See?
Speaker 4 (01:42):
Is the Matt Black helmet for anyone? Or is that
just for staying here?
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Like? Could anyone have that?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
We've got a shelf with all sorts of Matt Black helmet.
There's a silver helmet. There's a Darren Gant Hall of
Fame press pass.
Speaker 5 (02:01):
It's a new season, fellas it is.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
It's a new season, but I think it's important to
pick up where we actually began in this building in
the studio last year, we all said twenty twenty four
would be a successful season if when we walked away
after week eighteen and said we have a quarterback and
(02:23):
Bryce Young is that guy, Jim. It wasn't a linear
progression to get there. It was a wild ride to
get there. But when we got to week eighteen of
last year, there was no question Bryce is the guy.
And now that becomes the jumping off point for twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
He has a phrase that's paraphrasing literally a bumpy road.
It was a bumpy road that led to a quarterback
change that brought Price Young back in and uh Andy
Dalton still in the quarterback room too, because we'll talk
about that. I'm sure in a little bit having a
veteran quarterback that doesn't mind being in the role of
being a mentor. We're gonna say a Cleveland team, Joe
Flacco said earlier. I think in the spring, I'm not
(03:02):
here to mentor anybody. If they learned something by watching me, great,
So I'm here to win the job. So you need
the right kind of veteran behind Bryce. But the bigger
point is that Bryce is Bryce and that he finished
great and at the end of the year coach said
he's the guy. There wasn't a question going to the
off season, and you can now build your program as
it were, around that, you know, bring in a top
receiver in the draft, put other elements around him, build
(03:25):
up that running game, and it kind of tailored to
the skills of your quarterback as opposed to whoever the
quarterback may be. And that's that's huge. It was great
Eugene watching Bryce's confidence kind of grow every week and
the numbers that came with it, the bigger chunks in
the passing game, and his ability to decisively run. So
it'll be interesting to see where he launches from this
point moving forward now.
Speaker 5 (03:45):
And I think he only gets better. I think he
gets better because of the people that Dan Morgan is
surrounding him with.
Speaker 6 (03:51):
Me.
Speaker 5 (03:52):
You know, I just keep hearing Hunter Riffel's name keeps
coming up. It just keeps coming up. We talked about
in fan Fest, leget make it. I mean, it's just
that has the look of like we got some we
got some guys around him to go ahead who can
make some plays and having their confidence, you know, up
(04:13):
and not from year, you know, from from what they
were last year. To get Cocher. I'll tell you what.
Theelan's back in the mix Renfros of my man horn.
There is so much to be excited about, and there's
so many weapons that Bryce could go ahead and utilize.
I'm excited and I cannot wait to see what Coach
(04:35):
unveils this year with this crew.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
You sound like O Joe Sinko now, who is very
praiseworthy of this Carolina Panthers receiving room, But more than anything,
it's the continuity across the offense. Start with bringing back
your head coach and play caller, bringing back the entire
offensive staff, the top nine on the offensive line return
that is unprecedented at any level of football. Huge, So
(05:01):
Bryce knows who's in front of him. The running back room,
who's been upgraded. You added Rico Dowdell, a thousand yard
rusher to pair with Chuba Hubber who ran for close
to twelve hundred last year. Trevor Etn joins the party
from the draft. The receiving room, as you mentioned, incredibly deep.
There's excitement about Tedoroa McMillan. Okay, maybe some questions that
(05:24):
tight end Tommy Trimble's hurt.
Speaker 5 (05:26):
What does J T.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Sanders do in year two? The other guy right now
is a rookie and Mitchell Evans. But overall, to me,
you can now expand the menu in terms of play calling,
in terms of the playbook on offense, and this was
an offense that down the stretch last year it felt
Jim at times they had to score on almost every drive.
And we'll get to the defense because the defense couldn't
(05:49):
stop anybody, and the offense I thought played pretty well
in the last five six games of the season. Now
you have an entire offseason of sameness, continuity, routine, and
you can build off that.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Yeah, and it was interesting the year before. Of course,
it was the defense that was kind of keeping you
in games, and then the offense wasn't putting up out there,
and then defensively you blew the biggest tire on the
truck with Derek Brown, got hurt to make one, and
they just they were just limping and hobbling the whole
rest of the season after that. Shack Thompson came a
few weeks after that, Josie Jewel for a big chunk
of it. So it was just kind of one thing
after Yeah, I want him didn't play to the deal
(06:22):
like the Munich game. I think so that it just
took a lot of time to get any pieces to
even play with. You had guys like Trevin Wallace wearing
the green communications dot, but he was still trying to
figure out what his job was, let alone trying to
be the sort of the communications captain out there for
a period of time. But I think they really, you know,
went into free agency plugged holes with bringing in Bobby Brown,
and Turk Wharton and Patrick Jones. Obviously in the draft
(06:44):
you get the two edge guys in the second and
third round with Corting and mon Meellen and then bringing
in Americ in the safety bay. All three levels. They
really went after it and kept Mike Jack guys like that.
So I really think, you know, is it outside of
Derek Brown and jac Horn loaded with Pro Bowl put dential?
Maybe not, But I just think it's really deep and
a lot of veteran guys just football players and that fit.
(07:07):
So I think it's gonna be really a cohesive group.
Speaker 5 (07:09):
What do you see, you gene. I like it because
you had to address third down percentage. Third down percentage
last year for defense was fifty point two. That means
you can't stop anybody. A lot of that. I thought. Man,
not having Derek Brown in the mix and having DJ
Wantam come on much much later, and not having those
guys play together, I thought that was huge. I thought
(07:29):
to the fact that our linebackers were in flux. They
were just in flux. When you get all that, I
don't care who's in your secondary, you can't cover, You
can't cover for a long time at all. And the
fact that the quarterbacks will have time to throw the
rock is gonna put a lot of burden on that secondary.
So I think we've upgraded. I think we've gotten better.
(07:51):
And maybe that's not household names, but there's some guys
out there who want to eat and there's some guys
out there who are looking to go ahead and make
a name for themselves. And I think this is I'm
excited to see what we're gonna do because I think
O front seven just got better.
Speaker 3 (08:05):
I think last year we were all sort of cautiously
ready to dip our toe in and nobody really wanted
to put expectations on this thing because frankly, nobody knew
there is a sense of optimism. You saw it at
FanFest the other night. Yes, you brought up third down, Eugene.
I'd argue that starts with first down. The Panthers gave
(08:27):
up six point two yards per play on first down
last year. So you think about the game of football,
and Eugene, you played it at the highest level. What
happened impacts what is going to happen next. You're in
second and four, you're in third and two. As a
pass rusher, you can't really pin your years back if
you're the defensive coordinator agi ro Rovero, all of a sudden,
(08:48):
your menu shrinks exactly. Instead of calling off plays off
the isle of cart you're going off the kids menu.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Now. There's just not as many options.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
When you're not winning in the second half of games,
it's hard to dial up your pass rush teams that
generally are in the top five and sacks, those are
your better teams because they're playing with the lead. To me,
all this starts with one simple thing. If you can
stop the run, and with Dan Morgan, and Dan Morgan said, okay,
we invested a year ago in the offensive line to
(09:18):
be better in protection and to be able to run
the football. Now we got to get better and stop
the run. Take six point two and turn that into
four point two or four point five on first down.
I mean, that's a win and a half right there, easily.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Easily one hundred and eighty yards they gave it rushing
the ball per game. That is too many yards. It's
just too much. You can't win. You can't win because
the guys could keep running the ball and actually your
point six point two yards, man, when you come up
and second down, were looking at just four yards and
to get it first down. That's incredible. You got a
whole pluffer of players that you can go ahead and employ,
(09:53):
and you can't pin your airs back. You're right. And
so the fact that you're behind the eight ball every
single time on first and second down, no wonder, you're
losing on third down, and no wonder. You're on the
field for a very long time. And now your offense
has a lot of pressure. They gotta score, they gotta
come up. They can't make a mistake, and if they
do make a mistake, it's gonna cost you. And so
(10:13):
I think a lot of that has been cleaned up
and cleared up, and I think that Dan Morgan's right,
Go get me some dolls. Go get me some guys
who want to go ahead and eat defensively. And if
you get me some guys like that, we can win
some games. And we will win a lot more games
than five.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
I think two they you know, you think about there's
thirty two teams in the league. This league's been around
for how many years? And that was the worst rushing
defense in the history exactly, I mean, not of the
last year, in the history. And it was again, I
mean the injuries happened, but they were like so stacked
in so many positions. You're being guys off the practice
squad to come play, and then the next week they
(10:50):
be starters or they be a special teams guy and
you have to pull them off, you know, with some
of their special team rou teams to come be you know,
linebackers and defensive backs and so forth. So it was
just like this is that deep of the season, just
was no way to really fix it on the fly.
Now they've had an off season to go after it again.
Spend your second third round picks on some edge rushers
to go with the guys you got there. Because the
other thing about yeah the run, true, that's that's the
(11:11):
number one thing, no doubt about that. But you also
got to get pressure on the quarterback. And now rotationally,
you've got some depth there where if the two young
guys can do what they're supposed to do early on,
you got dj want and Patrick Jones. Now all of
a sudden, just get some pressure. It doesn't have to
be all the sacks, but just you know, affect the
pocket and you know, alter it, make it make it
easier for the secondary.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
You brought up wantum I don't think this gets talked
about enough. He impacted the entire pass rush when he
came back. If you look at the Panthers first nine
games when Wanham did not play, ten sacks. In the
eight games that he did play, twenty two sacks. That's
a little less than three a game in that span.
(11:52):
In the two games against Kansas City and Philly, five
sacks against the Chiefs, four against Philadelphia. Now you're adding
Patrick Jones coming off a career season. As you mentioned,
you got the two rookies. By all accounts, DJ Johnson,
who might be competing for a roster spot, is having
a pretty strong camp. But again also being in a
position where if you're stopping people on first and second down,
(12:16):
you can now even bring that fifth guy and you
can add pressure to the equation. I think all that
holistically helps the pass rush, which again the low hanging
fruit is just to look at that raw number, right,
thirty two sacks, near the bottom of the league. But
when you look at the why and the how, and
the inability to stop the run, to me, impacted everything
(12:37):
you could do on defense last year.
Speaker 5 (12:38):
You're absolutely right, we could not stop the run. And
I just know being in the field all that time
and can't get off the field is just devastating. And
then you're starting to look and you're starting to talk
amongst you. And here's another thing we didn't talk about.
There was no really firm lead out there. There was
nobody to take charge. And I'm always looking for that
(13:00):
Luke Keikley, I'm always looking for that, Dan Morgan. I'm
always looking for that that Mike Minner, somebody who's gonna
go take control. And I didn't see it last year,
I know, and it was unfair for me to go.
Can Wallace be that guy? Hard as a rookie? I know,
I know it's and it's very difficult. And so that's
another thing that you like because there's a lot of
communication that goes down that has to go down across
(13:22):
the board from defensive line, linebacker's the secondary and a
lot of sometimes that that gets missed.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
They've got some guys now and you see it in
camp with Derek Brown being back and he's still working
his way back.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
J C.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Horn has become a leader on this defense. UH spend
some time around Trayvon Merrick in interesting young man guitar player,
big lizard collection, but natural energy, and there's leadership traits there.
Guys like Turk Wharton and Bobby Brown have won Super bowls,
Ayshawn Robinson has won a Super Bowl. So that pet
(14:00):
degree has now been added to the defense and the
arrow is pointing up. It is an exciting season ahead.
The first preseason game is this Friday against the Cleveland Browns.
All right, still to do here on Panther Talk. In
the next segment, we're gonna hear from Panthers head coach
Dave Canalis. We'll hear from Demani Richardson, he's in one
of the big position battles competing to be that's my
(14:22):
safety opposite merrig And then we'll hear from Andrew Siciliano,
play by play voice of the Cleveland Browns and one
of the leading voices in the NFL. All that ahead
here on Panther Talk on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
This is Panther Talk. Not do you buy Bank of America?
What would you like the power to do?
Speaker 6 (14:45):
Having a year last year and then going into this year,
just just buying into to the culture, buying into coaches message,
you know, buying into everything that he presents to us.
On a day to day basis. You know, we've we've
already bought in and now it's just making it our own.
And that's something and that coach always stresses, you know,
which is big for us. We've had that experience now,
so you know, obviously having the same coaching staff, with
(15:07):
just who this coaching staff is, you know, we're super
greatful for them to be here, what they bring. So
you know, we we have a lot of work to do,
but we're grateful for you.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Panther Talk continues. We're here with Panthers head coach Dave
Canalis your second season at the Helm, first episode of
the new season of Panther Talk. Anything feel different for
you going into year two?
Speaker 5 (15:32):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
I think it's the expectation of what our brand of
football looks like from a coaching staff standpoint, and then
certainly from the players. I see players owning our play style,
the way we work, the way practice should feel like,
and the intentionality, the focus that's required all the way
through the day, in the meetings, in the walkthroughs, whatever
it is. I just feel very supported. I feel like
(15:56):
this is a collective thing. That we're becoming something, that
we're becoming a certain mentality of football, and so I'm
really proud of that. I'm proud of the energy that
the guys are bringing every.
Speaker 3 (16:05):
Day across the board. It just feels there's far more
depth and that creates competition. How does that look on
the practice field.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, competition is everything, you know, Mine, Dan and I
our dream is to create high level competition at every
position group so that guys are battling for those last
couple of spots with really talented players. And we see
that happening across the board. Speaking to the depth part
of it, it really elevates the practices. It elevates that
(16:37):
competitiveness within each room, but across the ball, you know,
and you got T mac and Xavier going against J. C.
Horn and Mike Jack every day, you know, and you
know Adam Thielen going against Shaw Smith Wade and Hunter
renfro Out here, you know, doing his thing and challenging
the secondary in different ways. You know, you got J. T.
(16:59):
Sanders going to against Pat Jones and DJ Wanham and
Trevin Wallace and Boom having to go against Cewba Rico
and Trevor Aten and you know, just as the defense
comes together, the challenge for Bryce like bring in his
best every day, the defense bringing their best every day
because one little slip up and it's a big play.
The more we become, you know, a stronger unit, knowing
(17:20):
what we're doing, but then also just throwing waves of talent.
You know, at each group, a couple of.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Weeks into training camp, you get a lot of the hey,
he looks really good, and this guy made a couple
of nice catches. But from your standpoint, before you get
into that first preseason game, before that first joint practice,
is there a lot when you're evaluating that you say, yeah,
let's wait, or are there certain things you can kind
of pinpoint already?
Speaker 2 (17:46):
I mean, everything counts. How they conduct themselves in the
meeting rooms, hearing them communicate, letting us know they know
what they're doing, the walk through reps, are they lining
up properly, are they doing their assignment being conscientious about
their technique even in a walk through mode, And then
certainly on the practice field. You know, I've been in
(18:06):
the NFL now for fifteen plus years, and I've seen
guys not make plays in training camp practices, and the
guys who do make plays are typically the ones who
make the plays in the preseason game as well. So
everything matters to us, everything counts. We treat it all
with respect and we approach every single day, every opportunity
as a chance to grow and get better and to
evaluate our team.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
For Bryce Young, now the second year in the system,
where is he in his progression as we kind of
get into the first preseason game.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Ownership, you know, ownership of our core concepts. And once
you own your concepts, then that's where you can add
lib and throw on a check here, a signal there.
You can start get the play off of the play.
You know, when you get your concepts really grooved and
going and they show up with success, you know, that's
kind of like tendencies are okay as long as you
(18:56):
know you have them and they're successful. The defense or
the offense may know what's coming, but then that's where
like the next part of your game happens. In Bryce,
his ownership has allowed us to continue to expand.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
The early returns On Tetero McMillan, it seems anything in
his catch radius is a catch. Listen, it's early, but
it seems like he's a guy to get excited.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
For absolutely, you know, and he fills the urgency of it.
He's handling it with class, he's handling it with maturity.
He's had his challenges out there and he goes to
the next play and you don't see him hang his head,
you don't see him stack up bad place. He rebounds quickly,
which I love to see. That's that's a sign of maturity.
(19:40):
You know, we're gonna be counting on him. He knows that,
and so you know, my message to him is just
take one day at a time, learn the lessons, grow,
find new mistakes the next day, and just continue to
grow with us.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I know, big offseason emphasis was to shore up the
defensive front. You already have a very solid offensive line.
What is the O line told you about what they're
seeing from the front on defense?
Speaker 2 (20:02):
I mean, they don't have to say much.
Speaker 8 (20:03):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
These are guys that challenge them every day. Bobby Bobby
Brown being out there, Turk Wharton. You know, Ashan looks
as good as he's looked. He's doing an amazing job.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
You know.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Shy's a veteran guy just like does right, you know,
and and has that effort and finish. We're looking for
and then you talk about the young guys, you know,
Cam Jackson, and you talk about you know Lebriyan Ray,
who's a veteran guy now you know who is really
having an awesome camp. And it's a really competitive room
inside at the defensive tackle spot and certainly at the
(20:33):
outside linebacker spotted with a great rotation of guys with
Pat Jones, DJ Wanham, Nick Gorton, Prince leet Umanmelan, the
young guys finding ways to make plays every day, you know,
thomasin Kombe, DJ Johnson having a heck of a camp,
you know, and all along the front. You know, it's
just a really competitive group. I'm really excited with what
coach Todd Wassh is doing with those guys inside and
(20:56):
what Ac Carter is doing just challenging the guys to
play violin on the.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
Last thing, coach insideline backer. I know you guys have
been thinned out a little bit there. What does depth
look like beyond Rose Boom and Trevin Wallace right.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Now, Claude Cherliss having a heck of a camp. Uh,
Kobe Winman competing with Bam Martin Scott, you know, John
Radigan and those three guys really just like you know,
getting the reps and showing that they can understand where
to line up, understand where to fit in the run game.
So there's it's a really competitive room, you know, and
a bunch of good young athletes there that we're waiting
(21:32):
to see, you know, who can step up and be
those consistent guys that we can count on, you know.
After those first couple of guys, Dave, thank you, all right,
Thanks Aniche.
Speaker 3 (21:39):
We're back after this on the Carolina Panthers a radio network.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
This is Panther Talk, brought you buy Atrium Health type
Atrium Health we do more to keep you moving, achieving,
striving at every age and stage so you can live fully.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
This is gonna be a very competitive team. I don't
think people are gonna want to play us by the
style of football that we play. I'm expecting that My
expectations are really high for this group. They are every year,
you know, and we're gonna shoot for as good as
we can get. My language to the group is I
want to make sure we maximize the talent in this
room that'll take us as far as we need to go.
(22:20):
But that's gonna be our focus.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
This is Panther talk on the Carolina Panthers radio network.
Speaker 4 (22:25):
Martinez out of the shotgun to throw over the middle,
overthrows this guy that's pickoff at the forty five yard line.
Richardson back to the fortieth. The judge puts it inside
the thirty and he takes it all the way down.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
To their twenty six yard line. Right on queue.
Speaker 4 (22:37):
Panther's come through with a big play With Demani Richardson.
I talked about Panthers safety Demani Richardson about the midway
point of training camp and coming up and got the
joint practice sessions with Cleveland in the first preseason game.
We'll talk about all of that. But second year player
coming in after a first year where you went undrafted,
what's it like this year as far as your knowledge,
your confidence and all that After being an undrafted rookie
(22:58):
last year.
Speaker 9 (22:59):
My confidence confidence, whether I'm like first year, it's always high.
So I'm just building on their confidence, working on my
getting better each and every day. I'm a little bit
more familiar with the playbooks, so all of those things
helped me each a little bit, a little bit more
and more so just having that experience just helps me,
Like no, help me play faster and have a little
(23:20):
bit more knowledge.
Speaker 4 (23:21):
At what point of last season did you feel like
maybe it switched from one point oh to two point
oh as far as not being a college player feeling
comfortable as a pro. Was there kind of a juncture
or a month of the season where things kind of
slipped for you at all?
Speaker 9 (23:34):
Really? When I got into like, okay, is like, I
was like this is real, Like this is hard, nos,
Like this is like cutthroat, Like this.
Speaker 5 (23:44):
Is a business.
Speaker 9 (23:45):
So I gotta always stay on my A game and
always do everything right and make sure that I'm doing
all the right things.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
Guys like you and Jail and Cocher coming in last
year a wide receiver kind of inspiration to guys on
this team that are undrafted rookie free agents coming in.
What was kind of your work to them? And is
it a little bit more difficult when you're not a
draft choice to kind of get everybody's attention.
Speaker 5 (24:05):
Yes, for sure.
Speaker 9 (24:06):
Just I would tell those guys just make sure're doing
the right all the little things right and make sure
you learn to playbook.
Speaker 5 (24:13):
Make sure you're just.
Speaker 9 (24:14):
Like not making the same mistakes twice, and make sure
you like you're like you're producing when you get those
opposite produced, and like not like I said, not making
the same mistakes twice.
Speaker 5 (24:22):
So that was the biggest thing. Produced.
Speaker 9 (24:24):
Do all the little things right and try to like
get noticed and be on all the teams as much
as possible, and make sure like they know, like that
you're like that you don't care about undrafted, like you
don't care about any of that stuff or who are
you going against. Just make sure you're going hard on
each and every day and make sure you're like staying
true to your work and trusting in God.
Speaker 4 (24:42):
We work with a guy that played safety for sixteen
years does our radio with us now, Eugene Robinson, right,
sixteen years in the league, and he caught on to
you earlier. He said, Demiani Richards is a really good
football player. When you hear that from a guy that
played sixteen years with fifty eight career interceptions saying that
to you as a rookie, free Jim, what was that
kind to say about your game?
Speaker 9 (25:02):
I just feel like once you if you a football player,
knows a football player.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
So it's good that he noticed that. I hope I can.
Speaker 9 (25:09):
I'm improving right in the future. And by playing a uh,
playing this league a little bit more more so, just
hearing that from her, I'm glad that he realized it.
I just gotta keep working and building all the things.
Speaker 4 (25:22):
I know you'd be excited for whatever your role plays
out to be. But the fact that you're competing for
our starting role, what what does that mean in your
second year?
Speaker 5 (25:28):
It means everything.
Speaker 9 (25:29):
The coach is just trusting in me, giving me a chance.
So I just gotta capitalize and keep going to work
each and every day and keep getting.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
Better based on doing joint practices last year. What's this
week like with Cleveland coming in for joint practices first
preseason game, everything amps up obviously a little bit more
this week.
Speaker 9 (25:45):
Yes, sir, we just we kind of get a little
bit more in game mode. Always going against another poem
is always good. So it's going against them with Braying,
it's gonna be a little bit more juice. We always
have a juice, but it's gonna be a little bit
more because of a different opponent. Opponent, so just going again,
it'll be fun, all right.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
Last thing, we'll let you go trivia. Amrick comes in
from the Raiders with a four year contract. One of
your partners back there obviously on the key members at safety,
but what is he brought immediately to the secondary here?
Speaker 9 (26:10):
He brains fighting is like he's a feisty guy, like
he hit somebody, he'll talk trash. We haven't really saw
much about know it's coming soon. And he's like getting
more and more uncomfortable each and every day. So having tried,
there's his brains a little bit more and more fire
each eas like out of the dB room. So just
being back there with him just like allows you to
(26:32):
play fast, allows you play a little bit more like
with more a little bit more fire.
Speaker 5 (26:36):
Love to hear at the money.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Thanks so much, best of Bluck, Yes, sir, thank you.
More Panther talk coming up after this.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
This is panther talk. Long do you buy coke? Dude?
This Zero's the great taste of Coca cola. Because fan
work is thirsty work.
Speaker 7 (26:53):
We just want to get better every single day, bringing
mind set every single day, start back at zero at
every single day. And I think that's the mindset we
have to have, you know, myself and Dave as the leadership,
but I also think our players need to do that too,
and I know that they're they're already doing that. So
you know, we just gotta we gotta earn everything. You know,
(27:15):
you can talk all you want, but we got to
go earn it. And it starts out there on the
football film.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
This is Panther Talk on the Carolina Panther's Radio network.
Speaker 3 (27:25):
Panther Talk continues as we count down to the first
preseason game this Friday against the Cleveland Browns, and we
bring in not just the play by play voice of
the Cleveland Browns, but one of the leading voices in
the NFL, Andrew Siciliano. Andrew, appreciate you joining us here
on Panther Talk.
Speaker 8 (27:44):
A niche. It is a pleasure to be with you.
You are far too kind. Did my mother write that
for you on platter?
Speaker 5 (27:52):
Thank you? She did.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
She sends a blueberry pie along with it as well,
which I appreciate, but fantastic good. We'll get into some
stuff with Cleveland, but you've covered this league for a
long time. In the big story right now, Michaeh Parsons
in the situation with Dallas, Oftentimes a player asks for
a trade during a contract dispute. It's just leverage. It's
(28:15):
just words. You guys saw it with Miles Garrett not
too long ago. Does this feel different with Parsons and
Dallas or is this more of kind of what we've
seen over the years from a number of players.
Speaker 8 (28:29):
I would say both both can be true, but I
do think this one feels a bit different. When you
and Niche Dak Prescott, i've Cee Lamb, who have both
gone through similar scenarios the last couple of years, both
go to the podium and both say, you know, this
could have been avoided. It's a shame that we have
to get to this point yet again when you have
multiple players change their social media avatars, their photos on
(28:54):
their profiles. To Adam Michaeh Parsons, this one does feel
a bit different. And look, I've said it all summer,
and I think we even said it last year. Jerry
Jones could have gotten this done weeks months a year ago.
Speaker 5 (29:09):
Now.
Speaker 8 (29:09):
There's nothing that says you must pay after year three,
right five year Rosie contract for the first round picks.
You generally know what the quarterbacks you generally pay after
year three, whether it's your first round quarterbacks like Justin
Herbert or Joe Burrow, you pay after year three. The
Bangles waited until after year four for Jamar Chase. The
Cowboys choose to wait until after year four, at least
(29:30):
for now, it seems with Michael Parsons. But it's always
cheaper to pay earlier because the market is only going
on the market has never gone down for any position.
At any time, the camp is going up. You pay earlier,
you saved some money. I think some of the comments
about Treyvon Diggs well Karen Steele, where Jerry Jones when
he opened up his open up camp with his initial
(29:51):
press or at lock starts suggesting that, well, I pay
those guys early, and those were mistakes. That doesn't hit
well in the locker room.
Speaker 3 (29:59):
This thing all been avoided, Andrew. One of the trends
that we have noticed in the NFL one is that
this is a copycat league, and successful teams last year
committed to running the football. I was just looking up
that in twenty twenty three, for example, not a single
NFL team had a running back with three hundred plus
(30:19):
rush attempts. Last year, six of them did the most
in more than a decade. We saw what the Ravens
did with heavy personnel, certainly the Eagles. There were other
teams in there are we kind of pivoting now getting
back to a running, physical, phone booth bet brand of football.
Speaker 8 (30:40):
Absolutely everything is cyclical, and when defenses go smaller, when
you have two hundred and twenty pound linebackers, it's eventually
going to swing the other way. People are going to
get back on the other side of ball to pounding
the football. In Pittsburgh this week, a Niche they were
experimenting with a four tight end package, like er four
personnel if you want to call it that. John hus
(31:00):
Smith lined up as the tailback, a tight end, and
they had three other tight ends on the field and
they gave John H. Smith the ball. Now, is some
of that all just for show and practice with reporters
watching in every one of the Sands and Latrobe filming
on their cell phone. Sure, But I mean that's an
(31:21):
example of Arthur Smith saying, Hey, you got a light box,
you're gonna go dime. I'm gonna put four tight ends
on the field and I'm gonna hand it to one
of those tight ends and let's let's see what happens.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Yeah, we're talking thick now with three seas at the
end instead of two.
Speaker 8 (31:34):
Yeah, exactly exactly.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
You cover the Cleveland Browns. You are their radio voice.
I don't think there is a more intriguing quarterback derby
in training camp anywhere. So Picket, Flacco, Shadoor obviously has
a lot of buzz, Dylan Gabriel, and then you've got
Deshaun Watson who's hurt. But give us the snapshot of
(32:00):
what this quarterback carousel looks like right now.
Speaker 8 (32:03):
Well, I'll give you the headline here today and as
we record this on Monday, should Or Sanders, who's just
at the podium. He says he's good to go, He's
going to be able to practice today. Had a sore
shoulder on Saturday. Said you know he had he had
a similar situation once or twice or whatever in Colorado.
He is fine, No, Mri, He's good. It is a
four quarterback race, but I don't know that it truly is.
(32:25):
I think it's really Kenny Pickett or Joe Flath or
Joe Flacco or Kenny Pickett. Now I say this before
the joint practice with the Panthers, before the two joint
practices next week that the Browns have in Philadelphia against
the Eagles. And I say this before three preseason games
in which both rookie quarterbacks will get a lot of
work and they will have a chance to shine, but
(32:45):
in each the brown schedule is brutal. The AFC North
plays the NFC North and it plays the AFC East.
It's not a favorable schedule. The Browns open Bengals at home,
Ravens on the road, Packers at home, Lions on the road,
then to London to face a rested Vikings team because
they will have been in Dublin the week before, and
then they come home and they don't get a buye.
(33:06):
They just have to go to Pittsburgh to faith Aaron
Rodgers and the Steelers. So the idea that you're gonna
start a rookie out of the gate, to me is silly.
I don't think it is going to happen now that
there's always the possibility that one of these rookies could
just light it up and you can't keep them off
the field. I just don't see that scenario playing out.
(33:27):
So I think it's flat over Pickt. And I really
do like Kenny Pickett, but right now he's only doing
individual drills. He's pushing to get back into team stuff
with a handy Joe Flatto right now is the best
quarterback in camp. He can still sling it, but Kenny
Picketts made some throws and I do think it's one
of those. Two are week one, September seventh at home
against the Bengals.
Speaker 3 (33:46):
Now forty year old Joe Flacco. Yeah, with Shador. When
I saw you last at the Combine in Indy. The
debate around Shadoor at that point was is he the
number one pick? And if he's not probably going in
the top three, he ends up going in round five.
There was a lot of smoke and a lot of
noise that came out leading up to the draft and
(34:08):
certainly after the draft. What have been your impressions of
Shador being around training camp?
Speaker 8 (34:16):
The building loves him. He's working his tail off and
that's your number one headline. He has done everything they've asked.
He is almost always one of the first two three
players on the field, sometimes forty minutes before practice, not kidding.
He is always one of the last guys off the field.
He is working his tail off and everyone has truly
(34:39):
learned to like him. So he's endearing himself to the
building and certainly to the city. Understandably, he also had
a lot to learn, and I think that's fair to say.
Coming to the NFL. Dylan Gabriel played at UCF, at Oklahoma,
at Oregon in a lot of different systems. He did
a lot more under center under will Stein at Oregon,
(35:00):
you know, more the stretch game, more the playfake game.
So he had I think a step ahead of Shador
when it came to just processing the offense. They have
both had good days in bad and by the way,
everyone loves Dylan Gabriel in the building as well. I
think Shaudor is a gamer. I think it. Assuming we
see him Friday Night against the Panthers, I think he's
gonna make some plays. I also think Dylan Gabriel will
(35:21):
make plays. Gabriel didn't have a great Friday Saturday of practice,
but he certainly shined earlier in the week. Shoudur is
doing all the right things. He's not getting a lot
of reps in training camp because he is legitimately number four,
so the joint practices in the preseason games will truly
tell the story.
Speaker 3 (35:40):
Andrew Siciliano, voice of the Cleveland Browns and one of
the leading voices in the NFL, Andrew appreciate you coming on.
We will see you on Friday and safe travels to Charlotte.
Speaker 8 (35:52):
And he can't wait to see you, can't wait to
get down.
Speaker 3 (35:55):
This is the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
The first preseason game is this Friday, Cleveland Browns in town.
They'll have a joint practice leading up to the game,
and oftentimes that's more of the tell for the coaching
staff and the front office in terms of evaluation. So
we'll see how close the Panthers played to the vest
when it comes to game day on Friday. But the
(36:30):
one big difference this year, Eugene, the Panthers will play
their starters. According to Dave Canalis, in the first two
preseason games last year, they only played one series and
it came in the third game.
Speaker 5 (36:42):
And I've been screaming for that well a very very
long time. I think is so important that you get
your first units. They got to get some game experience
in preseason. I don't want them seeing a team very
cold on the very first game. They need to get this.
They need to go ahead and get the communication. They
(37:02):
gotta they gotta get the win up. You gotta get
a lot of stuff. You gotta get into that little
hitting shape, even if if it's for just a couple
of series, that's better than not doing anything because it's live.
It's live. You're not gonna get anything that's more controlled
than that. So I applaud you, Coach Canalis. It's important
that your guys get some you know, get that russ
(37:25):
off right now in preseason.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
I think you're kind of doing it everywhere they can.
Like the practices themselves have been a little bit more
physical than they were last year. You mentioned playing the
starters in the first two preseason games is something he
said last week. And they have two joint practice sessions
Houston next week after this week with Cleveland too. So
I think as far as today's NFL goes, they're taking
it as far up to as physical as they can
(37:48):
be safely. But we've seen, like you know, ten years ago,
Calvin Benjamin at that time was in our number one
receiver of the Super Bowl year and he tears his
ac on a non contact a portion of the Miami
Dolphins uh joint practic session. So injuries happen where they happen,
and so I think you just go ahead and you
play football, right, You just you do what you're trained
to do. And nobody's going to push the envelope too
(38:08):
far as far as you know, trying to you know,
lay out too much or put themselves in danger where
they're gonna have an injury that they're gonna.
Speaker 5 (38:14):
And go force and FanFest they were tackling. I mean,
there was some live sessions and I loved it too,
because this control. It's not like all the way live,
but you you have some sense when you when you
can take a dive down to the growl, dowllads getting
taken to the growl, each hand is getting hit, and
take it down to the ground. He's gonna have to
go ahead and learn the good and get that shake
and that shift, that shime and all that type of stuff.
You learn that in live settings. You don't learn that
(38:36):
just by watching.
Speaker 3 (38:37):
And the injury factor that is sort of the untold
unsaid truth in the NFL. Look at last year, forty
nine ers coming off this great run missed the playoffs
number one in terms of injuries in the NFL. Panthers
were number two. You look at the teams at the
bottom of that list with the fewest injuries that's where
(38:58):
you find the eg you find the Ravens. We can
talk all we want about the personnel, and you got
this guy and this guy and this guy being available,
being healthy. That is as much a factor when it
comes to season long success as maybe anything else.
Speaker 4 (39:17):
And you saw that kind of expanded a little bit
more of the NBA playoffs. It became a battle of
Attritionia I thought the Pacers and the Thunder got there. Yeah,
and then Halliburton gets hurt, you know, the very end.
But you know, those are two healthy, talented teams and
a lot of other teams had you know, we look
at jaj Tadam with the Celtics, and a lot of
teams had major injuries as they went on. So those
things are setbacks, whether they're for a period of time
(39:38):
or for a long period of time. So yeah, it's
it's true of major sports. You get elite athletes out there.
They're paid a lot of money for a reason. That's
why it's not always next band up. There's always not
a next Christian McCaffrey or whoever exactly.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
You know what, you got to be healthy, and no doubt,
you've got to be healthy as you start the season
as you in the midseason, as you get to the playoffs,
you got to be healthy. And if you get hurt,
you know you can you can limit what you you
do or you can be out for a very long time.
But you can't you can't plan for that. I mean,
I could sit you out, man. You can get hurt
at home walking, you know, step you can. So just
(40:11):
you know, this is a game that we signed up for.
This is what we do. You protect your body, you
lift weights, you do all that type of stuff that
will get your body in the great shape to eat
correctly and all that things. And then you throw all
that stuff to the win because you got to play
full speed and you can't be messing around trying to
be to save yourself.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
We said it at the top of the show. That's
the one big difference between this team and last year.
Speaker 5 (40:33):
Depth.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
They're better equipped to handle injuries, certainly on the offensive side,
certainly on the defensive line Shy Tutal and Lebrian Ray.
Right now, we're probably five to six on the defensive
line depth chart. They started twenty four games last year
because of the injuries to guys like Derek Brown. Now
there's certain positions inside linebacker, corner back, maybe safety. You
(40:56):
need good health because you just don't have the same
kind of depth. You want to get through this weekend,
the joint practice, the preseason game doesn't matter if you
win or lose. You want to see the starters have
their moments more than anything. When that injury report comes
out next week. You want to have a clean bill
(41:17):
of health. Stay healthy, stay fresh through the preseason, and
be ready to go in Week one.
Speaker 1 (41:24):
This has been't on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network, brought
to you by Atrium Health. At Atrium Health, we do
more to keep you moving, achieving, striving at every age
and stage so you can live fully. Bank of America.
What would you like the power to do? Coke Game
(41:45):
Day deserves the great taste of Coca Cola because fan
work is thirsty work and they't panther doll. Panther doll.
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