August 6, 2025 • 26 mins
Get a front-row seat to Carolina Panthers football with Sideline Pass! This week Kristen and Sharon recap Monday's raining training camp practice, provide an update on Jaycee Horn's condition following a minor car accident, discuss the Panthers joint practice with the Browns and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow E Jeus, Kristen Balboni and Sharon Thor's loved with
Your Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to season two of Sideline Pass with your Panther
Sideline Reporters. Sharon, we are back again for a new
season and we have got a lot to talk about.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Absolutely looking forward to getting things going here. It's a
game week, which is always a lot of fun, so
I'm ready to get things started here.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, and then just to recap for everyone, it is
the same situation as last year. Sharon will be doing
the road games and I will be doing home games.
And what I love about this podcast is that we
get to exchange information and hopefully take the fans also
behind the curtain a little bit into how we approach
things and some of the things that we get to
see or we get let in on that we can
bring to all of you. So, without further ado, we
(00:52):
got to start with, of course, with training camp and
the biggest things from today. We're gonna take a larger
picture in just a few minutes, but the biggest things
of today and this week, let's start with sharing this
rain over the last couple of days and the joint
practice with the Browns. So First of all, if you
have been following any beat writers or any reporters or
(01:13):
anything like that, the biggest news was the rain yesterday,
and just how big of a deal it was. It
was a big deal for the players, it was a
big deal for the coaching staff, everyone out there.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
But Sharon, you are a veteran sideline reporter. You were there.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I was not, So I need to know from someone
who has experienced all types of weather. We relate to
these situations on a scale of one to ten.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
How bad was it really?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I'd probably put up there about a seven. I mean,
it was some heavy rain. It was a lot of rain.
Not the worst I've ever been in, but it was
definitely a heavy rain, and it was just relentless, and
I mean a couple of times it was dumping so
hard you could barely see in front of you. I mean,
it was raining really hard, and it was interesting watching
the players try to adapt. You A lot of them
started out with gloves, but after a while, you know,
they become just sopping wet and they were doing more
(01:57):
harm than good, so they ditched all the gloves. I
think pretty much all there was gobbered at the gloves
by the midway through the practice and coach canals was
funny because he he said, you know, the guys are
like the body catchers, they had a better time being
able to handle the wet ball. But the guys who
are like the true hands catchers, he said, it was
like trying to corral a grease pig. He said, you
just couldn't get your hands on it because it was
(02:17):
so wet. So I definitely impacted the guys yesterday, but
not the worst I have seen. That was right here
at Bank of America Stadium. The worst, the worst ring
game I've ever been involved in was a long time
ago back here at Bank of America Stadium, when, as
fans might remember, it was like the Waterfall game, when
the rain was coming down so hard and so fast
(02:38):
that coming off of the stands, it was literally like
waterfalls out onto the field and the water was so
deep on the you know, the field is sloped, so
coming down to the sidelines, but you know, right towards
there where the bleachers start the sands start, it's the
lowest point on the field and the water, I'm not
the water was like two feet tall. I'm not kidding either.
Things like floating down the sidelines. The water was mid
(03:00):
way up my calves. It was so deep it was crazy.
That's the worst rain game I've ever been involved in.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
And because it just rained.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I've seen the footage of that, and like you said,
it's part of Panther's lore.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
So if you're listening to this, you you.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Probably have a good idea of it, if.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Not, google it.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think, as we said, it was the Jaguars game.
It was a Jaguars game from a while back. But
just some of those images are crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I mean, is you know one thing for us is
keeping the equipment dry, keeping your microphone dry, Yes, keeping
your job number one ry. Well, I mean, I don't
know what Harold Hamrick must have thought about, but how
do you even go about approaching that from a sideline perspective?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
That's so fascinating.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Well, you know, you got to have the gear, and
some games you don't know that the rain's going to
appear most of the time. You have some heads up
at least so you can be prepared and you know,
come with your raincoat. I've also got one of those
clear ponchos that I put on like over the top
of whatever I might have on vita raincoat or a
winter coat, whatever it is, because then you can just
stick that microphone underneath that clear poncho and our transmitter
(04:03):
pack as well. Then we'll stay underneath that, so the
equipment can stay pretty dry, unlike yourself of course. And
then I think I'm like you. I'm a big note taker.
I have my notepad out there and my pen. I
don't like type stuff on my phone. I like actually
take notes and write things down with what's going on
in the game, what players are saying, what coaches are saying,
and I like to, you know, be able to go
(04:24):
back and look at it and see what's been going
on and perch the game and write things. That's obviously
impossible in a ring game.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I have.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I have like these plastic sleeves that I can like
put some of my pre prepared game notes in. But
you have to ditch the ditch the pen and paper
after a while and just wing it. So it makes
things a little harder like that, but it's fun. It's
fun to be part of the elements, and the players
certainly have to deal with it, so nobody feels sorry
for us being on the sidelines having to deal with
it either no.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
It's still the best seat in the house. But of
course I had to ask you about all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So the other big thing within at least to for
sure that is coming out of training camp is J. C.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Horn.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
He was involved in a car accident last night right
around Big of America Stadium. But luckily, you know, everyone
was okay. But Sharon, you know, we were saying before
that he will not He was not practicing today. He
was there, but did have to get stitches in his hand.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, it was his left hand in the thulmb area.
Coach Kanala said, he had to get stitches in that area,
so he will not play in the game Friday night
because of that. He was slated to play with the
rest of the starters, but he will not play now.
And he was on the sidelines today, you know, just
acting like the coach that he is when he's on
the sidelines and staying involved with the plays and things
like that. So he was being as involved as he
(05:40):
possibly could be without actually being out there in the
in the field of play. So if the good news
is he's okay, they are monitoring him. Coach Canal said,
they're monitoring him just to make sure nothing pops up,
because that often does happen in car accidents, where a
couple days later you might get a back ache or
a headache or something like that. So they're going to
keep an eye on him for a few days and
make sure that he's okay.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, and like we.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Said, thankfully, the big thing is that no one was
seriously hurt. But you're right if of course, we all
want to see Jase horn out on the field as
much as possible, preseason or regular season. But if there's
a guy that we feel like will be okay without
some preseason reps, it's going.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
To be Jacy.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
He's a veteran, been around a long time. He knows
what he's doing out there. So we hopefully you'll be
okay to be able to play next week. But this
week week we can give him a pass.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And that leads us to our next conversation, which is that,
you know, Panthers fans, you may have heard that starters
will be playing in the first two preseason games. Now
how much remains to be determined, but Sharon, this is
a big shift from last year, where, if memory serves,
the starters played in the third preseason game, I mean
(06:48):
there's always you know, a few sprinkled here and there, depending,
but Bryce Young, for instance, played I believe just the
first series of the third preseason game, which was on
the road, and you were at.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, that was at the Bills, And yeah, they switched
things up this year. And we asked Dave Canals about
that a while back when he made that announcement, he
said he really wants to get guys like in season
game prep mode early because he said, you know, last
year it was fine that way, but Seattle generally did
it the other way where they would play more in
the earlier preseason games, and a lot of teams do
(07:17):
it that way, so he just wanted to switch things
up this year. But what his main focus is is
getting guys into game prep mode early on in the season.
He wants them to start thinking the night before, what
you have to do the night before a game, what
you do when you wake up in the morning, you're nutrition,
how you sleep, everything that you do to get ready
for a game in the season. He wants them to
start doing that now. And we do have a lot
of young guys on this team, a lot of new players,
(07:38):
so he wants to get guys in that habit early
on in the season, which is why they're going to
be playing both of the two preseason games. He did
tell us today that he plans on getting the starters
out there for at least one good series. He wants
to move the ball if they go three and out,
and probably put them back in there for another series.
This on both sides of the ball. He wants to
be able to give them a good sustained drive and
see how they go with things. Should see them maybe
(08:01):
a series, maybe two. That would be about it here
for this first game.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And it is so interesting, you know, and I believe
that Dave Canellis alluded to this a little bit after
the end of the preseason last year and maybe into
the beginning of the regular season, where he said, look,
I'm a first time coach and there are things that
I can learn from. And so it's you know, he's
not someone who is too proud to go back and say, hey,
I want to do things differently this year. Certainly as
(08:28):
we interviewed him all throughout the season last year, he
was very especially you know on our TV show that
I hosted, Sharon and I know that you've had the
same interactions with him. He was very quick to say,
this is something that the coaching staff could do better.
This is something that we're going to try differently, and
so I really applaud that.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And also, you know, he's from the Pete Carroll School.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Pete Carroll is playing his starters and we'll do that,
and you know, I think it's something that you know,
he took a lot from Pete Carroll and seeing the
ways in which that works out for him is important
to him. And so I think this will be a
great sense And you know, as he said, it is
great to go ahead and get that prep in. But Sharon,
as we know, he also wants to see what these
(09:07):
guys are going to do on the field and how
well they function as a unit, both during these joint
practices with the Browns, but then also in this game
day environment.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Absolutely, and he talked about that today and some of
the guys we interviewed did as well. Going from these
scripted practices where you get to go against you know,
some different faces and different defenses, different offenses, things like that.
But the difference between that and the actual game day
it's that game speed. You know, it's being able to
go all out as opposed, they did a lot of
you know, attack them and not to the ground. They
were careful with guys out there obviously in the joint
(09:39):
practice situation. So game day, you know, it's a whole
different ballgame. Literally, I mean, this is live football, and
he wants to see how everybody does in that environment.
And that's you just sort of get you into that
in season mode early on too, which I think guys
are really excited about. We talked with Trayvon Merrick today
and he said that that's just like that's what he
really looks forward to, that being able to be in
(09:59):
that full game environment, even if it's just a preseason game,
it's still you're facing somebody else and they are coming
at you all the way and it's real football absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So one thing that this also kind of leads me
into what are things that we look for in the
preseason as sideline reporters.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So as you said, with these two couple.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Of series and kind of getting out there working together
in terms of actually having live reps and as we know,
it's faster than some of these pre planned things and
joint practices as you just said. So one thing that
I want to see in those few series is kind
of how especially offensively, the communication is and how they
work on getting the plays in and getting you know,
(10:41):
getting going as quickly as possible. Because again, as we
talked about, and Dave Canalis has said this himself, he
said it on camera, is that that's something that he
and Bryce could work on together, which is that quick
communication snapping the ball and getting everything going, you know.
And so I'll be watching that for sure as we
get into these first few preseason series.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
That's definitely something that I want to keep it on.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And I'm wondering what else are things that you'll be
looking for as you prep for these preseason games.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, I'm really interested to see how our rookie receiver
teed A Roe McMillan does in the real game situation.
I mean, he's shown so many flashes in all of
the joint in the practices and then again in the
joint practice he's been really, really, really good. He's had
some some mistakes to rookie mistakes, of course, but I
want to see how he does in you know, against
a real defense. You know, you got Miles Garrett out
(11:33):
there leading that that Brown's defense. They've got some studs.
They've got some great guys in their secondary, some veteran
guys didn't all warden those guys. So I'm going to
be really interested to see how he fares against you know,
a really good defense and his connection with Bryce which
continues to grow every day. They seem to have really
gotten this unspoken communication down. They really got a rapport
going out there, So I'm gonna be really interested to
(11:53):
see how he does. And then also on defense, we've
you know, got some some changes on the defense. You
want to see how they do out there. Speaking of
treyvon Merrick, I mean he's gonna be starting out there
at safety. You've got some different pieces to the puzzle
out there on the defensive side of the ball, So
I want to see how they communicate and how they
get out there in this first couple of series.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, as you said, a lot of new faces out there,
and you know the guys that are returning. The Panthers
used more backups than any other team in the NFL
last year a lot of times due to injuries, So
you have to think anyway, like, in addition to the
new faces, how many reps did those starters get all together?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
As it was even the.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Guys that were here, and then Sharon Derek Brown, who
is not currently practicing right now.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
He's got a little bit of an oblique.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
But it's nothing to do with the knee, which is
what kept him out last year. But you know, even
deep now, we don't think that we'll see him play
in the preseason, but you will not play.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He will not play this Friday, for sure. I know
that he's not playing this week.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
But even in terms of all of them getting together,
the guys that you think are you know, these Panthers
stalwarts who are coming back, they all need time.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Together, absolutely, And you've, like you mentioned just with that
D line, I mean, you've got some new faces there too,
with Treg Gordon, Pat Jones. You've got guys who are
you know up there on that defense that are new.
And then you get Derek Brown back and who wasn't
a part of the mix last year either. So you've
got a lot of pieces like that in certain positions.
The one great thing is the offensive line has everybody back,
(13:25):
which is such a luxury to be able to bring
back that entire offensive line and their key backups, so
to be able to have all of them back has
got to be just such a blessing for Bryce and
this offense as a whole. But man, it's awesome to
have those guys back because they were one of the
best in the league last year, and you have to
assume that they're going to be just even that much
better this year.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
That that really is so true. Sharon.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I remember gosh, right around free agency when they said,
you know, we were bringing back these pieces, and they
you know, were able to keep Cave Mays and Brady Christensen,
which is you know, not only did they keep those
starters together, but like you said, I went, oh wow, wow,
Dan Morgan in the front office.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
That's so impressive to have this depth.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And then we've even seen, you know, some competition at
center with Austin Corpett and Cade Mays. To just be
able to even at such a high level, have those
backups and to even have some competition as Austin Corpett
of course works this way back from a couple of
really tough injuries. So another thing that I want to
be keeping an eye on during the preseason is this
kicking competition. So we saw at FanFest, or if you
(14:29):
weren't there, maybe you heard about it. That Ryan Fitzgerald
did not have the easiest time at FanFest. He was
I believe, one for three and the two he missed
were in the forty yard range. And so you know,
the first depth chart came out and Matthew Wright was
listed ahead of him on the depth chart. Now, there's
still plenty of time, all of that remains to be seen,
(14:49):
and one outing does not a kicker make, right of course,
but that is something that I'm of course going to
be we will both be keeping an eye on as
the preseason goes on, because what a great environment for
them to be able to I mean, especially in Ryan
Fitzgerald's case, be able to get into that NFL game mode,
but then also to see how they react and how
things go when the pressure is on.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And you know, I.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Will say this, Sharon, kicking battle is not always the
sexiest thing, if I can say that in the preseason
or in training camp. But let me tell you what
those fans care when it comes to the regular season.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
You got that right because you've seen it over the
years all around the league. You know, if your kicker
melts down at an opportune time, I mean, that's literally
can change your season and this is it is a
crucial battle, and Dave Canalis has said that he wasn't
going to make any decisions early in training camp, no
matter who was having a good day or who had
a bad day. He wants to see how they do
in actual preseason games, and both of them obviously going
(15:46):
to get all sorts of opportunities, you would think over
the course of these next three these next three weeks
with the three preseason games, so he's going to wait until,
I think, probably down to the wire to make a
decision because he wants to see how they fare on
the lights are on and when the pressure is on
and things like that, and I'm sure they'll try to
put them in some sort of situation where they can
see how they're going to react. But yeah, Ryan Fitzgil,
(16:08):
I mean, that's a tough thing, you know, coming in
as a new player and being out. Matthew Wright's been around,
He's bopped around for a while to different teams, so
he's got that experience, which certainly is beneficial to him.
So it'll be interesting to see how Ryan reacts now
in the real game situations here headed into the preseason games.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
And then Sharon, I.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Want to know what else you're looking at, But first
I want to ask you about Leathan Ransom. He's somebody
that has really come in and made a big impact
in the short time since being drafted.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
What are you seeing from him?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
He is just a smart guy. You see him. Dave
Canalys was just talking about him actually yesterday. He is
always where he's supposed to be. He has really studied
hard on this defense, and he said that he puts
in so much time trying to learn this playbook and
to know not just where he's supposed to be, but
where everybody is supposed to be, sort of the defense
as a whole. And so that's something that he is
(17:00):
always in the right place at the right time. He's
where he's supposed to be. Hit a great day yesterday
with past breakup, interception, another one knocked out. He's just
really come into his own smart guy, and he also
just wants to do anything and everything. He said, you know,
being at Ohio State, he said that they really preached
the value of special teams. It was on the same
same playing fields as everybody else offense, even special teams.
(17:22):
It was all equal, and so he's really embracing the
opportunity to be able to play special teams here as well.
He says, wherever they need me, put me out there,
I'm going to go all out. And he's been taking
a ton of time to really quizz these veteran players.
He is just as he called it, I'm a sponge.
He just wants to know everything. So he's constantly questioning
guys when he's on the sidelines that come off from
(17:42):
a play and talking about, you know, what he saw
or what, you know, what he needed to be doing.
So he's getting all sorts of advice advice from some
some great players here and some great veteran guys, because
he said that he wants them to know when he
goes out there on the field, this expectation is the
same whether they're there, he's out there, and he wants
to live up to that. He doesn't want to be
the weak link out there. He wants to go out
(18:04):
there and be confident that he can play at the
same level they are because of what he's you know,
been absorbing in his knowledge of the playbooks. So he's
he's really a hard work or great talker too. When
you're when you're looking for an interview, he's a great talker.
We're always worried about that, which lears right.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That is that is one of the best things as
a sideline reporter.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
You're oh, you're a great player and a good talker.
That's the rights.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
There's something else that I'll be watching, and we haven't
seen any of this in action. Of course, are some
of these new rule changes for the NFL, And of
course we'll we'll talk about these more as we see
them in action. But Charon, one that I'm going to
be looking at and we'll see if we see at
any in the preseason, is that the NFL is really
going to crack down on some sportsmanship calls, specifically when
(18:49):
it comes to touchdown celebrations. And the way they described
it is that any type of conduct with especially sexual
or violent undertones.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
So whether that's you know, mimicking.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Shooting a gun or a bow and arrow or things
like that, that they will police that a lot more
than they have in the past. And there were a
lot of those now I'm not saying with the Panthers,
but if you watch game, you know, you come home
and you watch your Sunday night football game or whatever,
you see a lot of those types of celebrations and
that is.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Such a subjective call.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
So I will be very interested, especially when we get
into the regular season or if anyone tries anything in
the preseason, to see how some of those kind of
decisions that are left in the rest's hands, because hey,
and unsports and like conduct penalty is a big deal. Yeah,
So I will be very interested to see kind of
how that plays out, because touchdown celebrations have typically been
(19:42):
you know, pretty been lenient over the last few years.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And I hope they don't completely crack down
too hard because it's just fun to see a lot
of stuff. Obviously you don't want to have the inappropriate
things out there, but I do hope that they're not
going to, like, you know, start flagging everything if they
think it's over the top.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
It's going to be back in the day.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, you know, it's like, come on, let them do
something and have some fun. And that's Dave Canalis has
been really focused in on that with his guys, especially
with the they've had the NFL officials here now. He
talked about that you want to there's a fine line
between doing that celebrating and you know, the in your
face kind of stuff. That went something and I'll draw flagging.
In fact, jac Horne had done something with spinning the
(20:17):
ball or something. He was like, that's going to be
a flag. So he wants them to be able to
have fun but not draw that penalty flag because, like
you said, that's that can be very painful, those those
kind of penalties. So it's going to be really interesting
to see how strict they are. I'm guessing they're gonna
be a little stricter early on and then maybe you know,
slack off as the season goes on. But I hope
they don't totally take all the fun out of it.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
It's always fun to get to see those touchdown celebrations.
So one thing that I also want to talk about
is as Sideline reports and hopefully we can continue to
take people behind the curtain a little bit. So Tomorrow Thursday,
or if you're listening to this on Thursday, then today
is we get a chance to speak to the ourcast crews,
get a chance to speak to and kind of do
(21:03):
a preseason meetings with. It'll be Dan Morgan, it'll be
Dave Canalis, and then all of the coordinators and people
may or may not do that. But it's something that
is a really great opportunity for us to get some
some behind the scenes stuff, some thoughts about what they
want to see in these preseason games or you know,
guys that they're really honing in on, and I just
(21:23):
I want to know how you approach those meetings.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I thought it would be interesting to talk.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
A little bit about as sideline reporters, what are the
things that we enjoy asking the coaches and what do
we think will be beneficial to us as this. You know,
I try to do it for as the season goes on,
not just the preseason.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I love being able to have that opportunity to go
and sit down with all of the coaches because, like
you said, you get the coordinators too, and that's not
something you get to do very often. They do make
them available once a week, but you're in the big
giant media scrum and you might not be able to.
This is more like it's such a one on one
type of environment because there's only a handful of us
in there and you get to ask them anything, which
is nice because, especially from a sideline reporter point of view,
(22:01):
you know, you want to ask maybe sometimes about a
specific player, you know, what they like about him, you know,
how he reacts to certain things. I like to get
some of those tidbits to talk about specific players and
maybe guys that aren't so much in the limelight, you know,
maybe bubble guys or something like that. You want to
get more information out of the coaches. And it's also
really neat, I think to see how, especially last season
(22:22):
with Dave can also be in his first season but
now you're two as well, how he will react and
how he looks at certain situations, you know, on on
on field situations, like you know, what makes you want
to go for it on fourth down? You know what
are your you know, sort of requirements to be able
to go for it on fourth down as opposing as
opposed to punting or something like that. So it's neat
to get that kind of sort of really detailed information
(22:43):
that you really just can't get in a you know,
big giant media scrum type of interview. So I really
appreciate the opportunity to be able to sit down with
all of them in these preseason broadcast meetings.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I completely agree, and like you said, especially the coordinators,
because of course, your head coaches, your gems are going
to have this really this bird's eye view of everything
that's going on. But it is so interesting to hear,
you know, for example, what Guerrero Rivero thinks about you know,
merrig or something like that, and what he sees and
how he sees that really factoring in and sees the
(23:16):
change from last year by having him out there at safety,
you know, like you said, just different players.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
And then also, as you said, you get into these.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Meetings and it is a small group of us, and
you get to hear some of these stories that maybe
you wouldn't get a chance to hear in this frum,
specifically as it relates to players.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Like you said, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You might find out that somebody is a cut up right,
or that somebody is you know, brings eighteen.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Highlighters to you know what I mean, Yes, meetings, so.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I always just enjoy and you get to see really
the affinity that these coaches have for their players beyond
just okay, what happened in the last game, you know
this Jase Warren shut down X receiver for such and
such that you really get to hear hear a lot
about them and also in the ways in which they
want to conduct their season of course, we want to
(24:08):
go undefeated, no doubt about that, but also, just okay,
what does success look like after the first four games,
or aside from wins, what is a you know, what
does success constitute?
Speaker 3 (24:19):
The way in which you win? Which I always think
is very interesting.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So we're going to have a lot to talk about
with them tomorrow, and it's always very interesting to me.
Typically your play by play or your analyst leads the conversation,
at least in my experience, it's usually the analyst, right,
and to hear what they get to ask about is
really interesting and to hear them talk, you know, I've
had the good fortune of being in there with Steve
Smith and going through the playbooks as I'm sure you have, Sharon,
(24:46):
and just really getting to kind of absorb that knowledge
as well and see people that are that have just
been in this game for years and years kind of
chop it up and go deep into certain formations or
you know, what you expect out of this guy. I
find that so fascinating.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh, I agree, especially when you've got the former players
involved like that guy like Steve Smith or Luke Keigley
or somebody like that, because they're just unbelievable to be
able to listen to them talk. That's one of my
favorite things about working with the Panthers on the sidelines
is the opportunity to be able to, like you said,
chop it up with those guys and Jake Delob and them,
and Kirk Coleman, who's doing the pregame preseason stuff as well.
(25:22):
It's so awesome to be able to hear their knowledge
and hear their stories and to watch them interact with
the coaches and stuff in these broadcast meetings. It's a
lot of fun too, because I sometimes I think that
they could just still be at their playe the way
they talk.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Oh absolutely, and Sharon, I know that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
When I'm out there and you know, we're listening to
the broadcast as it's going on.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I look at the fans.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Now, we hope, you know, we hope you're either listening
on the radio or you're there in person. But I
look around at the fans are there in person, and
I go, man, unless they have headsets on, they are
really missing out on something that Jake Malome just said.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I can't believe that I get.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
To listen to it, and it's just it's such a
neat position to be in as as you said, and
it's just I can't believe that already here again, it's
a game week.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I know, it's very exciting. I cannot wait to get
things underway. This is just so much excitement about this team.
And last year was funks we had the new head
coach and new staff and everything. But this year it's like,
all right, we've got a season under our belt with
Dave Canalis and his whole staff and Bryce you know,
really turned it on last year. At the end of
the season. We got some really fun, exciting new pieces
to this team on both sides of the football. So
it's going to be just a lot of fun to
(26:23):
get things going.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
It is, and by the time we have our second
sideline pass game of the season, we'll have stuff to
talk about as it relates.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
To the preseason game.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
We will have seen the starters take the field and
we'll have a lot to talk about next week.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Sharon absolutely can't wait.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
All right, We'll see you guys then,
Wow E Jeus, Kristen Balboni and Sharon Thor's loved with
Your Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Welcome to season two of Sideline Pass with your Panther
Sideline Reporters. Sharon, we are back again for a new
season and we have got a lot to talk about.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Absolutely looking forward to getting things going here. It's a
game week, which is always a lot of fun, so
I'm ready to get things started here.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, and then just to recap for everyone, it is
the same situation as last year. Sharon will be doing
the road games and I will be doing home games.
And what I love about this podcast is that we
get to exchange information and hopefully take the fans also
behind the curtain a little bit into how we approach
things and some of the things that we get to
see or we get let in on that we can
bring to all of you. So, without further ado, we
(00:52):
got to start with, of course, with training camp and
the biggest things from today. We're gonna take a larger
picture in just a few minutes, but the biggest things
of today and this week, let's start with sharing this
rain over the last couple of days and the joint
practice with the Browns. So First of all, if you
have been following any beat writers or any reporters or
(01:13):
anything like that, the biggest news was the rain yesterday,
and just how big of a deal it was. It
was a big deal for the players, it was a
big deal for the coaching staff, everyone out there.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
But Sharon, you are a veteran sideline reporter. You were there.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
I was not, So I need to know from someone
who has experienced all types of weather. We relate to
these situations on a scale of one to ten.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
How bad was it really?
Speaker 1 (01:35):
I'd probably put up there about a seven. I mean,
it was some heavy rain. It was a lot of rain.
Not the worst I've ever been in, but it was
definitely a heavy rain, and it was just relentless, and
I mean a couple of times it was dumping so
hard you could barely see in front of you. I mean,
it was raining really hard, and it was interesting watching
the players try to adapt. You A lot of them
started out with gloves, but after a while, you know,
they become just sopping wet and they were doing more
(01:57):
harm than good, so they ditched all the gloves. I
think pretty much all there was gobbered at the gloves
by the midway through the practice and coach canals was
funny because he he said, you know, the guys are
like the body catchers, they had a better time being
able to handle the wet ball. But the guys who
are like the true hands catchers, he said, it was
like trying to corral a grease pig. He said, you
just couldn't get your hands on it because it was
(02:17):
so wet. So I definitely impacted the guys yesterday, but
not the worst I have seen. That was right here
at Bank of America Stadium. The worst, the worst ring
game I've ever been involved in was a long time
ago back here at Bank of America Stadium, when, as
fans might remember, it was like the Waterfall game, when
the rain was coming down so hard and so fast
(02:38):
that coming off of the stands, it was literally like
waterfalls out onto the field and the water was so
deep on the you know, the field is sloped, so
coming down to the sidelines, but you know, right towards
there where the bleachers start the sands start, it's the
lowest point on the field and the water, I'm not
the water was like two feet tall. I'm not kidding either.
Things like floating down the sidelines. The water was mid
(03:00):
way up my calves. It was so deep it was crazy.
That's the worst rain game I've ever been involved in.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
And because it just rained.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I've seen the footage of that, and like you said,
it's part of Panther's lore.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
So if you're listening to this, you you.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Probably have a good idea of it, if.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
Not, google it.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think, as we said, it was the Jaguars game.
It was a Jaguars game from a while back. But
just some of those images are crazy.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I mean, is you know one thing for us is
keeping the equipment dry, keeping your microphone dry, Yes, keeping
your job number one ry. Well, I mean, I don't
know what Harold Hamrick must have thought about, but how
do you even go about approaching that from a sideline perspective?
Speaker 3 (03:39):
That's so fascinating.
Speaker 1 (03:40):
Well, you know, you got to have the gear, and
some games you don't know that the rain's going to
appear most of the time. You have some heads up
at least so you can be prepared and you know,
come with your raincoat. I've also got one of those
clear ponchos that I put on like over the top
of whatever I might have on vita raincoat or a
winter coat, whatever it is, because then you can just
stick that microphone underneath that clear poncho and our transmitter
(04:03):
pack as well. Then we'll stay underneath that, so the
equipment can stay pretty dry, unlike yourself of course. And
then I think I'm like you. I'm a big note taker.
I have my notepad out there and my pen. I
don't like type stuff on my phone. I like actually
take notes and write things down with what's going on
in the game, what players are saying, what coaches are saying,
and I like to, you know, be able to go
(04:24):
back and look at it and see what's been going
on and perch the game and write things. That's obviously
impossible in a ring game.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
I have.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
I have like these plastic sleeves that I can like
put some of my pre prepared game notes in. But
you have to ditch the ditch the pen and paper
after a while and just wing it. So it makes
things a little harder like that, but it's fun. It's
fun to be part of the elements, and the players
certainly have to deal with it, so nobody feels sorry
for us being on the sidelines having to deal with
it either no.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
It's still the best seat in the house. But of
course I had to ask you about all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
So the other big thing within at least to for
sure that is coming out of training camp is J. C.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Horn.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
He was involved in a car accident last night right
around Big of America Stadium. But luckily, you know, everyone
was okay. But Sharon, you know, we were saying before
that he will not He was not practicing today. He
was there, but did have to get stitches in his hand.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, it was his left hand in the thulmb area.
Coach Kanala said, he had to get stitches in that area,
so he will not play in the game Friday night
because of that. He was slated to play with the
rest of the starters, but he will not play now.
And he was on the sidelines today, you know, just
acting like the coach that he is when he's on
the sidelines and staying involved with the plays and things
like that. So he was being as involved as he
(05:40):
possibly could be without actually being out there in the
in the field of play. So if the good news
is he's okay, they are monitoring him. Coach Canal said,
they're monitoring him just to make sure nothing pops up,
because that often does happen in car accidents, where a
couple days later you might get a back ache or
a headache or something like that. So they're going to
keep an eye on him for a few days and
make sure that he's okay.
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Yeah, and like we.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Said, thankfully, the big thing is that no one was
seriously hurt. But you're right if of course, we all
want to see Jase horn out on the field as
much as possible, preseason or regular season. But if there's
a guy that we feel like will be okay without
some preseason reps, it's going.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
To be Jacy.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
He's a veteran, been around a long time. He knows
what he's doing out there. So we hopefully you'll be
okay to be able to play next week. But this
week week we can give him a pass.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
And that leads us to our next conversation, which is that,
you know, Panthers fans, you may have heard that starters
will be playing in the first two preseason games. Now
how much remains to be determined, but Sharon, this is
a big shift from last year, where, if memory serves,
the starters played in the third preseason game, I mean
(06:48):
there's always you know, a few sprinkled here and there, depending,
but Bryce Young, for instance, played I believe just the
first series of the third preseason game, which was on
the road, and you were at.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Yeah, that was at the Bills, And yeah, they switched
things up this year. And we asked Dave Canals about
that a while back when he made that announcement, he
said he really wants to get guys like in season
game prep mode early because he said, you know, last
year it was fine that way, but Seattle generally did
it the other way where they would play more in
the earlier preseason games, and a lot of teams do
(07:17):
it that way, so he just wanted to switch things
up this year. But what his main focus is is
getting guys into game prep mode early on in the season.
He wants them to start thinking the night before, what
you have to do the night before a game, what
you do when you wake up in the morning, you're nutrition,
how you sleep, everything that you do to get ready
for a game in the season. He wants them to
start doing that now. And we do have a lot
of young guys on this team, a lot of new players,
(07:38):
so he wants to get guys in that habit early
on in the season, which is why they're going to
be playing both of the two preseason games. He did
tell us today that he plans on getting the starters
out there for at least one good series. He wants
to move the ball if they go three and out,
and probably put them back in there for another series.
This on both sides of the ball. He wants to
be able to give them a good sustained drive and
see how they go with things. Should see them maybe
(08:01):
a series, maybe two. That would be about it here
for this first game.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And it is so interesting, you know, and I believe
that Dave Canellis alluded to this a little bit after
the end of the preseason last year and maybe into
the beginning of the regular season, where he said, look,
I'm a first time coach and there are things that
I can learn from. And so it's you know, he's
not someone who is too proud to go back and say, hey,
I want to do things differently this year. Certainly as
(08:28):
we interviewed him all throughout the season last year, he
was very especially you know on our TV show that
I hosted, Sharon and I know that you've had the
same interactions with him. He was very quick to say,
this is something that the coaching staff could do better.
This is something that we're going to try differently, and
so I really applaud that.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
And also, you know, he's from the Pete Carroll School.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Pete Carroll is playing his starters and we'll do that,
and you know, I think it's something that you know,
he took a lot from Pete Carroll and seeing the
ways in which that works out for him is important
to him. And so I think this will be a
great sense And you know, as he said, it is
great to go ahead and get that prep in. But Sharon,
as we know, he also wants to see what these
(09:07):
guys are going to do on the field and how
well they function as a unit, both during these joint
practices with the Browns, but then also in this game
day environment.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
Absolutely, and he talked about that today and some of
the guys we interviewed did as well. Going from these
scripted practices where you get to go against you know,
some different faces and different defenses, different offenses, things like that.
But the difference between that and the actual game day
it's that game speed. You know, it's being able to
go all out as opposed, they did a lot of
you know, attack them and not to the ground. They
were careful with guys out there obviously in the joint
(09:39):
practice situation. So game day, you know, it's a whole
different ballgame. Literally, I mean, this is live football, and
he wants to see how everybody does in that environment.
And that's you just sort of get you into that
in season mode early on too, which I think guys
are really excited about. We talked with Trayvon Merrick today
and he said that that's just like that's what he
really looks forward to, that being able to be in
(09:59):
that full game environment, even if it's just a preseason game,
it's still you're facing somebody else and they are coming
at you all the way and it's real football absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
So one thing that this also kind of leads me
into what are things that we look for in the
preseason as sideline reporters.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
So as you said, with these two couple.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Of series and kind of getting out there working together
in terms of actually having live reps and as we know,
it's faster than some of these pre planned things and
joint practices as you just said. So one thing that
I want to see in those few series is kind
of how especially offensively, the communication is and how they
work on getting the plays in and getting you know,
(10:41):
getting going as quickly as possible. Because again, as we
talked about, and Dave Canalis has said this himself, he
said it on camera, is that that's something that he
and Bryce could work on together, which is that quick
communication snapping the ball and getting everything going, you know.
And so I'll be watching that for sure as we
get into these first few preseason series.
Speaker 3 (11:03):
That's definitely something that I want to keep it on.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
And I'm wondering what else are things that you'll be
looking for as you prep for these preseason games.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
Yeah, I'm really interested to see how our rookie receiver
teed A Roe McMillan does in the real game situation.
I mean, he's shown so many flashes in all of
the joint in the practices and then again in the
joint practice he's been really, really, really good. He's had
some some mistakes to rookie mistakes, of course, but I
want to see how he does in you know, against
a real defense. You know, you got Miles Garrett out
(11:33):
there leading that that Brown's defense. They've got some studs.
They've got some great guys in their secondary, some veteran
guys didn't all warden those guys. So I'm going to
be really interested to see how he fares against you know,
a really good defense and his connection with Bryce which
continues to grow every day. They seem to have really
gotten this unspoken communication down. They really got a rapport
going out there, So I'm gonna be really interested to
(11:53):
see how he does. And then also on defense, we've
you know, got some some changes on the defense. You
want to see how they do out there. Speaking of
treyvon Merrick, I mean he's gonna be starting out there
at safety. You've got some different pieces to the puzzle
out there on the defensive side of the ball, So
I want to see how they communicate and how they
get out there in this first couple of series.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yeah, as you said, a lot of new faces out there,
and you know the guys that are returning. The Panthers
used more backups than any other team in the NFL
last year a lot of times due to injuries, So
you have to think anyway, like, in addition to the
new faces, how many reps did those starters get all together?
Speaker 3 (12:34):
As it was even the.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
Guys that were here, and then Sharon Derek Brown, who
is not currently practicing right now.
Speaker 3 (12:40):
He's got a little bit of an oblique.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
But it's nothing to do with the knee, which is
what kept him out last year. But you know, even
deep now, we don't think that we'll see him play
in the preseason, but you will not play.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
He will not play this Friday, for sure. I know
that he's not playing this week.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
But even in terms of all of them getting together,
the guys that you think are you know, these Panthers
stalwarts who are coming back, they all need time.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Together, absolutely, And you've, like you mentioned just with that
D line, I mean, you've got some new faces there too,
with Treg Gordon, Pat Jones. You've got guys who are
you know up there on that defense that are new.
And then you get Derek Brown back and who wasn't
a part of the mix last year either. So you've
got a lot of pieces like that in certain positions.
The one great thing is the offensive line has everybody back,
(13:25):
which is such a luxury to be able to bring
back that entire offensive line and their key backups, so
to be able to have all of them back has
got to be just such a blessing for Bryce and
this offense as a whole. But man, it's awesome to
have those guys back because they were one of the
best in the league last year, and you have to
assume that they're going to be just even that much
better this year.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
That that really is so true. Sharon.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I remember gosh, right around free agency when they said,
you know, we were bringing back these pieces, and they
you know, were able to keep Cave Mays and Brady Christensen,
which is you know, not only did they keep those
starters together, but like you said, I went, oh wow, wow,
Dan Morgan in the front office.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
That's so impressive to have this depth.
Speaker 2 (14:04):
And then we've even seen, you know, some competition at
center with Austin Corpett and Cade Mays. To just be
able to even at such a high level, have those
backups and to even have some competition as Austin Corpett
of course works this way back from a couple of
really tough injuries. So another thing that I want to
be keeping an eye on during the preseason is this
kicking competition. So we saw at FanFest, or if you
(14:29):
weren't there, maybe you heard about it. That Ryan Fitzgerald
did not have the easiest time at FanFest. He was
I believe, one for three and the two he missed
were in the forty yard range. And so you know,
the first depth chart came out and Matthew Wright was
listed ahead of him on the depth chart. Now, there's
still plenty of time, all of that remains to be seen,
(14:49):
and one outing does not a kicker make, right of course,
but that is something that I'm of course going to
be we will both be keeping an eye on as
the preseason goes on, because what a great environment for
them to be able to I mean, especially in Ryan
Fitzgerald's case, be able to get into that NFL game mode,
but then also to see how they react and how
things go when the pressure is on.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And you know, I.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
Will say this, Sharon, kicking battle is not always the
sexiest thing, if I can say that in the preseason
or in training camp. But let me tell you what
those fans care when it comes to the regular season.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
You got that right because you've seen it over the
years all around the league. You know, if your kicker
melts down at an opportune time, I mean, that's literally
can change your season and this is it is a
crucial battle, and Dave Canalis has said that he wasn't
going to make any decisions early in training camp, no
matter who was having a good day or who had
a bad day. He wants to see how they do
in actual preseason games, and both of them obviously going
(15:46):
to get all sorts of opportunities, you would think over
the course of these next three these next three weeks
with the three preseason games, so he's going to wait until,
I think, probably down to the wire to make a
decision because he wants to see how they fare on
the lights are on and when the pressure is on
and things like that, and I'm sure they'll try to
put them in some sort of situation where they can
see how they're going to react. But yeah, Ryan Fitzgil,
(16:08):
I mean, that's a tough thing, you know, coming in
as a new player and being out. Matthew Wright's been around,
He's bopped around for a while to different teams, so
he's got that experience, which certainly is beneficial to him.
So it'll be interesting to see how Ryan reacts now
in the real game situations here headed into the preseason games.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
And then Sharon, I.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Want to know what else you're looking at, But first
I want to ask you about Leathan Ransom. He's somebody
that has really come in and made a big impact
in the short time since being drafted.
Speaker 3 (16:37):
What are you seeing from him?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
He is just a smart guy. You see him. Dave
Canalys was just talking about him actually yesterday. He is
always where he's supposed to be. He has really studied
hard on this defense, and he said that he puts
in so much time trying to learn this playbook and
to know not just where he's supposed to be, but
where everybody is supposed to be, sort of the defense
as a whole. And so that's something that he is
(17:00):
always in the right place at the right time. He's
where he's supposed to be. Hit a great day yesterday
with past breakup, interception, another one knocked out. He's just
really come into his own smart guy, and he also
just wants to do anything and everything. He said, you know,
being at Ohio State, he said that they really preached
the value of special teams. It was on the same
same playing fields as everybody else offense, even special teams.
(17:22):
It was all equal, and so he's really embracing the
opportunity to be able to play special teams here as well.
He says, wherever they need me, put me out there,
I'm going to go all out. And he's been taking
a ton of time to really quizz these veteran players.
He is just as he called it, I'm a sponge.
He just wants to know everything. So he's constantly questioning
guys when he's on the sidelines that come off from
(17:42):
a play and talking about, you know, what he saw
or what, you know, what he needed to be doing.
So he's getting all sorts of advice advice from some
some great players here and some great veteran guys, because
he said that he wants them to know when he
goes out there on the field, this expectation is the
same whether they're there, he's out there, and he wants
to live up to that. He doesn't want to be
the weak link out there. He wants to go out
(18:04):
there and be confident that he can play at the
same level they are because of what he's you know,
been absorbing in his knowledge of the playbooks. So he's
he's really a hard work or great talker too. When
you're when you're looking for an interview, he's a great talker.
We're always worried about that, which lears right.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
That is that is one of the best things as
a sideline reporter.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
You're oh, you're a great player and a good talker.
That's the rights.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
There's something else that I'll be watching, and we haven't
seen any of this in action. Of course, are some
of these new rule changes for the NFL, And of
course we'll we'll talk about these more as we see
them in action. But Charon, one that I'm going to
be looking at and we'll see if we see at
any in the preseason, is that the NFL is really
going to crack down on some sportsmanship calls, specifically when
(18:49):
it comes to touchdown celebrations. And the way they described
it is that any type of conduct with especially sexual
or violent undertones.
Speaker 3 (18:56):
So whether that's you know, mimicking.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
Shooting a gun or a bow and arrow or things
like that, that they will police that a lot more
than they have in the past. And there were a
lot of those now I'm not saying with the Panthers,
but if you watch game, you know, you come home
and you watch your Sunday night football game or whatever,
you see a lot of those types of celebrations and
that is.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
Such a subjective call.
Speaker 2 (19:19):
So I will be very interested, especially when we get
into the regular season or if anyone tries anything in
the preseason, to see how some of those kind of
decisions that are left in the rest's hands, because hey,
and unsports and like conduct penalty is a big deal. Yeah,
So I will be very interested to see kind of
how that plays out, because touchdown celebrations have typically been
(19:42):
you know, pretty been lenient over the last few years.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
Yeah, absolutely, And I hope they don't completely crack down
too hard because it's just fun to see a lot
of stuff. Obviously you don't want to have the inappropriate
things out there, but I do hope that they're not
going to, like, you know, start flagging everything if they
think it's over the top.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
It's going to be back in the day.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Yeah, you know, it's like, come on, let them do
something and have some fun. And that's Dave Canalis has
been really focused in on that with his guys, especially
with the they've had the NFL officials here now. He
talked about that you want to there's a fine line
between doing that celebrating and you know, the in your
face kind of stuff. That went something and I'll draw flagging.
In fact, jac Horne had done something with spinning the
(20:17):
ball or something. He was like, that's going to be
a flag. So he wants them to be able to
have fun but not draw that penalty flag because, like
you said, that's that can be very painful, those those
kind of penalties. So it's going to be really interesting
to see how strict they are. I'm guessing they're gonna
be a little stricter early on and then maybe you know,
slack off as the season goes on. But I hope
they don't totally take all the fun out of it.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
It's always fun to get to see those touchdown celebrations.
So one thing that I also want to talk about
is as Sideline reports and hopefully we can continue to
take people behind the curtain a little bit. So Tomorrow Thursday,
or if you're listening to this on Thursday, then today
is we get a chance to speak to the ourcast crews,
get a chance to speak to and kind of do
(21:03):
a preseason meetings with. It'll be Dan Morgan, it'll be
Dave Canalis, and then all of the coordinators and people
may or may not do that. But it's something that
is a really great opportunity for us to get some
some behind the scenes stuff, some thoughts about what they
want to see in these preseason games or you know,
guys that they're really honing in on, and I just
(21:23):
I want to know how you approach those meetings.
Speaker 3 (21:25):
I thought it would be interesting to talk.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
A little bit about as sideline reporters, what are the
things that we enjoy asking the coaches and what do
we think will be beneficial to us as this. You know,
I try to do it for as the season goes on,
not just the preseason.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I love being able to have that opportunity to go
and sit down with all of the coaches because, like
you said, you get the coordinators too, and that's not
something you get to do very often. They do make
them available once a week, but you're in the big
giant media scrum and you might not be able to.
This is more like it's such a one on one
type of environment because there's only a handful of us
in there and you get to ask them anything, which
is nice because, especially from a sideline reporter point of view,
(22:01):
you know, you want to ask maybe sometimes about a
specific player, you know, what they like about him, you know,
how he reacts to certain things. I like to get
some of those tidbits to talk about specific players and
maybe guys that aren't so much in the limelight, you know,
maybe bubble guys or something like that. You want to
get more information out of the coaches. And it's also
really neat, I think to see how, especially last season
(22:22):
with Dave can also be in his first season but
now you're two as well, how he will react and
how he looks at certain situations, you know, on on
on field situations, like you know, what makes you want
to go for it on fourth down? You know what
are your you know, sort of requirements to be able
to go for it on fourth down as opposing as
opposed to punting or something like that. So it's neat
to get that kind of sort of really detailed information
(22:43):
that you really just can't get in a you know,
big giant media scrum type of interview. So I really
appreciate the opportunity to be able to sit down with
all of them in these preseason broadcast meetings.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
I completely agree, and like you said, especially the coordinators,
because of course, your head coaches, your gems are going
to have this really this bird's eye view of everything
that's going on. But it is so interesting to hear,
you know, for example, what Guerrero Rivero thinks about you know,
merrig or something like that, and what he sees and
how he sees that really factoring in and sees the
(23:16):
change from last year by having him out there at safety,
you know, like you said, just different players.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
And then also, as you said, you get into these.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Meetings and it is a small group of us, and
you get to hear some of these stories that maybe
you wouldn't get a chance to hear in this frum,
specifically as it relates to players.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Like you said, you know.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
You might find out that somebody is a cut up right,
or that somebody is you know, brings eighteen.
Speaker 3 (23:41):
Highlighters to you know what I mean, Yes, meetings, so.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I always just enjoy and you get to see really
the affinity that these coaches have for their players beyond
just okay, what happened in the last game, you know
this Jase Warren shut down X receiver for such and
such that you really get to hear hear a lot
about them and also in the ways in which they
want to conduct their season of course, we want to
(24:08):
go undefeated, no doubt about that, but also, just okay,
what does success look like after the first four games,
or aside from wins, what is a you know, what
does success constitute?
Speaker 3 (24:19):
The way in which you win? Which I always think
is very interesting.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
So we're going to have a lot to talk about
with them tomorrow, and it's always very interesting to me.
Typically your play by play or your analyst leads the conversation,
at least in my experience, it's usually the analyst, right,
and to hear what they get to ask about is
really interesting and to hear them talk, you know, I've
had the good fortune of being in there with Steve
Smith and going through the playbooks as I'm sure you have, Sharon,
(24:46):
and just really getting to kind of absorb that knowledge
as well and see people that are that have just
been in this game for years and years kind of
chop it up and go deep into certain formations or
you know, what you expect out of this guy. I
find that so fascinating.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Oh, I agree, especially when you've got the former players
involved like that guy like Steve Smith or Luke Keigley
or somebody like that, because they're just unbelievable to be
able to listen to them talk. That's one of my
favorite things about working with the Panthers on the sidelines
is the opportunity to be able to, like you said,
chop it up with those guys and Jake Delob and them,
and Kirk Coleman, who's doing the pregame preseason stuff as well.
(25:22):
It's so awesome to be able to hear their knowledge
and hear their stories and to watch them interact with
the coaches and stuff in these broadcast meetings. It's a
lot of fun too, because I sometimes I think that
they could just still be at their playe the way
they talk.
Speaker 3 (25:33):
Oh absolutely, and Sharon, I know that.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
When I'm out there and you know, we're listening to
the broadcast as it's going on.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
I look at the fans.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Now, we hope, you know, we hope you're either listening
on the radio or you're there in person. But I
look around at the fans are there in person, and
I go, man, unless they have headsets on, they are
really missing out on something that Jake Malome just said.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
I can't believe that I get.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
To listen to it, and it's just it's such a
neat position to be in as as you said, and
it's just I can't believe that already here again, it's
a game week.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
I know, it's very exciting. I cannot wait to get
things underway. This is just so much excitement about this team.
And last year was funks we had the new head
coach and new staff and everything. But this year it's like,
all right, we've got a season under our belt with
Dave Canalis and his whole staff and Bryce you know,
really turned it on last year. At the end of
the season. We got some really fun, exciting new pieces
to this team on both sides of the football. So
it's going to be just a lot of fun to
(26:23):
get things going.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
It is, and by the time we have our second
sideline pass game of the season, we'll have stuff to
talk about as it relates.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
To the preseason game.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
We will have seen the starters take the field and
we'll have a lot to talk about next week.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Sharon absolutely can't wait.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
All right, We'll see you guys then,
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