Former Charlotte.com writer and current ESPN blogger Pat Yasinkas reports Panthers QB Jake Delhomme has begun throwing a nerf football:

Delhomme said he threw a football Monday for the first time since his surgery. He also threw Tuesday and this morning. Well, it was sort of a football. Delhomme has started throwing a Nerf ball to trainer Ryan Vermillion.

The ground rules are pretty rigid because the Panthers want to be cautious with Delhomme's recovery. So far, he's been limited to 20 passes each day at a distance of about 10 yards in the team's training room.

"It feels great, no pain at all," Delhomme said. "I'd like to do more than 20, but they're not going to let me win that battle. We'll keep doing this and, hopefully, go to a big ball out on the field in about a month or so."

That should be music to the ears of Carolina fans, who realized Delhomme's value more than ever after he went down in Week 3. The team struggled to a 7-9 record with David Carr, Vinny Testaverde and Matt Moore taking turns in Delhomme's place.

Today marks the 16-week anniversary of Delhomme's surgery. The team and the quarterback haven't set a hard target date for Delhomme's full return to activity, but there's optimism he'll be ready for training camp.

No pain at all. You are correct Pat that is music to my ears. I expect the Panthers to remain cautious with his recovery through training camp and right up to the preseason. By then I think they will let him go full speed in preseason games two and three.

Stick to the plan Jake, we need that elbow back to 100%.