The ninth day of “voluntary (mandatory)” offseason practices was held today in Charlotte under light drizzle at first, but then clearing and nice cool temperatures. No outside media was allowed into this closed session, so details of what occurred are scant at best. Here are your absentees:
- The Panthers did not release a list of who was not in attendance. We can assume, however, that Christian McCaffrey and Michael Oher at a minimum were not present, and that Ryan Delaire, Marcus Cox, and Brenton Bersin were out with injuries.
Panthers.com Notes:
- James Bradberry practiced once again today, sporting a bunch of autographs on his cast. After he secured Luke Kuechly and Cam Newton’s signatures, he joked he may be selling the thing when it comes off.
- Hall of Fame coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs attended practice today with his two grandsons. When Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman introduced himself, Gibbs laughed and said, "I know who you are! I read about you all the time in the paper."
- According to Bill Voth, Jeremy Cash has added about 15 pounds this offseason, increasing his weight to 230, and looks a lot more like a linebacker.
- Cameron Artis-Payne broke a run off left tackle for a long touchdown that got the offense fired up, then on the very next play, Derek Anderson was “sacked” getting the defense riled up too.
- Devin Funchess abused a couple of small corners today, securing catches against both Teddy Williams and Captain Munnerlyn with ease. Derek Anderson also overthrew him just slightly on a long bomb where Funchess got behind the defense.
- Austin Duke once again hits the mentions, taking a crossing route across the middle and turning it into a big gain with Zack Sanchez in coverage.
- It was not a great day for quarterbacks. Derek Anderson was picked by Ben Jacobs, and Joe Webb was robbed by Brian Blechen. This to go along with several mentions of overthrows and tipped passes.
- Shaq Thompson once again stayed in the hip pocket of a speedy receiver on a downfield pass, this time knocking the ball away from Russell Shepard on a deep route. This is the kind of athleticism in a linebacker most teams only dream about. It is beginning to look like this will be the year that Shaq finally becomes a household name.
- Captain Munnerlyn finished practice with two pass break-ups, albeit against two receivers who will not make the roster.
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