Welcome to the new standard.
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen was a guest on Wednesday’s episode of The Rich Eisen Show, where host Rich Eisen brought up the prospect of restructured offseason workout programs. The 33-year-old veteran said he’d probably be in favor of a tighter schedule, with the idea of the earlier phases being closer to training camp.
He told Eisen that players have gotten to the point where they’re already working out during their time away from the team, something that may have factored into a few departures from Carolina this spring.
“The NFL has gotten so competitive that you can’t not work out,” Thielen stated. “Even right now. When guys come back to OTAs and they’re out of shape, they haven’t done anything—they’re getting cut. Like, there was a few guys that aren’t on the Panthers anymore that came back, they were out of shape, you can tell they hadn’t done anything and they’re not there anymore. That’s just the reality.”
Eisen also asked Thielen about first-year head coach Dave Canales, whom the former All-Pro has already praised for his steady vision. He’d go further on Canales’ focused approach.
“I think one of his strengths is just his confidence and his intentionality,” he replied. “He’s very intentional in everything he does. Everything has a purpose, a plan, a reason and he’s gonna explain the why. He’s not just gonna say, ‘Do this, and do it well.’ He’s gonna say, ‘This is why we need to do this and this is why we need to do it well because this is what it looks like when you do that.’”
Well, we certainly know they need to be in shape—even now.