The Panthers break from minicamp feeling good about where they are.
The Carolina Panthers wrapped up their three day mandatory minicamp on Thursday and will go their separate ways until they reconvene for training camp in mid July. We’ve gotten lots of reports about the goings on, and a lot of them are good. It is camp after all. Everyone is great in camp.
Even with that caveat in mind, the quotes and energy coming out of camp are hard not to be excited about. Head coach Dave Canales spoke glowingly about the energy the team had over the three day camp, and it sounds like both the offense and defense each won a day. A few other interesting tidbits:
Bryce Young is growing as a leader
Young has always come across as soft spoken in press conferences and in interviews. In the first year plus of his career, he seemed quiet and timid on the field. That’s been changing as he’s emerged as a vocal leader and trash talker. He apparently jawed with Jaycee Horn all throughout camp and was also spotted having chats with wide receivers about how he wanted them to do certain things. Young needs to play confidently to be at his best, and it looks like he has his swagger back.
The rookies look good
Dave Canales has spoken extremely highly about the professionalism of the rookie class throughout the offseason program thus far. We still have to see how they perform on the field, but high character guys with good habits are always a better bet to reach their potential. Early returns suggest the Panthers acquired a bunch of those guys.
The old (ish) receiver looks good too
The Panthers signed Hunter Renfrow out of retirement, and he’s reportedly looked like his old self throughout camp. The Panthers have a lot of youth throughout their wide receiver room, and Renfrow is sounding more and more like a guy that can latch on as a veteran depth piece.
Tetairoa McMillan didn’t get to see the field much
The first round wide receiver got kicked in the leg during the first minicamp practice on Tuesday and was held out of the last two games due to swelling around the injury. While it’d be nice to get reports on how dominant the rookie was at camp, he at least avoided anything major.
Ghosts of Panthers past are out to see what’s brewing
The Panthers hosted a bunch of former players over the course of minicamp. You love seeing the old guard show their support and stay attached to the team. Josh Norman, Muhsin Muhammad, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, Jerricho Cotchery, Captain Munnerlyn, Kawann Short, Kurt Coleman, Dwan Edwards, Tre Boston, Colin Cole, Charles Johnson, Jonathan Stewart, and Mike Tolbert all reportedly showed up at different points to check in. That’s an expansive list of players from the good ol’ days. Perhaps we’re at the start of the next good days.