Chris? We saw some flashes. who cares about the ending score, but we saw some flashes. I’ve already apologized once. I’ll I’ll apologize again. Uh, Dan, Dan Wargan, we had some words for you on, on, uh, draft night on the first round. I’m sorry. You got it. Hey, but you know what, bro doesn’t mean that there still wasn’t something left to be desired. Let’s talk. Let’s get the sucker started. Get dialed in Panthers fans. Here comes an in-depth look at your team. Exclusive interviews, locker room insight. Let’s huddle up for Panthers Playbook. Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee. Welcome back to another episode of Panthers Playbook. That’s Chris Lee, Dennis Cox here with you. Chris is in Cleveland. He’s holding the fort down up there where the Browns are. I’m actually here at Bank of America Stadium. Leave your thoughts in the comment section here on preseason game number one. And Chris, let’s go ahead and jump right into it. Leave, then leave your thoughts on Tetaro McMillan. Uh, MacMillan, the very first pass attempt that we saw go to McMillan from Bryce Young that fade route down the right sideline. I was like, oh, that’s why this guy was drafted 8th overall. That showed the pass that got me excited for sure. We’ll get to the drops here in just a second, but seeing that early and then even the slant pass that they called as well, I was like, ah, there’s the team act that we wanted to see. Yeah, and, and look, look, I’m just looking up the stats right here. 2 for 43, uh, so you have uh 21.5 yards average on both of those, um, catches. The long one being 29 yards. You know, it’s, it looked good to me, um, and you saw exactly what Te Aroa MacMillan could be, uh, with Bryce Young once he gets it together. Now, still the preseason. He’s still a rookie. There’s still a few things that him and Bryce Young, uh, need to kind of get together. He would have had a touchdown catch if he whipped his head around, uh, fast enough. Yeah, yeah, that’s, that’s part of the growing pains of rookie. Hey, the, the ball’s gonna get there faster. This game is a faster game. You got to anticipate as soon as that he turns around, the ball’s gonna be right there. Absolutely. Especially in a red zone. And, and Bryce put it on a perfect spot. McMillan has to come up with that catch, plain and simple. But you know that, OK, he’s in the right spot. He’s definitely getting open, which is a good sign for sure. And he also had to drop on a pass as well, uh, on his, on another target that was a little bit behind him. So again, a couple of drops there that you saw, but it is preseason and that’s why you have these games. Yeah, and you know, I’m not gonna look at the drops as anything to worry about. Like wasn’t it Jamar Chase dropped all kinds of balls like in his freshman, in his rookie year, and then he just came out balling, uh, and it was in the preseason, he came out balling once the regular season started. So I’m not worried about that like, you know, I’m not looking at him. Um, at, at the mistakes too much. I’m looking at what the flashes are, and what are the ways that he can learn. Honestly, the only reason why he doesn’t have 100 yards right now, um, it’s probably because of just him and Bryce just needing to get on the same page and because of those drops. I play. In the end zone, what, what was it off on the timing? Did you think, what was that you look like you gave him a thumbs up like maybe it was your fault. Oh yeah, no, that that ball came out good good an anticipation. I gotta have those at the end of the day, so, um, you know, we just come back tomorrow, correct it and uh we’ll we’ll go from there. Otherwise, you see what could be the makings of a real true number one wide receiver for Bryce Young. And why that’s important, because I did feel that on some of these plays, it would if without MacMillan doing what he was doing, it felt like same old Panthers is like, man, Dean’s kind of slow, you can keep him covered, you know, uh, Ligette. I think he ran some decent routes. You probably saw it a lot better there, uh, but it didn’t look like the ejection yeah, before the ejection, it didn’t feel like a lot of people, uh, got open as much during the two drives for Bryce. And so you saw where McMillan can be important, uh, when it comes to that. Um, but also, I wanna, I wanna pivot to Bryce as well. My man looking like Drew Brees out there, bro. My man was looking like Drew Brees out there just extending the play, you know, like pointing, you know, being the traffic cop. Hey, go over here. I got you, boom. Hitting Coker, oh my God, like this, this guy right here looks. Amazing. You just need to have a serviceable, uh, NFL line to block in front of him, and he’s got all the magic for days. Yeah, so the, speaking of the offensive line here real quick, so no Damian Lewis today. I was actually told before the game, um, I asked, uh, uh, representative for the, for the Panthers. I said he’s a little bit banged up and they said, yeah, he was, never actually got the full details of the injury. So, Uh, with Chandler Zavalo also not playing, it was actually, uh, Jatire Carter. I hope I’m saying this right, or Jatier Carter, I should say, uh, actually started in place of Damian Lewis in that regard. If this were a real game, it would have been probably either Kay Mays or Brady Christensen starting in that spot if this was the situation we were going in, but Christensen and Mayer battling out for a center position. So hence why, you know, Carter got the start there. And sure enough, he gave up a sack in the game. But the thing that, uh, impressed me about Bryce is that you look at his stat line, you see 4 for 6, you know, touchdown. Both of his passes that were incompletions were dropped. The one early on to Chuba Hubbard on the very first drive and the one that we mentioned about Daro McMillan, everything was on the spot. It looked like the, the pastorba go back and look at that again. It was a little behind, but it was still catch. It was catchable ball though. That’s the thing. It was a catchable ball. The, the way it looked on television, you probably, again, when you were there, you have a lot better, uh, view of it. On television, it looked like Cuba had to like literally his feet are going this direction and his body had to go all the way back here and I could see how that could be a drop because you don’t even have your body oriented in the right way. Uh, to get it and like he, he was trying to stop and his momentum just took him. So I don’t know if it came off his fingertips because of the momentum or whatever, but it did feel as if, if the ball was put right there on him or even to the to his side, to where he could get it right here, that he would have caught it. It just felt like it was really behind him. So right here. Yeah it had to be right here. It’s gotta be right here, Chris. But I mean, overall, it was a good showing by Bryce Young. Now granted, Cleveland wasn’t playing a lot of their starters in this game, which is totally understandable. I mean, their quote unquote 4th quarterback was, you know, Shadoor Sanders playing well into the 3rd quarter, even into the 4th. So that’s what we saw today, uh, from, from the offense in that regard, at least from the starting offense. Um, I, I liked the way it was a, uh, uh, uh, uh, mixed, mixed match, a, um. It would to mix and match the run and the pass game that we saw and it was actually Brad Idzik calling place as well. So I definitely like that for sure. One thing that actually stuck out to me was actually the very, I think 2nd play of the game. They went 5 wide but had two tight ends out there in the field. They had a running back, two tight ends, and still went 5 wide, which I was like, oh, OK, little wrinkle here that I don’t think we really saw a whole lot last year because of just health at the tight end position. But, uh, so that’s what we saw offensively so far. Also want to throw in there Jalen Coker. Now, Xavier Leget had the ejection, but Jalen Coker. Just show how reliable that guy is as a pass catcher because remember he was the one that actually went that. I remember I posted this on, on Twitter when Xavier Legat got booted from the game and understandably and rightfully so, I said, oh, Jalen Coker is in there for Xavier Leget spot, and sure enough, who catches the touchdown pass on that drive? It’s Jalen Coker and Coker was actually open in the back right corner of the end zone when Bryce was scrambling out and Bryce redirected him and you saw that chemistry right there. I was like, yeah. That, that, that’s Jalen Coker and then unfortunately he had a great one-handed catch from it would have been about a 29, I’m sorry, about a 32 yard, uh, completion from Andy Dalton in the second quarter got called back because of the Ash Nyman face mask penalty. I was like, man, just the short-handedness, the great route running. You saw him make catch on the sideline as well, Mike. Yeah, Jaylen Coler definitely needs to be on the field. If there are any questions about what his spot is on this team, they’ve been answered, plain and simple. And, and, you know, there were no questions from us. I think we’ve believed the entire time, um, but I, I think that it feels like, um, for this Panthers offense, you’re gonna need Cuba and McMillan to get started early, right? And once they’re going, things are gonna start opening up for other people like, you know, Coker just feels like the guy that at the end of the game is just gonna make the catch for you, right? You know, he, he’s not the number one dude, not the #2 dude, but when you need somebody, um, to, to make a play, when you need somebody to, uh, get open and have a sure-handed catch, it feels like that’s gonna be Jalen Coker, um, all day, all day long, so I’m excited to see that. Uh, I meant to bring this up earlier too. Uh, I’d also be interested in seeing how well other people get open with Hunter Renfro on the field as well. Um, so, you know, you gotta be healthy for it, but it’s, it’s gonna be interesting to see whenever he is healthy, how that does impact the Panthers’ offense early on in games. All right, let’s switch focus over here on the defensive side of things. You saw the defense for the Panthers play about 12 snaps out there for the, for Dave Canalson and Joe Evro. A couple of things stood out to me, but in particular, one person, and I even posted this out on social media as well. Corey Thornton is making this team. Corey Thornton is making this team. It is extremely telling. Now, Caleb Evans, who was on the team last year, was not healthy, uh, to play today, so he didn’t play. Obviously, JC Horn was not playing as well. So you know who started, who ran with the ones to start the game was Corey. Thornton. I thought he was great in pass coverage, almost came with an interception, and then Chris on the end around makes a great tackle for a loss. I think he hit a guy with an Alabama slam. I mean, that’s, that’s really what he did today. I like Corey Thornton. I was like, yo, like, this might be another undrafted jam that Dan Morgan found. Yeah, you know, and, and here, that’s the thing with, uh, Dan Morgan again, I, I brought this up before, but we gotta give him all the praises because he has this might be one of the two best drafts back to back that he’s done. We’re gonna have to see, of course, what they do during the season. Um, time will definitely tell, but then also what he’s doing after the draft. I, I don’t remember. Seeing Back to back years where like there are folks that are, you brought in as undrafted guys that had the ability to um make the roster. Last year, of course, Coker, Damani Richardson, uh, and those guys that have done a great job of right now. Corey Thornton looks like he’s a part of that and looks like he’s he belongs and looks like, looks like he might be like. Pushing Shamar Bartholomew possibly for his job. So it’s gonna be interesting to see how all of that uh ends up shaking out. It, you know, he’s still a little raw on a few things, but he’s definitely made some plays, and I think you’re right. I think he’s uh already made a case for himself making this team, especially because, uh, you know, he’s played well when he has the opportunity, but also, uh, special teams, he’s he’s been doing great with that as well. Yeah. So again, I think it’s extremely telling that they went with Corey Thornton first over Bartholomew to start this game today, to run with the ones. And then when the starters rested, Corey Thornton stayed out there because, you know, you’re an undrafted rookie. You’re gonna get those reps and you need those reps as well. I just thought he was all around it today. I, even though the touchdown pass that Sanders threw and Thornton was. Thornton had great coverage. It was just an amazing throw, uh, by Shadoor Sanders on that first touchdown pass, but Thornton was, was right there. And again, he almost had an interception. Well, we, we’re, we’re here, we’re here to talk about Panthers, Chris. We’re here to talk about Panthers. I mean, we can, we can mention them. We can mention him a little bit. I mean, I will say this though. I mean, the defense got a really good look from Shadoor Sanders. Let’s be honest, he’s not a 5th round talent. He’s not a 5th round talent. He’s, he, he’s a good quarterback. But that being said, I was actually pretty impressed. What the pressure that the starting unit was able to get today. Now, they weren’t able to really bring Sanders down, but we saw the pressure. For example, in that 3rd downplay, DJ Waham pressure up the middle and forced him back and didn’t get lost. Uh, Nick Skorton chasing him around the field a little bit. Uh, we saw the defense getting in the backfield and the key word of that, Chris, is pressure, something we didn’t really see last year. And no Derek Brown today. No Derek Brown either today. And, and another thing, like, you know, of course, everybody is in preseason mode, uh, you know, things should look a little bit better once the season starts and especially as we get towards the middle of the season. And Cleveland also real quick did not play a lot of their starters on offense. Yes, but there is a to go back to your point, um, good pressure, Shadour, uh, I think on his second drive had to roll out and, um, or maybe it was his first drive. And uh he should have been sacked uh by uh Wharton and Wharton just simply just missed him, right? Yeah that was on the 2nd. And um and so it’s one of those like, I like seeing that because it shows what Wharton could possibly be. That’s a defensive, uh, interior defensive lineman who’s moving like that, uh, to chase down a quarterback. Um, and so you feel like, you know, week 4, he makes that play. So that adds another, you know, I think, uh, extra addition to the Panthers defense that that can make it a little bit more dangerous once plays break down. Uh, I’m not worried about the miss tackle. Right now, uh, but also, you know, I just hope that all that is fixed, but, you know, it shows what Wharton could possibly be in his defense. I think it’s also a byproduct as well is that these guys can’t touch a quarterback during practices and during training. He’s like, you can’t touch a quarterback. So this is the first time all season that they’ve actually been able to touch a quarterback or not like there’s a coach standing back there and you tap him on the shoulder. So you’re pursuit and everything, it’s, it’s just different because you’re not used to the quarterback moving the way they’ve been moving. So. Cause you’re used to just, hey, I gotta, I gotta pull up because that’s what you’re taught to do. That’s what you’re supposed to do. So that’s something we got to keep in mind as well when it comes to this is that defense is actually tackling live for the first time. Because not many teams tackle to the ground anymore in training camp. I think Pittsburgh Steelers might be really the only team that actually does it. That’s, that will actually tackle to the ground. So most of these practices are, you know, wrap up and, you know, they call thud, uh, that’s at least in practice, uh, at least to get your own team. Joint practices might be a little bit different, but Nonetheless, guys are staying off the ground for the most part in practice. So for defense, now you really have to work on your tackling and your pursuit angles and those kinds of things because you’re doing it really live for the first time. And I would say overall, I actually, I, I, I liked what I saw from the first defense overall, I liked what I saw from the first defense in terms of the pressure that they got. I thought the coverage downfield was really. Good, uh, as a whole, uh, to me, overall solid. Um, still a question at safety. Nick Scott, still a question mark. He started at free safety today. I wonder if Lathan Ransom or Damoni Richardson’s gonna take that spot eventually. Richardson did get a sack, which I thought was really good to see as well, but I, I, there’s still a question mark at that free safety spot for me. I, I wanna give some shout outs because, uh, you talked about the pressure, you talked about the pressure earlier, um, there on the second drive, I think there was a good, uh, pressure from DJ Wadham there. I felt like, I felt like he flashed on the screen a few times. I felt like, uh, Pat Jones flashed on the screen a few times, um, cause there, there were times where you could see him first off, I didn’t. Pat Jones is a lot bigger than I think what I anticipated. Uh, he looks he looks it when he’s running after you, so uh I like the way that looks. And I also feel like, uh, you know, even though there wasn’t sacks from our top four, you know, outside linebackers today, I did feel as if I saw those guys, um, in the area of making plays and in pursuit. Uh, a lot. And once they get it together, going back to, you know, the mid-season form, and knowing you can really live tackle, um, or, or sack a quarterback, it feels like that, that is definitely gonna get better. You mentioned it, uh, I was gonna talk about Damani Richardson coming in on that safety blitz and getting that sack, uh, still looks like uh a really good guy for, for this team. And uh you know, we talked about Shamar Bartholomew earlier, but he did have a nice hit on Aman Amani Marshall, actually probably saved the touchdown, honestly, um as well for, for that play. And so I just, I wanna give a shout out to certain people cause I did see a few things. I was trying to see who popped off of my screen, and those are some of the people that popped off of my screen and I, and I like seeing that. And also shout out to Monty Marshall from Winston Salem, North Carolina. Um dad, Malcolm Marshall was a running back for Carolina and played with Matt Brown in the early 90s. So, um, you know, running back runs in the family there. Amani started at uh Wake Forest and, and then transferred to Appalachian State. That’s where he finished career. So good kid, good family that he comes from, and he’s jacked. His dad is um an IFBB. Uh, bodybuilder. So, uh, if you take a look at uh Armani’s physique, yeah, that’s that’s the guy who was training him when he was 16, uh, to get ready for college. It’s scary. It comes from good genes. Um, so real quick, you mentioned Pat Jones and his size 64, 264 is what he’s listed at like he’s a, he’s a big physical guy. Uh, out there. Uh, now Nick Skorton did get credit with the sack because there’s a play where he chased Shaor Sanders out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage on a, on a pass play, so he got credit for a sack there. Uh, but I liked, uh, I liked even there should have been a couple of times where I thought you even mentioned it as well to me, that Princeley Uma Yellen should have drawn a holding penalty on a couple of pass plays as well, like using the speed as well. Yeah, so like Princeley Umayyela, like I, I, I liked what I saw again. First impressions, overall good. These young guys still have a lot of room to grow and still need to grow, uh, in terms of their development. But I was impressed overall with Scorton. I was impressed overall with Uma Melen. Again, nothing great, but you see the foundation of what this defense can hopefully become, Chris. And, uh, oh, also, Christian Roseboom, short tackler, I like seeing that. And to me, in my eyes. Enkum, Tomas Enkum, Thomas Eum is making this team over DJ Johnson. Simple as that. In making this team over DJ Johnson. I had a sack today as well. I had a sack today too. But also what he does on special teams, I think Inum is making this team over DJ Johnson. I was gonna go back to the, to the main play uh that I texted you about from Princeley. Uh, Shadour, you know, drops back. He’s in his own end zone, and, uh, Princeley was held. He ended up, uh, Shadour ends up hitting uh Lavadan, uh, for that long game. It was a first down, uh, after that. That’s, um, yes, like Princeley, first off, the referees are in preseason form as well. But, uh, Princeley, um, man, he, he looks good. I think Scoring looks good, um, you know, especially in pursuit or, you know, uh, trying to tackle folks, uh, once they’re already on the run. I’m excited to see how those rookies grow. Uh, overall with the defense, I mean, it’s preseason, um, I, I, you see the improvements. Um, but also like, it’s nothing to really just like super write home about. Um, I think the main thing I wanted to see is I didn’t want this team to look like they had regressed, and even though there’s not a lot of scoring in this game, I think that’s more so indicative of uh what’s not there as far as uh the bench or depth is concerned, um, but I, I feel like as far as the starters that you’re putting out there, everything. Looks fine. Everything looks at least looks on par from last year. Now there’s just room to improve. So yeah, that’s what I saw after one game. Par for the defense last year was not a good score. Uh, let’s let’s call that what that is. Um, but I, I think again, once Derrick Brown is healthy and ready to play as well, we’re gonna really see the defense and truly what it can become. But Chris, overall, again, It’s a preseason game. I really don’t care what the score is. I’m just want to see growth and progress, and then we’ll get preseason game number 2 and preseason game number 3. I think that’s something we have to keep in mind. Temper your expectations. It’s still early August. It’s early August. They don’t play a game for another month. They don’t play a game for another month. And then they got 17 of those. There’s plenty of time to improve. We’re good right now. Yeah, I, we’re, Chris, we’re, we’re here. Right here, Chris. We’re right here. Again, leave your thoughts in the comment section. Who popped off today? Who showed out to you? Would you, were you impressed with Jimmy Horn Junior speed? Do you like Jaylen Coker? By the way, Jimmy Horn Junior very fast is a fast individual. Oh my goodness. He’s small, but that dude is fast. All right, man. Uh, Chris, have a safe trip getting back home from Cleveland and, uh, folks again, subscribe if you’re not already subscribed, and we will see you another episode for you guys on Thursday.
