“One, he’s really smart,” Idzik said of the veteran lineman. “He does a really good job of picking things up on the fly. He played mostly tackle for us in Seattle, but then was available to us at all four spots, not necessarily center. The guy’s really smart, he picks things up really fast, and he created a good amount of trust with Joe and Goody in a pretty short amount of time.
“And then just as a player, he covers guys up. He’s a big guy. He walks in the room and you see it right away. He’s big, can cover guys up and stay attached in his own way to get guys to the second level. So we’re excited that he came in and he held his own.
If he has to start this week, that would give the Panthers 10 different combinations of starting linemen in 13 weeks, but the results have been more consistent than that level of turnover would suggest.
“The guys have done that in that room all year long,” Idzik said. “Again, it’s a testament to Joe and Goody, just how they train those guys and how they have every single guy ready on a weekly basis, and Jake’s a perfect example of that.”