Black and Blue Review
We caught up with tight end Greg Olsen, safety Tre Boston and offensive tackle Nate Chandler during Panthers-related community events this week. You can watch video from Olsen’s Receptions for Research fundraiser here and video of Boston and Chandler donating equipment to Vance High School here.
And if you’re looking for some football talk, here are a couple quotes from each of the three players:
“I think it’s been great. As we saw from how the year ended last year, if we can keep some continuity, I think there’s a lot of things we can build on. We have a lot of young pieces that came in and contributed last year, and they’re keeping some of us old guys around to try to keep the ship going in the right direction. I’m obviously very appreciative that they thought enough to keep me around here, and I still feel like I have a lot of good ball ahead of me.”
On another offseason without a marquee free agent addition:
“The NFL is not always about big names. I think we’ve proven that. I think you can win with a lot of good guys, a lot of good players who are good at certain spots. We have our fair share of marquee guys, between Cam and Luke and guys like that, but we have a lot of really good role players, a lot of guys who understand where they fit into the scheme of what we’re doing. At the end of the day, that’s really what goes the furthest.”
“We figured we’d probably get an older guy to fill Thomas DeCoud’s spot. Kurt adds depth to our group, adds more competition. But I definitely feel the (free safety) spot is mine. It’s mine for the taking. It’s mine to lose. So I’ve got to go in there every day competing, making sure the coaches trust me like they did last season. This year I’m going in with the mentality that it is my spot, and I’m going to do everything I can to keep getting better and better to become elite.”
On the Panthers’ offseason, and his tweet about free agent receiver Greg Jennings:
“I feel like we’re doing a good job. We’ve got the guys that we need; we’ve got the guys that we want. But my tweet, I just asked my buddy Jabari Price to throw in a little word for us. Let Greg know this is the place to be.”
Ay @JayPrice04 tell your homie @GregJennings #PantherNation would like him to bring his Talents to Charlotte. #KeepPounding #ThankYouBro
— Tre Boston (@TreBos10) March 23, 2015
“I’m feeling really good. I’m progressing well, started running on the treadmill, and no real setbacks … It’s all coming along, and I feel like I’m on schedule to be where I need to be come training camp.”
On if he still hopes to compete at left tackle:
“I’ve gotten to the point where left or right, I feel comfortable at playing the position, either tackle or guard. So my main focus now is getting healthy and getting to 100 percent and even better to where I was last year.”