When Thomas McGaughey met with reporters for the first time since he took over for Bruce DeHaven, the Carolina Panthers' new special teams coordinator didn't necessarily gush praise when asked about the punting competition between Swayze Waters and Mike Scifres.

"Both those guys are working hard. They're trying to do their absolute best," McGaughey said after Monday's practice.

"I don't know if I'd say there's a leader. We've just got to keep going and see where it goes. It is what it is at this point."

What it became just a few hours later is another reshuffle.

The Panthers released Waters and picked up Kasey Redfern, whose last punt in a non-exhibition game came when he was wrapping up a four-year career at Wofford in 2013. The 24-year-old, who went to camp with the Jaguars the past two summers, was cut by the Chargers last week.

Because they figured Brad Nortman would likely land elsewhere in free agency, the Panthers signed Waters in February. Two months later, they added Michael Palardy. Two months after that, they released Palardy to make room for Scifres.

The 14-year veteran dressed but didn't play last week in Baltimore, so Waters had punting duties to himself. He landed two of his three kicks inside the 20, but his longest punt went 39 yards.

The Panthers were never worried about his leg, though. Instead, they wondered if Waters could pull off the directional punts they so often use.

"You give a guy the whole field to work with — you give Ted Ginn the whole field to work with — you're putting a lot of stress on your punt team," McGaughey explained.

"If you can corral them in one spot, we can cover as a group all of that area and give them nowhere to run. It gives you a better chance to do it as opposed to just punting right down the middle of the field and giving them a two-way go."

So 24 days before they kick off the regular season in Denver, the Panthers' punting situation is still murky. Because of his experience, Scifres remains the favorite. But that means his surgically repaired non-kicking leg needs to stop barking soon.

"Mike has 14 years of film. We kind of know what he is," McGaughey said. "He's a great teammate. He brings a lot of experience to the table. He's just got to get healthy."