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Heath Watch 

• DE Charles Johnson walked out to practice in pads and went through early positional drills, but he was then carted back inside. Johnson’s calf is still sore, so the Panthers wanted to be careful.

• DT Kawann Short, who was held out of Friday’s preseason opener with a sore back, practiced in full.

• WR Kelvin Benjamin sat out because his back was still sore after he took this big shot while making a reception Friday:

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• LB Shaq Thompson, who was held out Friday after dealing with a tweaked hamstring, practiced in full.

• RB Jonathan Stewart, who was a surprise scratch Friday night, was back running hard during practice.

• CB Teddy Williams will miss at least a few days after suffering a concussion against the Bills.

• CB Lou Young remains out with a strained hamstring, but he was on the sideline for the first time in more than a week.

• OT Tony Hills was carted off during the first half of practice. He appeared to be struggling with the mid-day heat.

• TE Jamie Childers, who suffered a fractured arm Friday, was waived/injured. The Panthers re-signed P/K Matt Wile to fill the roster spot.

Top Plays

• Corey Brown’s leaping catch

The second-year wideout had his best day of camp, starting with this pass he caught from Cam Newton after slipping past S Dean Marlowe:

• Brown’s over-the-shoulder catch

Brown later teamed up with Derek Anderson to beat CB Bené Benwikere deep down the right sideline:

• Kony Ealy’s save

The defensive end was standing on the sideline when a young boy sprinted onto the field. Ealy alertly scooped up the enthusiastic visitor seconds before the ball was snapped about 20 yards away during a team drill.

Offensive MVP

LT Michael Oher – While Monday’s big story centered on the defensive end shuffle, Oher seemed to engulf both Rakim Cox and Arthur Miley while they shared snaps with the starters.

Defensive MVP

CB Charles Tillman – RB Fozzy Whittaker was the latest victim of the “Peanut Punch”:

And rookie wideout Devin Funchess, who saw increased snaps with Benjamin out, struggled to get open against the 13-year veteran:

Other Observations

• While much of the talk since Friday has been what the defensive ends did and didn’t do against the Bills, the middle of the line didn’t have a good night, either. Starting in place of Star Lotulelei and Kawann Short, Colin Cole and Dwan Edwards struggled to provide much of a push.

“I said defensive line, I didn’t say defensive ends,” Rivera said when asked about his postgame comments that included multiple uses of the word “disappointing.”

Short and Kyle Love took most first-team snaps Monday.

• Another example of how ends get more attention than tackles: Cox and Miley were talking points but DT Terry Redden wasn’t until Rivera pointed out he was another undrafted guy who played well Friday.

And kudos to Carolina Pro Football for pointing out his play a couple days ago:

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• Teams play the preseason close to the vest, but the Panthers may be forced to show some of their cards against the Dolphins.

Because Thompson has missed so much time between classes at Washington and a troublesome hamstring, the Panthers need to do some game-day testing with a guy they hope to plug in all sorts of spots.

“The big thing on Saturday is seeing where he fits. There’s some things we’re going to do, and normally we wouldn’t show these things, but we’re going to have to because we have to see what they look like,” Rivera said.

Carolina’s coach sees 5,000 as a magic number of reps needed by rookies. That their first-round pick’s time with the starters Monday was the most he’s had with the group since the draft is telling.

“He’s probably somewhere around 350 or 400, and you want more because it’s important. For something to become second nature and be simple and easy, you need at least 5,000 reps and he’s got a long way to go,” Rivera said.

“The more we can drill with him, the more walkthrough stuff we can do with him, the more practice time he gets, the quicker he’s going to learn. We need to really put him in that position and force feed him.”

• Practice wrapped up 12 minutes early thanks to a high tempo. Rivera said the offense ran 18 plays in 10 minutes during its no-huddle period.

Coming Up

Another 9:25 practice Tuesday morning before a pair of practices with the Dolphins.[line][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]