In/Out

• LB Shaq Thompson watched Wednesday’s practice with a wrap around his left hamstring. That’s the same one he tweaked in rookie minicamp back in May. Thompson complained of tightness the past couple days, so the Panthers decided to be cautious with their first-round pick.

• DT Star Lotulelei was at Wofford, walking slowly in the protective boot the Panthers want him to wear the next couple weeks. Coach Ron Rivera said the team is hopeful Lotulelei can return from the stress reaction in his right foot to play at some point during the preseason.

• DT Kawann Short missed his fourth straight practice with a sore back. When asked what Short’s checkup with doctors in Charlotte on Tuesday revealed, Rivera replied: “It’s a matter of time, he’ll be back out here. He worked today with the trainer’s on the sidelines so now it’s just a couple of days, and hopefully we’ll get him back soon.”

• CB Bené Benwikere, who hasn’t practiced in camp because of a hamstring injury, won’t be back until next week at the earliest.

• CB Chris Houston sat down with Rivera on Tuesday to explain why he was retiring:”He had that toe surgery a year ago, and it just didn’t feel right to him … He said ‘Coach, the toe thing doesn’t allow me to perform at my best.'”

Houston then posted this to his Instagram account Wednesday afternoon.

• CB T.J. Heath, who bounced on and off five NFL rosters, was signed to fill Houston’s roster spot. The 6-foot, 190-pounder has played seven games in his career — five with Jacksonville in 2011 and a couple with Miami last season. He had a solid debut, batting away two passes from receiver Damiere Byrd during team drills.

  

• DT Kenny Horsley was also added Wednesday, most likely as a camp body. The 27 year old has never played in a regular-season NFL game.

• The six guys who had vet days Monday — RB Jonathan Stewart, WR Jerricho Cotchery, C Ryan Kalil, DT Dwan Edwards, LB Thomas Davis, S Roman Harper — all returned to practice.

Top Plays

• Second-round WR Devin Funchess made arguably his best catch of camp on an out route from Cam Newton. Funchess, who was covered well by CB Melvin White, extended his 6-foot-4 frame and held onto the ball as he was falling out of bounds.

• DE Kony Ealy, last year’s second-round pick, finally took advantage of snaps he saw with the starters. His best play came when he put early pressure on Newton, who was forced to dump off a pass to TE Greg Olsen that fell short. CB Charles Tillman came tearing up from his spot in the defensive backfield to congratulate Ealy.

• WR Kelvin Benjamin had an early drop on a routine screen pass and an offensive interference call on a catch against CB Josh Norman, but Benjamin later did his thing against Teddy Williams. The 6-foot-1 CB had no chance against Benjamin, who muscled his way open in the corner of the end zone to catch a touchdown pass from Anderson.

Offensive MVP

Funchess: Because Benjamin never looked like a rookie last summer, expectations have been a bit high for Funchess. But he’s starting to put together some good practices, and Monday was his best yet. Shortly after making that great catch on the sideline against White, Benjamin held off the veteran CB to make a touchdown grab during red zone drills.”You keep seeing [Funchess] improve every day,” Rivera said. “He has a long way to go, and we were saying that last year about Kelvin [Benjamin], so we feel pretty good about the guy that we have in Funchess.”

Defensive MVP

Ealy: Don’t count him out of the race for the second starting spot on the end of the line just yet. Ealy’s still too inconsistent, but Wednesday, he showed the same sort of flashes he gave at the end of last season.

Other Observations

• The biggest problem with DE Frank Alexander has been his inability to stay on the field, and he could have taken himself off it yet again. Fortunately, he didn’t hurt his hand in a brief scuffle with G Ricky Henry.

“I like the fact that they both stood up to each other, but you’ve got to be careful, especially swinging at somebody with a helmet on. You’re going to end up breaking your hand,” Rivera said. “We really don’t want to see it, but guys are going to stand up for themselves, and that’s important.”

• The first-team offense struggled in red zone drills. But if the offense doesn’t succeed, the other side of the coin is …

“On the defensive side, we’re far ahead,” Rivera said. “[Defensive coordinator] Sean McDermott picked up right where they left off in minicamps and offensively, we’re pretty basic. We didn’t game plan anything, so we tried to make things happen out there.”

On the opening play of red zone drills for the second team, Anderson fired and found WR Jarrett Boykin in the end zone.

• What happens when LB Luke Kuechly and RB Jonathan Stewart collide? This:

• A couple notes about the day’s defensive lineup: 1) Kurt Coleman and Roman Harper again lined up as starting safeties with Tre Boston coming off the bench; 2) Carrington Byndom got the first shot as the nickel corner.

• White and S Robert Lester each couldn’t hold on to interceptions during red zone drills.

• TE Marcus Lucas saw a pass go through his hands that then went through Williams’ hands. It was finally snagged by S Dean Marlowe.

• K Graham Gano booted a 56-yard field goal that would have been good from well over 60 yards away.

• Former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney spent the early afternoon interviewing a number of players he drafted, plus Rivera and Dave Gettleman. ESPN 730 has posted those segments midway down this page.

Coming Up

It’s another 9:25 a.m. practice Thursday, then players hit the road for Charlotte and Friday’s Fan Fest.[vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html]