Defensive tackle Kawann Short sat out Saturday with back spasms. The Panthers are going to be careful with him, just like they’re handling cornerback Bené Benwikere. A sore hamstring kept him out again. Running back Jordan Todman returned after leaving Friday’s practice early with a stomach bug.[gap size=”1.313em”]
With coach Ron Rivera in Reno for his brother’s funeral, assistant head coach Steve Wilks was in charge for the first of two practices he’ll lead this weekend.[gap size=”1.313em”]
Health Watch
The Panthers got through the spring relatively healthy, but it took just two days in camp for a major injury to hit. Receiver Stephen Hill was carted off after he came down awkwardly on his right leg after going up to catch a pass over the middle. He was sent for an MRI, but the feeling around Wofford Saturday night was it’s a knee injury and it’s not good.
Photo: Carolina Huddle
Top Plays
It’s not often a defensive back who lost a chase to the end zone winds up on the positive end of a highlight, but that was Chris Houston’s ‘luck’ Saturday. He was on the wrong end of a perfectly synced bomb from Cam Newton to Ted Ginn, and when the sprinting Ginn leaped over a short, plastic fence, Houston followed. It was one of the wilder plays at Wofford in recent memory.
Ginn followed that up by hauling in another long ball from Newton later in practice. After making an audible at the line, Newton dropped back and heaved his pass toward the right sideline. Ginn, who had about five yards of separation from cornerback Josh Norman, didn’t have to hurdle anything on that side of the field after making the catch. Afterward, Wilks wondered if Norman was let down by a safety on the play.
For the second straight day, Kelvin Benjamin out battled cornerback Carrington Byndom deep downfield. 6-5 > 6-foot.
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Offensive MVP
Ginn: There’s something about his connection with Newton that helps Ginn turn into a threat he’s struggled to be elsewhere.
Defensive MVP
Safety Kurt Coleman: The free agent addition has had a good start to camp, picking off passes in consecutive practices. Saturday, he snagged an underthrown ball from Newton, who was targeting Greg Olsen.Coleman spent the day at strong safety while Roman Harper slid over to free safety and Tre Boston worked with the second team. According to Wilks, the new rotation was just something the coaches wanted to check out early in camp.“In the secondary that’s one thing we talk about all the time. We’re going to continue to compete and put the guys out there that are making plays,” Wilks said. “It was nothing unusual to rotate some guys and give Coleman an opportunity.”“He’s smart. He’s physical. He’s putting himself in position to make plays.”
Photo: Carolina Huddle
Other Observations
Fans who sat under Saturday afternoon’s blazing sun had something to cheer about just two plays into team drills when running back Jonathan Stewart sprinted through a gaping hole on the right side of the line.
While wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery flashed a bit of speed on a deep ball from Newton Friday, the bubble screen to him needs to be ripped out of the playbook.
Shortly after the start of one-on-one drills between linemen, offensive tackle Nate Chandler got the best of defensive end Frank Alexander. In the rematch a few minutes later, Alexander blew past Chandler.
Tight end/fullback Richie Brockel, who saw a relatively high number of passes thrown his way during offseason workouts, had a couple more chances. Unfortunately for him, he dropped his first, and later, he didn’t have much of a chance on a high toss from Newton.
Cornerback Lou Young played well during rookie minicamp, which included a few younger veterans like him. He didn’t make much noise the rest of the spring, but Saturday, Young made a nice play when he knocked away a pass from Derek Anderson intended for Mike Brown.
The Marcus Lucas experiment may not go anywhere, but it’s interesting to watch. When the (former?) receiver caught a pass midway through practice, he stopped running at the whistle. That didn’t please tight ends coach Pete Hoener, who after giving Lucas an earful, made him turn around and sprint 50 yards into the end zone. Then, the final play of practice was a Lucas reception. He kept running after the whistle.
Coming Up
The Panthers will be in pads for the first time this offseason. Sunday morning’s practice is scheduled for 9:25.