Comments during the Panthers’ open locker room period Monday afternoon.
DE Kony Ealy
How much do you know about fellow DE J.J. Watt?
"[He's] got a motor. He's an animal. His sacks and his pressures represent that. He's a guy that's going to go out there and gives it all he's got, period."
Offensive Coordinator Mike Shula
Have you started breaking down the Texans yet?
"A little bit. They're good on defense. One guy is really good."
What makes him so good?
"Explosive, athletic. The effort and the hustle and the finish he has. He's instinctive."
How much do you account for him in your game plan?
"A guy like him is special, so you have to have a plan for him in different ways ... You have to make sure everybody else is covered, too, and that's hard. It's going to involve all 11 guys. Getting the ball out of time, getting receivers open on time. The guys up front with protection and knowing where help is coming from."
RT Mike Remmers
Sure, you go up against a talented guy every week, but this one's different, right?
“He’s a pretty well-known guy, obviously. It’ll be a really good challenge for our offensive line, I’m really looking forward to it. It’ll be a fun challenge."
Not asking for your game plan, but how do you block a guy like him?
“I’m just going to go out there and work my technique and do whatever I can. Technique’s everything for the offensive line. You can be the biggest, strongest guy, but without technique you won’t be able to block anyone."
TE Greg Olsen
What unique challenges does Watt present?
"He's big and strong, so you have to be physical and fire out and put your face on him. But he can use those big hands to his advantage and change direction and swim and rip and count on you being off balance. If you play it too big and try to face him up, then he'll put his face in your chest and that won't go very well. He's a unique guy with that strength and power combination for both interior and on the edge is obviously a rare thing and that's why he is as productive as he is."
And what do you make of his success at tight end?
"Playing tight end is more than goal-line fades." (laughs)
Could say same thing about Norwood.
Kevin, check my reply to Joshua (below), it shows why you can’t “say the same thing about Norwood”.
Didn’t pay much attention to to the combine stats……and I rarely do. The real question is whether or not he is football player. When I said you could say same thing about Norwood I wasn’t referring to things like the 40 time. I meant you could flip the question and ask should Dallas have made the trade with Seattle for Norwood instead of the Panthers? Of course only time will tell but I have a good feeling about this kid. Don’t forget that the Panthers had him on their board in 2013.
The Cowboys didn’t need a WR until Dez Bryant was injured.
The trade value tellls it all, Norwood a conditional 7th round pick, and Butler a 6th round pick.
The value of the conditional pick is undisclosed for Norwood, meaning that it could be variable based on contribution level.
True. I thought of that as soon as I hit send but then I realized that they are just as thin as we are at WR. They could have done it anyway.