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August 24, 2008
Notes from Saturday's game
Leftovers from Saturday's Redskins beat-down:
-- With Ryne Robinson still recovering from a leg injury and no apparent replacement in sight as the Panthers’ kick returner, coach John Fox might be thinking about giving rookie Jonathan Stewart a try.
Fox wouldn’t say whether that might come in the Panthers’ final exhibition Thursday against the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I can’t put a time frame on it,” said Fox. “(Stewart) was healthy enough to do it (Saturday), but we just didn’t feel it, so we’ll wait and see.”
Ricardo Colclough was solid, if not spectacular, against the Redskins, returning two kickoffs for a 30.5 average, with a long return of 37 yards.
“We’re a little nicked there,” said Fox. “I think eventually we’ll take a look at Stewart.” Stewart, a No. 1 draft pick, returned kicks in college at Oregon.
Jason Carter has been returning punts in Robinson’s average. He returned seven for a 13.3 average Saturday, including a 30-yarder. “We’ve got a couple of question marks as returners both in the punt game and the kickoff,” said Fox.
-- Former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann was especially impressed by a sack by Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers, in which Peppers pushed Washington tackle Chris Samuels into quarterback Jason Campbell, who fumbled (Peppers also recovered the fumble).
“You cannot give Julius Peppers a running head start,” said Theismann, now a Redskins broadcaster. “He just walked Samuels back there like he wasn’t even there. I don’t care who it is, if it’s (former Jacksonville All-Pro) Tony Boselli or Chris Samuels, you’re not going to stop Julius Peppers if he gets a running head start.”
-- Peppers’ sack was one of five on Redskins quarterbacks (the others were by linebacker Adam Seward, tackle Damione Lewis, end Tyler Brayton and end Charles Johnson). That, in one game, represented almost a quarter of the Panthers’ total of 23 sacks last season, lowest in franchise history.
“We really stressed that,” said Johnson. “That the middle and the defensive tackles really get a push on the defensive line so our defensive ends could get pressure. We did a pretty good job.”
-- The Panthers are taking Sunday off and will have normal practices the remainder of the week prior to leaving Wednesday afternoon for Thursday’s exhibition against the Steelers. Expect the starters to play one or two series, then take the rest of the game off. -- David Scott
Posted by Observer Sports on August 24, 2008 at 01:51 PM | Permalink
Comments
If the cut Rhys after kicking 10 kicks into the end zone last night I will be really upset with this team.
Posted by: Billy | Aug 24, 2008 2:21:36 PM
bravo to the team.the o line looked great.kalil is as quick as a cat and wharton looked good.the whole def looked great. s.t was great.jake got it together and had some zip on the ball.ive been waiting to watch a beatdown like that for a long time from this team.
Posted by: ray | Aug 24, 2008 2:22:27 PM
Watching last night was a dream come true after enduring the misearble season last year. If and I do mean if the panthers o-line can stay healthy this team could have a shot at the big game. Our recievers need to get healthy as well because without smitty in the line up the first two games someone's gotta step up. I'm most impressed with the way Peppers has bounced back, that sack last night that has been replayed over and over show's me that his strength is back and his head. The test is going to be winning the first two games without smith, if they can do that, confidence will be a big factor. Go get em' cats!
Posted by: Jimmy | Aug 24, 2008 4:01:18 PM
PROCTON...WHERE THE HELL IS PROCTON????
Posted by: Scott | Aug 24, 2008 5:45:45 PM
I want to hear Procton say Peppers is the man
Posted by: david | Aug 24, 2008 6:20:42 PM
Put to rest your worries about Lloyd getting cut. No way he isn't on the roster for the first two weeks at least...John Kasay will not be kicking to Devin Hester.
Posted by: JanitorDan | Aug 24, 2008 6:28:07 PM
I'll say it for him (and me too), "Peppers is the man." That does not erase last year, or the fact that this is his contract year; and that he has been negotiating for a couple of them despite being one of the highest paid DE's in the NFL.
I'll also add to this by saying last year I was a big advocate for trading for Samuels, and this year I was big on getting Jason Taylor here.
...oops! :)
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 6:40:16 PM
Side Note: Honestly though, I would still take Samuels over Gross.
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 6:41:04 PM
BTW, about Peppers, I'm still not back on his bandwagon yet. I want to see a reasonable contract extension signed, and then watch him live up to it CONSISTENTLY after he as signed it.
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 6:42:32 PM
Also, why isn't this guy Loyd not being given the opportunity to compete as a FG Kicker? Don't get me wrong, it's great to have someone like Kasay he can get it between the posts most of the time; especially if you're a team that plays the field position game strategy alll of the time. However, in a year where you have quality depth all over the place and desperately need it to compensate for all of the injuries that keep happening, a roster spot is way more valuable than what it usually would be. So why not coach the guy to kick field goals (or even punt)!??
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 6:47:34 PM
I'll tell you why: Kasay is probably going to retire after the season and get a statue out front. Lloyd is getting the world's longest tryout.
Posted by: Authority | Aug 24, 2008 7:09:05 PM
Carolina has a 4 punch combo =
1. Beef Stew(art)
2. DeAngelo
3. Mooooooooooooose
4. Steve Smith (no nickname required)
Posted by: bbbbb | Aug 24, 2008 7:12:04 PM
Me again, sorry. I just finished watching the highlight reel on P.com and noticed something that's not being talked about. Stewart is supposed to be the bruiser & Williams is supposed to be the finesse back....
well, Stewart's big TD play came from a dart to the outside where he outran the rest of the defense & Williams' big TD play was right up the gut!
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 7:14:58 PM
Since someone else brought up Rhys Lloyd ...
I think he is a lock to make the team. The kickoff special team is 100% improved this year and it because they know Lloyd will put the ball deep and they just pour it on.
There has been a tremendous improvement in this aspect of the game. And John Kasay, all rested, can come in and make a 52-yarder.
This is an extremely important aspect of the game, possibly 100 yards of field position in a single game. Rhys Lloyd is a lock to make this team.
Posted by: Mario | Aug 24, 2008 9:31:38 PM
Rhys can kick the crap out of the ball but I seem to recall he can't hit the side of an Otah. Not very accurate?!?!
I'm not sure, but I seem to remember it from somewhere.
Posted by: Lloyd Llover | Aug 24, 2008 10:04:37 PM
Yeah Lloyd's FG kicking leaves a lot to be desired. Kasay is our man at least for this year, Lloyd may get his chance at the job next year.
In other news, Drew Carter is out for the season. Too bad, I was interested to see how he'd do with JaMarcus Russell and co. (not very well I'm sure, but still...)
Posted by: DB | Aug 24, 2008 10:59:10 PM
Rhys Lloyd stated that he can kick FG's also. I wonder if part of the problem is that Casey kicks with his left foot and if you practiced both of them then Baker would have to learn to hold differently for the two players. Either way, Casey is great and Rhys is great at what he does. Go Panthers!
Posted by: 4Gross | Aug 24, 2008 11:11:19 PM
It's a real shame about Drew Carter. That's his for knee injury of his young football career. I feel horrible for the guy.
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 24, 2008 11:50:11 PM
"ROSTER TRIMMED TO 75: The Panthers made four more roster moves Tuesday to reach the NFL mandatory 75-player limit.
They placed undrafted rookie defensive end Rondell Biggs on injured reserve and wide receiver Josh Davis on the reserve/non-football illness list. They also waived-injured receiver Justin McCullum and waived running back Marlion Jackson."---
http://www.carolinagrowl.com/Read.aspx?Story=146
who was the first player they cut???
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 25, 2008 8:00:48 AM
Woops, wrong decade. Hehe... I was wondering where those players came from. so who were the 5 they cut already??
Posted by: SYRPIS | Aug 25, 2008 8:04:31 AM
I think we find that out later today, Syrpis.
Posted by: NSpicer | Aug 25, 2008 8:20:36 AM
I was reading the input from SYRPIS concerning the importance of every roster spot, and the difficult choice of keeping 2 kickers. I basically hope that Rhys Lloyd will make the roster, even if it means sacrificing a backup spot at another position.
But there's something I have some trouble to understand: why do most teams keep one roster spot for the long-snapper? I mean, couldn't someone from the OL learn to do it? It seems to me the Panthers could save an important spot by having someone (Hangartner?) training to make the long snap. Any thought?
Posted by: Nick | Aug 25, 2008 8:21:13 AM
Long-snapping is a skillset that's hard to come by, I believe. The Panthers really hurt in that area until they brought in Jason Kyle. And I'm not even sure how easy it is to train someone up for it. Kyle is listed as a LB for the Panthers, so he's a different body style than a big O-lineman...but at least he multitasks as a backup for the defense. Meanwhile, from a classroom/filmroom perspective, maybe it's better to make sure your O-linemen are focused on offense as opposed to special teams?
But if you really want to multitask some guys to save roster spots, how about making sure your 3rd string QB is your punter? Or only carry 2 QBs instead of 3 or 4. Or find a kicker who can do both FGs and punts? Or maybe just make sure you have a FG kicker who can also get good distance on his kickoffs so you don't have to carry another specialist... ;-)
--Neil
P.S. I love John Kasay. Keep him. And Rhys Lloyd, too. I don't care where the extra roster spot comes from...both kickers will ensure our special teams are decent again.
Posted by: NSpicer | Aug 25, 2008 8:35:26 AM
Peppers gets a running start because he jumps off sides all the time.2 sacks by him negates 5 off sides penalties.I'm sure every qb in the league knows he tries to jump the gun,so a hard count will keep him at bay.Peppers is nothing unless he cheats.Remember the 4 game ban for steroids a few years ago? He has been an average player since.
Posted by: Neal | Aug 25, 2008 8:38:00 AM
Well, the 4 game ban came during his rookie season and it wasn't steroids so you might want to check your facts on that one. He has been to a couple of pro bowls since his rookie season so calling him average since then is just plain dumb as well.
Posted by: Mason | Aug 25, 2008 8:55:37 AM
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