Panthers head into Break Feeling Good!

by Sharon Thorsland

The Panthers wrapped up their three-day mandatory minicamp last week and by all accounts it was a resounding success. Third year quarterback Bryce Young looked impressive and has quickly built up a rapport with rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan. Young has also found his voice, debuting some trash talking reporters haven’t witnessed in the past. Coach Dave Canales said the chatter has been going on for a while. “Honestly, it’s just been like that,” Canales said. “Ever since we started practicing against each other, they, particularly Chuba (Hubbard) Jaycee (Horn), Bryce, they’re all kind of going back and forth.”

Young has a bevy of weapons to work with headed into training camp, with rookie Jimmy Horn, Jr. and veteran Hunter Renfrow joining McMillan as newcomers to the receiver group. McMillan has been running with the ones along with Xavier Legette and Adam Thielen. Young spent plenty of time all three days of the mini-camp spending time with the entire group, telling guys what he wanted to see from them in their routes. Cutting this room down in August is going to be tough with the amount of talent currently on the roster.

The defense has a lot of new faces right now, with rookies and free agents who have joined the team. But a very familiar one was back in Derrick Brown. The veteran defensive tackle is still working his way back from knee surgery last September but was on the field all for the workouts and said he’s close to being ready to go for camp. Brown’s return is huge for this Panther defense, both on the field and from a leadership standpoint.

The end of July will be here before we know it but right now it’s vacation time for the Panthers. But Canales is hoping his players stay on top of their conditioning and told them they need to show up in shape. “The biggest thing that they have to realize is your vacation was after the season. You had three months off,” Canales said. “We have a very fit team right now. We’ve got to keep it that way. So that was my biggest message, is readiness for camp. You can’t count on camp to get you in shape.”

The first training camp practice is set for July 24th. There will be no open practices this year due to construction of the team’s practice facility, but fans will be able to get an up close look at the team during Fan Fest, which returns to Bank of America Stadium on August 2nd.