To wrap up Back Together Saturday, let's get back to the top takeaways and observations from the Carolina Panthers training camp.
Here's what we learned throughout the third practice of the summer:
Jaycee Horn —the team's talented, but oft-injured starting cornerback—finished up his practice a bit early this morning. Head coach Dave Canales confirmed that they're keeping the fourth-year defender on a pitch count during this relatively light portion of training camp.
"Yeah, by design," he said . "He had a great day two days ago. Some of his highest speeds that he's had. And so with that, we just wanna make sure we're smart about just continuing that flow.
"This is still an acclimation period. So we're really trying to take advantage of that and make sure we continue to ramp him up so he's ready to go."
Horn was eventually replaced during the session by Dicaprio Bootle .
A former wide receivers coach of eight NFL seasons, Canales was asked about the competition at the position thus far.
"Man, you see [Jonathan] Mingo, Terrace Marshall—really showin' who they are," he replied . " David Moore —you throw the ball his way, he comes up with it. So I've really seen those guys come through and we can depend on them.
"It's a really good room. Really good competition. Some different style of players. Ihmir [Smith-Marsette] making some nice plays today. So it's something that we're counting on.
"We talk about creating that competition and challenging every position—and that's exactly what we want. We wanna make sure everybody's pursuin' their best. They're not looking left and right. They're just focusing on their execution and we're getting good execution out of those guys right now."
The offense's featured roles in the passing game are likely to be carried by veterans Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen as well as first-round pick Xavier Legette . It'll be up to Mingo, Marshall Jr. and the rest of the group to fill out the room behind them.
The Panthers officially signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout Deven Thompkins on Thursday. Canales, who spent the 2023 season with the speedy 5-foot-8 receiver, gave a little insight into his game.
"I'm excited to get him in here," he said . "He's another kick returner as well. He's got some explosive elements to his play—so, really fun. Brings a different style of guy. We got a really big, strong group. But it's also good to have those change-of-pace guys that can attack the defense a different way."
Canales was also asked about the domestic violence accusations against Thompkins, which have been cleared through the league's personal conduct policy by investigations from the NFL and the Panthers . He stated that the team had to wait on the "green light" from the NFL to complete the signing.
Center Austin Corbett spoke about his two new line mates—left guard Damien Lewis and right guard Robert Hunt .
"Both Damien and Robert—both massive men," he said . "And both of them can move very quick. And so it's nice to be able to fit up some double teams with some giants that can bend like that. It makes it exciting. It's a lot of weight on the inside. And so to be able to get down and bend and move some bodies and open up some run lanes and, at the same time, anchor down in the pocket and let Bryce [Young] do his thing."
He also talked about the chemistry of the unit as a whole.
"Really solid—across the room, really," he stated. "It's a great room. From Ickey [Ekwonu] all the way over to T-Mo [ Taylor Moton ]. Really just five guys upfront that love to run the rock, that love to pass protect and wanna anchor down and let Bryce do his thing.
"We all understand that we're highly paid upfront. We get that. Five pretty significant contracts upfront. Five-star player, you gotta play like it. So we understand the role and responsibilities that we're tasked with. We embrace that and we want that pressure."
With Hunt on a five-year, $100 million deal and Lewis on a four-year, $53 million one, the Panthers are amongst the league's heaviest spenders when it comes to the offensive trenches.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers 2024 training camp tracker: Observations and takeaways from Day 3
