Carolina Panthers’ defense outshines offense on rainy second day of training camp

The Carolina Panthers no longer have a practice bubble hovering over a large chunk of their workout facility in Charlotte. So, on Thursday — the second day of training camp practice in their familiar but improved confines outside of Bank of America Stadium — the team was forced to endure soggy conditions as Bryce Young and company competed for a couple of hours on a grass field.

With rain pouring down on the practice area, the Panthers still staged a relatively competitive workout, even as players worked without pads. The offense and defense took turns one-upping each other, but ultimately, head coach Dave Canales — an offensive-minded teacher — admitted defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s unit won the final stretch of the day.

“A taste of situational football,” Canales said after practice. “We had a little end-of-half, two-minute drive. Defense won both series right there. It just comes down to execution: running the right routes, throwing and catching. And that’s the part we gotta do a better job of offensively. I wasn’t fired up about our execution today. We know what to do. We know what the plays are. We’re breaking the huddle, and the details are there, but we just gotta throw and catch. We gotta finish those plays.”

During the wet workout, the defense provided quite a few highlights in individual and team drills.

Cornerback Troy Hill started off the highlight reel with an interception in 1-on-1 coverage drills. The veteran cornerback was covering wideout Adam Thielen in the slot, and Hill jumped the receiver’s inside route for the turnover.

A few minutes later, cornerback Dicaprio Bootle — the current favorite to be the top bench player at his position — nearly picked off a pass from backup quarterback Andy Dalton in 11-on-11 drills. Bootle got in front of a receiver and launched himself toward the ball but couldn’t come up with the catch.

During 7-on-7 drills, starting cornerback Dane Jackson knocked the ball out of the hands of wideout Diontae Johnson after a catch. The defense recovered the ball after Jackson made the heads up play that was later brought up by Canales after practice. Rookie safety Clayton Isbell — from Coastal Carolina — also got in on the act by producing a pass breakup during 11-on-11 team drills.

Along with the coverage success by the secondary, the pass rushers had some positive moments, as well.

Starting outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney quickly got past right tackle Taylor Moton to force an incomplete pass from Young in team drills. Backup pass rusher Cam Gill produced a couple of pressures against depth offensive tackle Ricky Lee, and fellow free-agent addition, K’Lavon Chaisson, scored a would-be sack on Young during the session.

Bryce Young, Diontae Johnson build bond

The offense wasn’t devoid of big plays Wednesday, despite the defense’s success. Young and Johnson connected pretty regularly during the early moments of practice.

During 7-on-7 drills, Young completed four consecutive passes, with the first two sent to Johnson. The second connection of that streak came on a diving catch by Johnson to the sideline. Those plays were impressive add-ons to Wednesday’s highlight reel moment from the duo.

Along with the Young-Johnson connection, the Panthers had some encouraging moments from a pair of former high picks. Terrace Marshall Jr., a 2021 second-round pick, hauled in a Young pass toward the sideline during 7-on-7 drills, despite Hill yanking his jersey off for a couple of paces (more on that later). Jonathan Mingo, last year’s second-round pick, also made a pair of nice catches over the middle during team drills. Mingo made an excellent move up the field on his first catch, which went for several yards after the pass was completed.

Mingo has been running with the first-team offense, and despite the presence of first-round pick Xavier Legette, has looked to be an important piece of the passing game puzzle thus far. That’s notable considering his underwhelming production as a rookie and the respective arrivals of Johnson and Legette in his position room.

“Confidence comes with just knowing what we’re doing,” Canales said about Mingo. “The plays — he learned how to play in the NFL, how to prep on a week to week basis. And you just can see it in his play. When he shows up, he’s all of his size. He’s all of his speed. He’s such a smart guy. Conscientious. I just feel a really great confidence coming into this camp, and I’m excited to see what he does.”

Legette, who was held without a big play on Wednesday, responded nicely on Thursday with an impressive downfield haul during 1-on-1 coverage drills. He got a step on Dane Jackson and stopped to jump in the air to haul in the ball, which was a clear 50-50 jump-ball target.

“I think he’s got a real great opportunity to go against one of the best corners in the NFL in Jaycee Horn,” Canales said about Legette. “What a great matchup to see those two go one on one. They didn’t get very many shots today. But yesterday, Xavier had two opportunities against a great corner, and he kinda learned, ‘Some guys you’re not just going to be able to bully and get open.’ You’re going to have to use your skillset, your footwork, your finesse, the stems in the routes.

“That’s what makes us. We make our team with those competitions. Think about Robert Hunt going against Derrick Brown every day. Damien Lewis, when he’s on the other side, going against A’Shawn Robinson and Shy Tuttle. That inside group with Corbett having to battle against each other every day for camp. That’s how you become great.”

Play of the day

As previously mentioned, Marshall’s catch toward the sideline was impressive. With Hill grabbing at his jersey, Marshall extended his arms right in front of the defensive sideline with Young sending a rainbow toss right in front of the receiver. Marshall caught the ball and slid into the traffic on the sideline. He got up with a smile on his face as the defense essentially acknowledge the impressive catch.

Marshall is competing with Mingo, among others, for a role in the wide receiver room. While Marshall has been passed over for younger players over the past two years, the hope is that he will excel with Canales — a former wide receivers coach — and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik — a fellow former wide receivers coach — running things on his side of the ball.

Quick hits

▪ The Panthers practiced without safety Jordan Fuller (family reasons), tight end Tommy Tremble (hamstring) and defensive tackle Popo Amuavae (right leg) on Thursday.

▪ Running back Jonathon Brooks remained on the active/non-football (NFI) list. Outside linebackers D.J. Wonnum (quad) and Amare Barno (knee), wide receiver Cam Sims and offensive tackle Yosh Nijman (undisclosed) remain on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

▪ Charlotte 49ers defensive assistant Dre’ Bly was at practice on Thursday. He mostly stood by the defensive backs and worked with assistant defensive backs coach and fellow former Pro Bowl cornerback DeAngelo Hall during the workout. Bly, who served as the Detroit Lions’ cornerbacks coach last season, joined Biff Poggi’s staff this offseason to work with his son, Trey, in Charlotte.

▪ As first reported by The Charlotte Observer, former Panthers pass rusher Marquis Haynes returned to the practice facility for a workout with the team. Haynes was joined by a handful of other players ahead of the workout. As The Charlotte Observer also previously reported, Yannick Ngakoue and Carl Lawson are expected to work out for the team at some point this week.

▪ The Panthers’ next training camp practice will be part of the NFL’s “Back Together Saturday” campaign. The workout will begin at 9:30 a.m. at Bank of America Stadium. To secure tickets for the practice, go to Ticketmaster’s Panthers site. Tickets are free.

▪ The Charlotte Observer will host a special night with Panthers legend Mike Rucker on Monday, Aug. 5, at OMB Ballantyne (15025 Bowl Street Charlotte, NC 28277). Join Fowler, Kaye, Zietlow and Rucker as they talk about the past, present and future of the Carolina franchise. Tickets are currently $5 for Charlotte Observer subscribers.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the Best Defense Foundation, a charity founded by former NFL linebacker Donnie Edwards in 2018. OMB Ballantyne also will make a donation to the foundation based on customers rounding up their check totals during the month of August.

▪ Follow The Observer’s Panthers beat reporters, Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) and Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05), and sports columnist, Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler), on “X”, formerly known as Twitter for the latest news and highlights.