New Panthers CB learned from Stephon Gilmore, offers insight on Carolina’s waiver claims

Mike Jackson will admit it: He’s a “dawg.”

The cornerback the Carolina Panthers traded for last week will get specific about what kind of dawg/dog, too. He said he’s a mix of Pitbull and Neapolitan Mastiff — he wasn’t super clear on what exactly that means — and that a slew of the other guys the Panthers picked up on the waiver wire Wednesday are dawgs as well.

That includes Jamie Sheriff, who got noticed as an undrafted free agent in Seattle, producing seven tackles and three sacks over three preseason games. Jackson, who was traded to Carolina from Seattle, called him “a baller.”

There’s also linebacker Jon Rhattigan, a special teams ace also from Seattle. When told of the linebacker’s arrival to Carolina, Jackson’s eyes widened in excitement: “Oh we got Rhattigan?!”

The Panthers traded seventh-round pick rookie linebacker Michael Barrett for Jackson, 27, in an effort to improve their secondary depth ahead of the start of the regular season. That’s because after Jaycee Horn, as talented a corner in the league when healthy, the Carolina CB room is riddled with question marks. Dane Jackson is hurt and will be out for several more weeks. Troy Hill can play on the outside but has gotten most of his reps at nickel.

Jackson, who Panthers head coach Dave Canales had a front-row seat to back in his Seattle Seahawks coaching days, is meant to help fill some of that gap. The Panthers also put their No. 1 priority on the waiver wire to use — the team added three CBs Wednesday and dropped one (D’Shawn Jamison) — to help with that, too.

One defensive back who’s not in Carolina is Stephon Gilmore. The Rock Hill, S.C., native and great friend of Jadeveon Clowney will still have his fingerprints on his defense, however — through Jackson.

“How Gilly just broke down the field, I’ll never forget it,” Jackson said of Gilmore when Jackson was in New England. “He told me that if the receiver is at a regular split, and the ball is on the opposite hash, chances are I’m not getting an out-route, so I can cheat in. Even if the ball does go outside, I can put a hand up. It’s just little stuff like that. He’s just beyond smart.”

He added: “Everywhere I’ve been I’ve learned something different. And it makes me who I am. A lot of guys stay in one spot, which is cool, but you’re only learning from one coach, one defense. I feel like I’ve played in every type of defense, so it’s kind of easy to adjust.”

Dave Canales addresses punt returner, tight end position

Canales called the corner position the one where the team devoted most of its energy during the waiver deadline. That shone through Wednesday. As a result, they had to cut some guys on the offense — including Ihmir Smith-Marsette and Jalen Coker.

“We looked across all the league and compared it to the roster we had, and we’ve been talking about challenging our roster from the beginning,” Canales said. “You know, we really started off with this secondary room. And so that was a place to see where we can get a look at a lot of guys. The guys who were here — D’Shawn (Jamison), DiCaprio (Bootle), Lamar Jackson, all those guys — they did a fantastic job showing who they are.

“We know who they are. We know what they look like. It’s going to be a long season, but we wanted to make sure we got eyes on a lot of people to see who could help us this year.”

Canales said there are possibilities at punt returner with Smith-Marsette — who furnished a punt return for a touchdown last season — now gone.

“Raheem Blackshear, he’s a fantastic returner,” Canales said of who can replace Smith-Marsette. “He can do both. David Moore can also do both. Mike Boone has been a returner in his past. So those are some of the guys that we’re really counting on. And for us, Ihmir, again, I gotta commend Ihmir for the work he did. He had some nice returns in the last game. We just had to look at the whole unit, the coverage units and everything like that to factor into our final roster.”

Canales also declined to answer about the health of tight end Ian Thomas, who has been sidelined with a calf injury for a bulk of the summer but was listed on the 53-man roster on Tuesday.

Transactions: Panthers pick up guys on waivers

The Panthers said all preseason that they planned to use their No. 1 waiver-wire priority this week. And they fulfilled that promise, adding three cornerbacks, a linebacker, a defensive end and an offensive tackle on Wednesday afternoon.

Here’s a list of those guys:

▪ CB Keenan Isaac, who spent his rookie season in Tampa Bay while Canales was offensive coordinator there

▪ CB Tariq Castro-Fields, who was waived by the Commanders.

▪ CB Shemar Bartholomew, who was waived by the Jets.

▪ LB Jon Rhattigan, who was in Seattle when Canales was an offensive assistant there

▪ DE Jamie Sheriff, who was waived by the Seahawks

▪ OT Jarrett Kingston, who was a college teammate of Chau Smith-Wade

As a result, they waived six other guys: Smith-Marsette, Coker, guard Cade Mays, defensive tackle Jayden Peevy, defensive back D’Shawn Jamison and safety Demani Richardson.

Quarterback Jack Plummer, tight end Jordan Matthews return to practice squad

The Panthers’ practice squad has started to take shape. The team can have as many as 16 on the squad — 17 if they include one on the NFL’s International Pathway Program.

Several players who were waived/released made their practice squad debuts Saturday. That includes running back Mike Boone, tight end Jordan Matthews and quarterback Jack Plummer, among others. The full listing of practice squad guys:

▪ QB Jack Plummer

▪ TE Jordan Matthews

▪ RB Mike Boone

▪ S Alex Cook

▪ OLB Kenny Dyson

▪ LB Chandler Wooten

▪ G Mason Brooks

▪ DT Walter Palmore

▪ DL TJ Smith

▪ DE Tarron Jackson, as The Observer first reported

▪ LB Thomas Incoom, as The Observer first reported