Panthers WR Terrace Marshall Jr. bounces back from big hit with strong practice

It didn’t take very long for Terrace Marshall Jr. to catch his breath and regain his training camp footing.

Roughly 24 hours after he collided with a defensive back and spent several minutes on the ground during Monday’s training camp practice, the Carolina Panthers wide receiver not only participated in Tuesday’s workout, but he also served as one of the session’s chief standouts.

Marshall caught a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Bryce Young during 11-on-11 red-zone drills. On the first grab, Marshall got a coverage mismatch against linebacker Josey Jewell and took advantage by streaking across the field to gain space and haul in a wide-open completion for a score. Marshall celebrated the connection by spinning the ball on the ground in triumph.

Later, on the opposite end of the field, Marshall, once again, used his speed to get open for a highlight TD grab. Young rolled out of the pocket to his right and then launched a ball on the run to Marshall, who caught the pass inbounds before his momentum forced him to race out of the end zone.

“Love that,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said about Marshall’s Tuesday performance. “Love the resilience that he showed just being able to show, ‘OK, this is a manageable thing,’ got back out there and just played hard, which is what we expected out of our guys. It’s great.”

Marshall was not only resilient. He was impressive in pads.

The 24-year-old has been passed over by multiple staffs since his second-round selection in 2021. But this summer, he has steadily earned praise for his performance. Marshall has caught just 64 passes for 767 yards and a touchdown in his career. If he keeps up his performance in practice and in preseason games, he could be positioned to finally become a relevant cog in the offense.

Chippy individual drills: Diontae Johnson vs. Jaycee Horn

The Panthers staged their daily individual coverage drills on Tuesday and the competitive nature of the reps was taken up a notch.

Top wideout Diontae Johnson and No. 1 cornerback Jaycee Horn set the tone by having a trio of battles in the period. On the first rep, Horn clearly held Johnson ahead of reaching the end zone and the ball fell in complete. On the next rep, Horn dropped an interception on a ball that was lifted a bit high for Johnson.

The trio of reps concluded with a play that was called a completion for Johnson. The wide receiver was tightly covered by Horn, but Johnson made a diving catch attempt to the ground. The ball might have hit the ground, but the referee signaled a catch to end the No. 1 vs. No. 1 matchup.

Outside of that prolific battle, the defensive backs and wide receivers traded wins. Marshall was targeted on a pass toward the sideline and got his hands on the ball, but cornerback Dicaprio Bootle recovered in coverage while Marshall was still in the air and knocked the ball out of his hands. Then, wide receiver Jonathan Mingo — a consistent star of camp — worked a flashy double move to get open against a rival defensive back for a touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone.

Deven Thompkins, who was signed during the first week of camp, made an impressive move in the slot to break free from nickel cornerback Troy Hill for a touchdown. Rookie cornerback Chau Smith-Wade prevented a pair of touchdown targets as well, though he was quite physical with the competition.

Cornerback D’Shawn Jamison, who has been on the opposite side of plenty of highlight catches this summer, had an athletic pass breakup against rookie wideout Jalen Coker on a rep. He received some encouragement from the DB sideline after the play.

Bryce Young looks accurate, quick with the ball

Overall, it was a pretty solid performance for the second-year QB. Young had the pair of highlight tosses to Marshall. He also had a well-placed downfield toss to Johnson for a chunk gain of roughly 20 yards in 11-on-11 drills.

While it probably won’t be considered be highlight reel material by some, Young’s most impressive pass came a short-yardage rocket in red-zone 11-on-11 drills. Young fired a laser between a pair of defenders in an extremely tight space to wide receiver David Moore, who was running a crossing route. The veteran wideout hauled in the pass from Young, which led to a figurative touchdown in a crowded area.

The ball was an absolute dart.

Young made a handful of quality throws later in practice, but he also had a noticeable blunder as well. Young fired a pass over the middle to wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette, but Jewell jumped in front of the route and made a diving catch for an interception. The entire defense huddled around the veteran linebacker afterward (more on that later).

Young, who won’t play in Thursday’s preseason opener against the New England Patriots, finished the initial stretch of training camp practices with a strong outing. The second-year player was unable to connect on a couple of deep attempts and had the Jewell pick, but was otherwise accurate, smart and quick with the ball.

Following practice, Canales explained that Young’s preseason outlook is fluid, despite his non-participant status for Thursday.

“Bryce will not play (against the Patriots),” Canales said. “We’ll take that kind of week to week, and get a sense for, ‘Do we need to get him out there in this system?’ And get a couple series and do that. That’s something I’ve done in the past. We’ve done both. So for this game he will not play.”

Play of the day: Jewell shines his turnover potential

The aforementioned interception was a big highlight for the defense. Jewell, an established starter, made an effort play off a smart read to make an impressive interception.

Jewell is a solidified leader within defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s system. He didn’t need to go all out and put his body on the line in a training camp practice. But Jewell was aggressive to the ball and rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace came away impressed by the play.

“His eye progression was wonderful,” Wallace said about the play. “So we’re always big on watching the quarterback’s eyes. If you lean one way, then burst — it was wonderful. You see those seven or eight years he’s been playing, how it is. So I’m just learning from him.

“But it was just wonderful how fluent he was moving. When I watch film, I watch him and Shaq a lot. Shaq’s been going on for 10 years. Josey’s going on eight. And they’re so fluent. So I’m just watching them a lot, trying to get that done.”

Quick hits

▪ The following players did not participate in practice: LB Shaq Thompson (hamstring), TE Tommy Tremble (hamstring), TE Ian Thomas (calf), DB Sam Franklin (foot), LB Cam Gill (undisclosed), DL LaBryan Ray (undisclosed), WR Xavier Legette (foot) and QB Andy Dalton (quad).

▪ RB Jonathon Brooks (ACL) remains on the active/non-football injury (NFI) list. OT Yosh Nijman (leg) and OLBs D.J. Wonnum (quad) and Amare Barno (ACL) remain on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

▪ According to Canales, Panthers guard J.D. DiRenzo sustained an ankle injury on Tuesday. The team will conduct tests to figure out the extent of the injury.

▪ Newly minted Pro Football Hall of Famer Julius Peppers attended practice and spoke with the team after the workout. Peppers emphasized the importance of consistency and efficiency in camp to the team, according to Wallace. According to Canales, Peppers also emphasized the importance of relationships in the locker room.

▪ Second-year defensive back Jammie Robinson put a big hit on tight end Jacob Hollister in 11-on-11 drills. Hollister caught a pass over the middle and Robinson lit him up to the point that Hollister was knocked off his feet. Following practice, Canales didn’t seem to appreciate the collision, especially after Monday’s scare with Marshall.

“We’re pushing our guys to the limit,” Canales said. “They gotta make those decisions for us. I didn’t like that hit just cause it’s a defense-less receiver. Whether it’s in practice or the game, if you go helmet-to-helmet on a defense-less player, it’s a foul. So I don’t like that part of it.

“Jammie’s game is physical. He’s going to err on that side. We like that. But at the same time, we gotta be smart. Rule No. 1 is be a great teammate, and that’s about protecting your team in those vulnerable situations, which we’ve been doing a pretty good job of.”

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