Some observations from watching Tuesday's practice here in Spartanburg, S.C.

1. It's getting hot here at camp. Real hot.

2. Every now and again you are reminded just what an incredible player Julius Peppers is. On Tuesday, Peppers tipped a Jake Delhomme pass at the line of scrimmage and intercepted it. Had the play continued he would have easily ran for a touchdown. On the very next play, Peppers shifted from his normal spot at left defensive end and lined up on the right side and then took an inside lane to the Delhomme where, had this been a real game, would have buried him in the ground about six feet under.

3. DeAngelo Williams made a nice 50-yard reception down the left sidelines. I can't emphasize this enough -- Carolina running backs will catch plenty of passes this season -- are you listening all of you Fantasy Football players? I guess the problem there is which one will get more. In my opinion it should be Williams, but I'm not sure that is how it will work out. The coaches really like Foster.

4. One player who is really making his presence known is Dave Ball. He has a chance to make the team as an extra defensive lineman. Although he is said to be strong against the run, Ball is also doing well rushing the passer.

5. Steve Smith was given the day off on Tuesday.

6. Still no contact drills for Dan Morgan. Fox said in an interview he isn't sure how much Morgan will play in the preseason. My guess is as little as possible. They at least want to get him ready for the season. The Panthers are an entirely different defense with Morgan in the game so they are praying he can stay healthy.

7. John Kasay looks 10 years younger with a shaved head.

8. Cam Newton made a nice pass breakup during practice.

9. Dwayne Jarrett made a nice grab at the back of the end zone during goal line drills although some defenders argued he was out of bounds.

10. You have to root for a guy like WR Chris Horn. I will tell you why later this week.

Talk to you on Wednesday...

 

 

   Some quick notes before calling it quits for the night here in Spartanburg, S.C.

   After taking some shots at the Carolina Panthers and their negotiating techniques, Michael Huyghue, the agent for holdout linebacker Jon Beason, backed off some of his statements. On Monday night, after a story ran on the AP wire in which he painted the Panthers in a not-so-flattering light, Huyghue told me, "There's no sense talking anymore about it. We need to be positive and work to get a deal done."

   He did say the Panthers had taken an early offer to Beason that included a two-tier signing bonus off the table.

   That's not nearly as harsh as his comments to the Associated Press earlier in the day in which Huyghue took advantage of a large readership audience to make his point clear. He feels like the Panthers haven't negotiated in good faith. (Read more about that in Tuesday's paper).

   Anyway, the bottom line is nothing is done and Panthers GM Marty Hurney said he doesn't expect anything to get done in the near future. Clearly, a holdout benefits no one and the two sides probably both need to give a little and get this thing done. I'm sure it will eventually get done. It's just a matter of when. My guess it will get done in the next week or so.

   At practice, defensive end Stanley McClover injured his right elbow, but later returned to practice.

   Also, wide receiver Steve Smith beat Ken Lucas and safety help from Nate Salley for a lengthy touchdown pass. He celebrated by throwing the ball up into the air.

   The Panthers are back at it on Tuesday at 3:10 p.m.

 

 Some observations from Monday morning's practice:

   1. Starting weakside linebacker Na'il Diggs was carted off the field with an apparent hamstring injury and did not return. Diggs, of course, was expected to be replaced by Jon Beason this season. However, Beason is still a holdout. With Diggs out, James Anderson filled with the first team.

   2. Defensive end Mike Rucker made another big step on Monday, participating in a portion of contact drills. Rucker seems determined to make certain he's the team's starting right defensive end in September.

   3. Keep in mind, the team hasn't begun full tackling drills, but DeAngelo Williams looks terrific thus far in practice.

   4. Dan Morgan still isn't participating in contact drills. He's does work in 7-on-7 drills, but comes out when the team goes to team drills as a precautionary measure. Clearly the Panthers are still treating him with kids' gloves.

   5. Nate Salley made a great downfield interception, stealing a pass away Steve Smith. That helps in his effort to win the starting job at strong safety.

   6. Jeremy Bridges is still working as the team's starting right guard.

   7. John Kasay looks as accurate as ever.

   8. The weather has been very mild (mid-80s) so far, but all of a sudden the sun has broken through the clouds this afternoon. It seems the Spartanburg heat has returned.

Just walked off the field down here in Spartanburg, S.C.

Here are some observations:

1. The first scuffle of training camp broke out when running back DeShaun Foster took exception to a hit from linebacker Adam Seward. Foster got off the ground and then tackled Seward. The two rolled on the ground for a little bit before some teammates, including defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, broke things up. "We're going to have fun today," Jenkins said with a laugh afterward.

2. Drew Carter hauled in a long touchdown pass from David Carr, getting a rise from the crowd. Carr completed a similar pass to another player on Saturday night. Carter is still working with the first team. We haven't seen much so far from Dwayne Jarrett.

3. No new updates on the Jon Beason negotiations. Beason is the lowest-drafted first-round draft pick who has yet to sign. Na'il Diggs continues to work in his place.

4. The Panthers seem to be running a ton a screen plays in practice and most seem to be effective. We'll touch on that more later this week.

5. The players really like John Fox's new alternating schedule which is two practices one day and one the next. Most teams went to that a while back.

6. Defensive end Mike Rucker appeared to do more work today than the previous day. He looks good so far. Let's hope he isn't rushing back too soon.

7. Ma'ake Kemoeatu messed up a call at the line of scrimmage and line coach Sal Sunseri jumped all over him.

8. Tomorrow's practices are 9:10 and 6:40.

 

   The Carolina Panthers worked through a rainy first practice Saturday morning. The steady downpour didn't stop until moments after they walked off the field.

   Here's some quick observations from the morning practice:

   1. Defensive end Mike Rucker and linebacker Dan Morgan both practiced, but neither participated in any contact drills. I understand Rucker being held out, but strange that Morgan wasn't allowed the participate. Just a thought: I wonder if the Panthers are holding Morgan out until Jon Beason signs. If Morgan were to get hurt in practice then Beason's contract demands could increase. Beason, who was nowhere near the facility, becomes Carolina's first holdout since Bruce Nelson in 2003. No update on his negotiations.

   2. Jeremy Bridges worked with the first team at right guard despite the team handing down a two-game suspension on Friday. We hope to hear from Bridges on the suspension today. Geoff Hangartner worked as the backup right guard.

   3. Drew Carter was still working as the first team receiver, although he dropped one pass during practice that was nearly intercepted. Dwayne Jarrett still has a good chance to win that job.

   4. Deshaun Foster also worked with the first team ahead of DeAngelo Williams.

   5. Second-year defensive end Stanley McClover looked solid against the run on Saturday, making three nice plays. The knock on McClover has been that he's not strong against the run. He seems out to prove everyone wrong. In contact drills he worked as the starting right end while Rucker looked on.

   6. Ken Lucas and Chris Gamble lined up as the starting CBs and Nate Salley was still the first-team free safety.

   7. Together Kris Jenkins and Ma'ake Kemoeatu dislodged a blocking sled from the ground when they collided with it during drills. Kemoeatu commented on how much slimmer Jenkins looks.

   8. Defensive end Dave Ball had the hit of the morning practice when he knocked back running back Nick Goings while the veteran running back was trying to find a hole.

   9. The Panthers ran a lot of screen passes in Saturday morning's practice.

10. Jeff King worked as the starting tight end.

 

 

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney did not appear confident Friday night that a deal would get done anytime soon with first-round draft pick Jon Beason, the 25^th player selected in this year’s NFL draft.

"We’re not close. I would say we’re miles apart," Hurney said.

Beason’s agent, Michael Huyghue, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment last night.

Beason, from the University of Miami, would be the first Carolina rookie to holdout since offensive lineman Bruce Nelson missed one day of practice before joining the team in 2003. But given how far apart the two sides appear to be, this has the potential of being a lengthy holdout. The Panthers have two practices Saturday.

"I think it’s always disappointing for everybody because I don’t think anyone wins in a holdout situation," Hurney said.

It’s surprising that the two sides can’t agree on a contract, especially given that several of the players around Beason’s draft slot have already agreed to deals.

Earlier in the day, the Panthers signed both second-round draft picks -- wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett and center Ryan Kalil. Hurney credited assistant Rob Rogers with getting those contract done.

"The whole idea here is get your draft choices here on time and work toward a common goal," Hurney said.

To make room on the roster, the Panthers waived wide receiver Julius McClellan from North Carolina Central and defensive tackle Jordan Carstens, who failed a physical. There's a chance the Panthers could bring Carstens back if he beats his ongoing battle with kidney disease.

 

The Carolina Panthers likely have a training camp holdout on their hands. 

   Carolina Panthers second-round draft pick Dwayne Jarrett has signed a four-year deal worth $3.825 million that includes $1.935 million in guaranteed money. Jarrett received a $1.4 million signing bonus and can earn $225,000 in workout bonus over the next three seasons. He will make base salaries of $285,000 in 2007, $370,000 in 2008, $460,000 in 2009 and $550,000 in 2010.

 

Hello everyone.

I arrived in training camp early Friday morning. By the way, if you're coming to camp and want to fill up on cheap gas, wait until Exit 78 off of Route 85 South just before Spartanburg. The gas there is $2.47 per gallon, a little cheaper then when I left home ($2.93 per gallon).

OK, on to the news

Both defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and guard Jeremy Bridges, who was arrested on Thursday on a misdeanor charge of pointing a weapon at a woman, are here at camp but neither have made themselves available to the media. In fact, don't expect to hear from Jenkins today.

He arrived in a black Escalade, but quickly yelled to reporters he wasn't talking today. Instead, he allowed his personal trainer Messay Hailemariam to do the talking for him. Basically, Hailemariam, who is a former walk-on at Maryland who trains some other pro athletes, said Jenkins is in great shape, although he wouldn't give up Jenkins' weight or his body fat. (There is a reason for that, folks). Granted, Jenkins does look a little thinner than he did back in May. More on that story later.

In the meantime, no sign of linebacker Jon Beason as a holdout possibility lingers in the humid South Carolina air. The last Carolina rookie to holdout was second-round pick Bruce Nelson back in 2003. Nelson missed only one day of practice before signing his contract.

To give you a taste of camp, here's some early nuggets from quarterback Jake Delhomme:

On if it’s good to be in camp:

On why he’s so excited this year:

On the new offense:

On what one item he has to have at camp:

On playing for a new offensive coordinator after four years with Dan Henning:

On if the offense needed a new voice or direction:

I think we just needed to play better, to be honest with you. When we went in a new direction, I can’t say I was totally surprised. When we don’t play well, we’re all on the hot seat. (Head coach) John (Fox) and I talked about the time of the Senior Bowl, and he told me he was going in another direction. He’s the head coach. He makes the calls here. I believe in him. I like Jeff. I like a lot of the things he does. On second thought, I don’t like it, I love it. Hopefully, we can do well so next year we can be sitting here talking about a successful 07 season. One thing that helps is still having (quarterbacks coach) Mike McCoy. He’s an up-and-comer. I think everybody knows that. We also have Skip (running backs coach Jim Skipper) back and Richard (Williamson, wide receivers coach), too. I know what those guys expect out of their players and how they get their guys ready to play. We had some success here with Dan. Last year we just didn’t play well. But I do like Jeff. Jeff comes from the same school Dan came from. I guess it’s the Joe Gibbs/Bill Parcells coaching forest. One thing I learned from Dan was that he made things simple in a good way. People can get too complex sometimes. Like we always say, it comes down to blocking and tackling, catching and throwing. Dan had been around long enough. I came from a West Coast system to his system. I learned a lot from him and appreciate everything he did here. Hopefully, we can go forward and do well. I know he’ll be pulling for us. I promise you that. Definitely a fan. You want to drown out as much noise as possible (in the dorm rooms). Somebody gave me great advice as a rookie. They said to go to camp with one bag so that if you get cut, you can put the bag in one hand and cover your face with the other. I always try to pack as little as possible. I don’t overpack, I’ll say that much. I bring a laptop and some reading material, but other than that not much. It’s a lot of the same terminology, which is good. But the thing is, no matter how good the play looks on paper, can we run it effectively on the field? That’s the thing. We’ll do some different things. You’ve heard a lot about the zone blocking schemes. That’s all nice, but we do a lot of different things and I think we set up matchups pretty well. I’m still learning. I don’t know what (offensive coordinator) Jeff (Davidson) brought down here. He might have a whole bunch of new stuff for us to learn. That’s one of the most exciting things for me. We’re installing new things and that brings with it a learning factor. It establishes that fear of, "Man, I gotta know it." I kind of like that. I think I do well in that situation.   I don’t think you could have a year worse than last year, for starters. We have a lot of young guys (this year) who haven’t played and have to learn. We needed a positive change. We lost some key guys and some veteran leadership. But we have some young guys, and that was evident in mini camp and summer school. There was a lot of excitement. I think we still have a good nucleus here. We do have a new offense. We’re doing some different things. We have a new offensive line coach (Dave Magazu) who has had a very positive impact so far. Right now we’re somewhat healthy, too. I say that because you never take anything for granted in this League. I think it’s evident that the two years where we stayed kind of healthy we did good things, and the two years where we got banged up really hard we were average. If we can stay healthy, I think we can do okay. It is. I know everybody says that, but it is. It’s probably the most excited I’ve ever been to come to training camp. I’m not just saying that. I haven’t felt this way in a while. Everybody knows camp is tough. It’s hard. Your body’s not going to feel good starting tomorrow afternoon, and it’s not going to get any better. But I feel we can do some good things (this year). I don’t know why, but I have that feeling.

   Spent all day Thursday in an educational conference at the Gaston Gazette, but apparently didn't miss much in the way of tracking the progress of the Carolina Panthers three unsigned draft picks.

   As of 6:55 p.m., Carolina's top three picks -- first rounder pick Jon Beason and second rounders Dwayne Jarrett and Ryan Kalil -- have not agreed to contracts. This is the most unsigned draft picks the team has had on the eve of training camp that I can remember in my 13 years covering the Panthers.

   So, the question beckons -- are holdouts looming?

   I believe when push comes to shove the Panthers will get these deals done - even if it takes until Friday night. Even if there is a holdout, I don't foresee it lasting very long. General manager Marty Hurney and his very competent right-hand man Rob Roberts are easy to work with and have a reputation for getting guys to camp on time. And it's not like the Panthers are dealing with a high first-round pick in Beason. He was the 25th player selected overall, so his deal should not be all that difficult to reach unless this agent is completely unrealistic.

   Stay tuned and check back later as something could break tonight...

   A limited number of single-game tickets to each of the Carolina Panthers 10 home games for the 2007 season will go on sale July 28, according to the team. Ticket prices range from $49 to $80, and purchase restrictions apply.   You can guarantee your seats for each home game without the hassle of buying single-game tickets each year through the purchase of a Permanent Seat License (PSL).

   After a brief flirtation, the Carolina Panthers passed on the opportunity to sign free agent safety Donovin Darius because of concerns over his range and past injuries. Darius signed a three-year contract with the Oakland Raiders on Tuesday worth more than $7 million. He is coming off a broken leg and torn ACL in the last two seasons.

   The Panthers remain thin in the secondary with Nate Salley slated to start opposite Mike Minter, who will retire at the end of the season. Look for the team to add a veteran safety at some point, possibly after cuts are made in August. Although safety may not be the most important position on the field it is the last line of defense and the Panthers can't run the risk of allowing that to disrupt their success on defense this season.

   The Panthers signed three NFL Europa players -- wide receiver Josh Davis, offensive lineman Bobby Harris and defensive tackle Gary Gibson. All three will receive roster exemptions. Carolina also officially announced the signing of fourth-round pick Ryne Robinson, who agreed to terms last week. To make room on the roster, the Panthers released quarterback Justin Zwick, the former Ohio State backup who joined the team for the final week of summer school.

   The contract agreed to on Tuesday by tight end Greg Olsen of the Chicago Bears could impact how the Carolina Panthers structure the deal of their first-round pick, Jon Beason.

   Beason was the 25th player selected inApril's NFL draft; lsen was 31st overall.

   Olsen, the first first-round pick to sign this year, will get a five-year contract with a maximum value of $10.696 million, according to ESPN's website. The contract will pay Olsen a signing bonus of $250,000 and a $720,000 roster bonus in the first year, with a 2007 base salary of $285,000. ESPN 's website also reported that there is an option bonus of $3.545 million, and there are reporting bonuses of $100,000 in 2009, $140,000 in 2010 and $125,732 in 2011. The base salaries in the deal, after the first season, are $370,000 (2008), $460,000 (2009), $550,000 (2010) and $650,000 (2011). Olsen can earn an additional $2.921 million in incentives and escalators and a one-time playing time incentive of $578,700, the website reported.

   Beason, of course, will make more than his former college teammate at Miami given he was taken five spots ahead of him. However, the structure of the deal could be similar.