Panthers are playing it safe with Jaycee Horn

[Jin Wah]

Biggest takeaways from Week 1 of Panthers 2022 training camp

The Carolina Panthers are about to dive into the second week of training camp on the summer. But before they do, let’s look back at the most important takeaways from their first five days in Spartanburg, S.C.

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Panthers are playing it safe with Jaycee Horn

Last year’s eighth overall pick missed Carolina’s final 14 games after breaking his right foot against the Houston Texans. Although Horn recovered rather nicely from the devastating injury, the Panthers placed him on the active-physically unable to perform list to start camp as a precautionary measure.

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“He’s definitely getting better,” head coach Matt Rhule said on Saturday. “We’re hoping it’s [his activation] real soon. Can’t say exactly when. But hoping that it’s gonna be really soon.

“Just soreness, yeah,” he then added. “So we’ll be smart about it.”

Christian McCaffrey is playing it safe with Christian McCaffrey

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Despite colliding with a team photographer on the very first day of practice, running back Christian McCaffrey said he’s feeling better than he ever has. That feeling is due, in part, to his adjusted balance between work and rest.

“Yeah, I think any time you have to adapt out of your comfort zone, takes a leap of faith. But when you get the results you want, it makes you trust the process a little more. So, it’s my job to trust my process. I feel great. I feel the best I’ve ever felt. I’m ready to go.”

He also said he’s good to go, whether he’ll be participating in preseason action or not.

“I’ll be ready to go. That’s all up to them. I know whatever happens I’ll be ready to roll, full speed. Never gone into a game feeling I was underprepared. So I’ll be ready to go this year. I’m just excited to be healthy. Feeling fast. Feeling ready to rock.”

Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold start out with even opportunities

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The (sorta) highly-anticipated quarterback competition (sorta) began. Rhule said they wouldn’t get into anything too heavy quite yet and started off Mayfield and Darnold on even ground.

“For day one, Sam took all the 1 reps with the 1 group. Baker took all the 2 reps with the 2 group. Tomorrow, we’ll have Baker take all the reps with the first group, Sam take all the reps with the 2 group. And the thought process being we really want our guys to have the ability to work with the same receivers the entire day. Obviously, Baker got the install last night, this morning he’s out here trying to execute it. So we wanted those guys to have some consistency at receiver for the first two days. And then we’ll start to mix things up a little bit more. Then we had Matt [Corral] and PJ [Walker] split the threes.”

Baker Mayfield has impressed Matt Rhule

And although Mayfield hasn’t gotten into too much on the field, he’s still impressed Rhule with his work (and homework) up to this point.

“He’s through the fourth install. I’ll know more next week as we get into more situations. But I couldn’t be more pleased with Baker—how much he’s learned of what we’ve done. But there’s way more to put in to kinda get through that phase.”

Matt Corral has impressed everyone

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2018 first-round picks aside, 2022 third-round pick Matt Corral is the dark horse in this race. The rookie has already made a positive impression, with his arm and his punctuality.

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After the Panthers tried to woo him for over a month, two-time Pro Bowler Carlos Dunlap opted to sign a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. But Rhule said they’ll keep on looking to add help to their defensive line.

“I think we’ve kinda had an eye on, ‘Hey, we like the guys that we have,” Rhule said following the second practice of training camp. “We like the Burnses, the Hayneses, the Yeturs. We like that group. Keeping an eye on other guys if they pop open as they’re available. But not a major need that we feel panicked about. Just, we’re always trying to do a good job of looking and seeing ‘Hey, how can we upgrade?'”