Happy Half Hour Episode 72: What Have We Learned?

Welcome to the Happy Half Hour podcast. I am Kristin Balboni and our good buddy Will can't be here with us this week, but I have got our expert writers, Darren Gant and Augusta Stone here. We are all in Foxboro. We have just seen the first of two joint practices and we are here to give you all of the details. Hi, Darren and Augusta. It's a busy day, but I'm so glad that we can do this together. Yeah, so many things, all of the things are happening at once, and we're

here exactly. But it's a good time. It's a fun time. It's it's a short time because the time goes by so quickly, but it's it's fun, happy to be here. You're about to dive in, get straight into it, because we know Panthers fans have a lot of questions. But Augusta, I mean you you have done. I mean you have just hit the ground running in terms of being one of our newest employees. Your stories are amazing and you've already been on this is already your second road trip

in like three days. So how's it going for you so far? It's going great. You know, I was telling Darren the other day, I think I've spent more time on the road than i have in my own apartment that I've had for about a month in Charlotte. But you know, it's so much fun. I'm getting to go to all these places I haven't been before, and I'm loving and thank you so much. I hope all the readers are enjoying what I get to write. I know

I am enjoying writing it. And I know when you're talking about places that you love going that you haven't been there before, I mean, spartan Berg's obviously at the top of the list, right and then we're then d C. Boston will have to let you see how it all goes in terms of where everything ranks. But I mean I'm right about that, right, Darren, Oh yeah, no question. Spartan Burg is in fact the center of the universe. That was that a long time ago for the Panthers,

no doubt. Yeah. But you know we're actually out seating the world now too. So this week is always fascinating. Anytime you throw another team in the mix for a couple of days, it always gets a little more exciting. Yes, And just you know, if you are listening to this podcast, I'm sure you already know this, so forgive me. But just to set the scene of what we were doing up here in New England, the Panthers week just had the first preseason game on what day was that time?

As a construct, was that Friday? Was that sad? It was Friday? It was Saturday, you guys, I have no idea what today is? The first preseason game on Saturday against the Commander's day off on Sunday. We are here in New England Monday through Friday to joint practices, the first being today, the second being tomorrow. And this is much like last year. If everyone remembers, it's like the It's like the starters preseason games. We are seeing the Ones take a lot of reps against the Patriots Ones.

We are figuring a lot out and we had some questions answered today, which is what we're going to dive into. But we also have some questions that were not answered today. So without further ado, let's play a little game of what did we learn and what didn't we learn after the first joint practice with the Patriots. So Augusta, I want to start with you. What did we learn today? Alrighty?

So basically, we learned that the current plan moving forward as of right now is for the first round draft pick Ikya Kwanu to be the starting left tackle get most of the reps with the Ones. That is something that real confirmed for us. I'm sure he was mentioning it. We have He has been asked ad nauseum, you know, when will he slot in with the Ones? When will he be there permanently? And he said, moving forward, that

is the plan. I had a chance to speak with Ikey after practice and you could tell that he was super excited to be getting his rep with the Ones. He told me that he felt like he had earned his role. He's been learning the system, he's been being mentored by people like Taylor Moton and Pat elf Line, and he's kind of taken it all in. He's feeling a lot more comfortable and he's also you know, doing he's taking his reps. The Cybraty Christians in at left guard,

so they moved him over from left tackle. He had been taken those those reps with the ones before they slid Ikey in, but Matt Rule told us he said he wanted to see Ikey in a game scenario, so they had the Commander's game. They liked what they saw and they moved him over. So in as of right now, the current plan is for Ikey to be taken those reps.

So we did learn that, and a lot of people were excited to at least be figuring out something about offensive personnel right now, because there's plenty of questions still there. But as of right now, Icky Kwanu is in that left tackle spot. Yeah, And Darren, you and I were standing there together watching this practice today and in watching those women before Matt Rule confirmed, which was after practice

in his press conference. You know, we were sitting there and is this the configuration you've seen throughout the entire practice? And we knew it was just a matter of time, Darren, what it feels good to have something like that confirmed. And as I guess have said, it feels good for Ikey.

I think it feels good for the fans as well. Yeah, and I think it's it's a pretty big step for the team too, because from the moment they drafted him, and and go back to April or May or what month was it, really, I don't even know what day it is. So in April, um this was the top rated player on their board. If they were picking first, they would have taken iky Ikwana. And when you think that way of a guy, of course he's gonna end

up in the starting lineup. And it was just a matter of time, and you know, whatever steps you needed to go through, this was always going to be the destination. And now one of the things I'm most curious to see is how he had Brady grow together, because in camp it was, you know, Brady is the first left tackle, Ikey is the second one. Then when Ikey would start, sometimes it was with Brady, sometimes it was Michael Jordan's.

I think inevitably or eventually, it's going to be Ikey and Brady, and so a couple of young guys being able to grow together in those two jobs gives it a chance. I keep going back because I'm a hundred years old to Jordan's Gross Trebell Wharton, and once those two set up shop next to each other, it just kind of went next level. And that was when the Panthers had some of their best offensive wines and franchise history.

So I will find out. Time will tell if these two guys turn into those two guys, but first round pick, third round pick, guys who can both play left tackles setting up shot next to each other. There are a lot of parallels there, and I'll be looking forward to seeing whether it actually turns into one of those or more. I mean, Ikey a Quanta was a talented guy. You can see out on the practice field in Spartanburg or

against the Patriots. When he hits people, they move. So this is good news, getting his physic cality on the field and kind of eliminating that unknown that had existed prior to today. And Darren, I know this is something that you and I talked about when Dicky was drafted, and I'm guessing I'm sure it came from Jordan Gross, right, it was a former player. So the best thing you can do for a young guy in that tackle role is find him his partner, find him his person beside him,

and keep them together. Do you think Brady Christensen is that guy? Probably? So? Probably. So. Here's a weird thing about the Carolina Panthers right now. They have options on offensive line. Were so good to say that, doesn't it? Yeah? What day is it? Really? Where are we? What city are we in? Um? The Carolina Panthers have offensive linemen plural um that are capable. So last year was a

little bit of a challenge. Does everybody knows four teen starting lineup seventeen games, never really the same guys for any stretch of time at all, and not all of them as good as the ones you're picking through now. And and they've got guys now who are going to make the fifty three who started last year who were competing for backup roles. And that's that's good news. That's

nothing against those individual guys. But um, when you think about people who were being counted on as starters now they're fighting for backup jobs because they've upgraded around him. And that's a that's a better situation across the board for whoever ends up behind center. And I would just say that you know what that those fourteen different configurations in the seventeen games last year, we're a lot due to injuries. Um, you know, there's just that was just

could not be helped. It felt like it was changing due to injuries every single week. But Darren Augusta, uh may never know a time in which the offensive line changed every single She was the carbinger of good news ectly exactly um And an incredible job by Augusta to sucking to Ikey right after we found out the news, and that pieces on Panthers dot com. So definitely go there for for all of the details. So so that's what we did learn, and that's a huge thing to learn.

Quanta is snug in his place at left tackle. All Panthers fans can be happy about that. But Darren, what's one thing we didn't learn today at joint practice. We didn't learn who the starting quarterback was going to be.

That's one thing they've held off on that one. And and you can kind of see, I mean today Baker Mayfield got a lot of um, a lot of time in two minutes stuff through a couple of nice balls to Tommy Tremble hit Christian McCaffrey deep on one, Um, DJ, Yeah, the on the other end of the field where DJ kind of had to come back to it and make a contested catch, doing DJ more things, And so you

you're seeing a lot more Baker mayfield. That thing's not final yet, but you know, I I think most people can sort of see the direction it might be pointing in. But and I'll be honest, and this is not because we work for the Carolina Panthers. Sam Darrel has been better this offseason. I mean there are moments where you look at Sam and say, I know why people want to continue to give Sam chances or continue to keep them around. And and Sam has been a fantastic teammate.

I mean, he's been supportive when Baker makes a play, he's back at the huddle of this pumping and that kind of thing. But you know, well, we'll see whenever they make a decision for the long term, and it'll be curious to see what they do Friday night. UM, because I get a feeling that we're going to see a lot more of other people on Friday. Because that's the thing about these joint practices. They can get controlled work. They hadn't seen a lot of Baker in two minutes.

So Rule gets together with Bill Belichick and says, hey, let's do three segments of two minutes and you can get that concentrated work without worrying about getting your coarter that killed in a lit of game, and you can see exactly what you want to see. And that's why these practices are good, you know, at times for probably better than games during the preseason for these teams as they're trying to sort things out. And it's it's great for the Patriots too because they're trying to figure out

what they have on defense. So as as you said, it's good for both parties, there's no doubt about it. And so what you were just saying, Darren about both

of those guys being great sports. You know, I talked to both quarterbacks at FanFest and after the first preseason game, well during the first preseason game, after they were both finished with their respective series, and as you said, they both genuinely seem to just really like each other, root for each other, understand that the competition is within themselves.

But it will be interesting to see. As you said, it was almost a fifty fifty today it felt like, and of course during the preseason game that you know, they we're gonna get this, this amount of snaps for each guy. We want to see what they can do. It'll be interesting to see if that continues tomorrow, Augusta Darren, do you guys think that we're gonna still see the exact split down the middle tomorrow as well? Would you be surprised if it started to lean more one way

than the other. I feel like we're gonna see it be the fifty fifty until we're told otherwise. The only thing that leads me to believe that we might see more of one than the other is a couple of weeks ago in Spartanburg, we were told that this was the week that, you know, tentatively that they might think about potentially naming someone. Nothing was set in stone, but it was the one that they floated. They go Patriots Week.

You know, we kind of like to know. But I mean, personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see more of the fifty fifty split, especially like Darren said, since on Friday specifically, probably won't see a ton of Baker and sam Um. I feel like in these practices, they'll they'll keep it kind of even too. I don't know, if just continue to evaluate figure out, we'll see what they want to see.

Like Darren said, they're seeing different defenses right now, and they are seeing more of what they want to see without the risk of getting them hurt in Um, you know, a game situation. Like you said, So there's a there's a lot of reasons. I personally don't think they'll start showing a lot of somebody until they tell us a great point. Yeah, we'll probably know before we see it on the practice field. It's a great point by augusta. Um, all right, Darren, what else did we learn at today's

joint practice. We we learned that if you have a joint practice in August, people are gonna fight. Yes, that's that's kind of a given. I mean, it was that way last year in Indianapolis. Uh, it was this way this morning out there in Foxboro, and it um, you know, it's kind of a right of summer that it's always the case every time you get a bunch of people together, a bunch of alpha's who were trying to show off. And you know one thing, I do think the Panthers

We were talking to Jeremy chan about it. After practice. They are trying to was a lot of turnovers, so the dvs are getting in there trying to rip the ball out. Maybe the Patriots took exception with some of that, maybe some you know, but there were a couple of good scrums and and there were people and it wasn't all of one team or the other, you know, who got hot. There were some punches thrown around the fringes of that thing. But they kind of, you know, ruling

Belichick talked about it. They said, hey, if guys fight, we're gonna get them out of here. And you know, Kenny Robinson got sent out early, and Phil Hoskins got sent out early, and a couple of Patriots receivers left and caught an early shower after that one. So, uh, those are the kind of things that are always gonna happen. They're a little bit inevitable when you get all these guys together. But uh, it was interesting to me that, you know, for a pretty good chunk of practice, it

was like, oh God, what's about to happen. These guys are gonna throw down. But after that, it kind of they sort of refocus and and listen, the Panthers defense is kind of an intense bunch anyway. You gotta bunch of dudes over there. Frankie Luvu's firing everybody up and making pick so when he makes a play, everybody's excited. J C. Horns just one of those guys. I think the kids say he has a dog inside of him, or he would say that. He said that to me the day he got drafted. Yet he would own that

and and want to be referred to that way. So you know, I mean, that's just kind of the way these guys are. So there's gonna be some of that. But that was definitely mostly on the field where the Panthers defense and the Patriots offense was so I I think that's not for nothing. File that one away too, I think so you know, I had someone text me and say, oh, you know, I heard it got chippy

out on the field. And they're not cameras allowed in the team period, So you know, either there are Patriots fans there a few Panthers fans made their way up. But people are asking and I think Darren is making a good point, which is, you know, if you see that tweeted out or whatnot. It really not to minimize it because you don't want anyone throwing punches, you want anyone to get it hurt. But it does feel like if you're having a joint practice, like Darren said in August,

you know, there's gonna be some chippiness. There's gonna be there's gonna be some guys running from the opposite field to see what's going on and if they need to jump in. And I don't think it necessarily means anything. I don't think that it's gonna lead to anything bigger. It just feels, like Darren said, it's like a rite of passage. I would not be surprised if we see, you know, another little dust up tomorrow, and as long

as everyone stays safe. It's it does feel like just part of the new the new wood thing with joint practices. You know, temper tempers are running high. Both sides want to to protect their guys and and that's what we get, you know, alright, augusta round us out here, so we've we need to know one more thing that we did not learn from joint practices today, one more thing. And I think it's it's a good thing. Like we were

talking about the offensive line depth. But there are a ton of really quality water receivers and there's not a ton of roster space. When we make the cut down to fifty three, somebody's gonna be left out. And I think what we're seeing is there are a lot of people that just keep flashing and flashing, and kind of people that you think about more on the bubble. The person that I wanted to talk about the most with Shy Smith because we saw him. We saw him in

Washington against the Commanders, saw him with Baker. Their connection is excellent. He's he's one of those guys that you know, anytime you know has all come in toward him, he's gonna come down with it. And he's not, you know, one of the people that like pops up in your head first. You know, he's not your Robbie Anderson, r DJ more, but he's there and he and Baker already have that chemistry about him. And then we saw it

again today the same thing with Shy Smith. You know, whenever he's gonna make a play, he's gonna make a play. And to me, I feel like he's one of those guys that a lot of people are excited about you know, he's a Carolina kid. He went to South Carolina, which um was a team that I've covered before I came here. So I have a lot of people I know that are excited and always asking about him. He's popular and he's he's doing a good job. He's had a real good camp. Um, He's not the only one. I think.

Richard Higgins is another one who he just he also has a Baker connection. They've both played at the Browns. So um. But there's just there's a lot of people in that room. C J. Saunders was having an amazing camp before he got hurt. Um, and now he's kind of a non factor just because he's hurt. But there's

so many guys on that roster. I mean, the death is the depth is wild, and when they make that cut, it's gonna be, you know, interesting to see where they draw the line, who they end up carrying and and who they end up who they end up getting rid of part ways with Yeah, number of numbers games there is gonna be fascinating because generally six wide receivers it's what they'll carry in the regular season, and you figure, Okay, d J. Moore, Robbie Anderson, Terris Marshal. Those three are

gonna be on the team. And then you've got Andre Roberts, who's only one of the best returners in the NFL who they signed specifically for that purpose. There's four. Okay, now there's two spots left. You got a Brandon Zilstra, who's a core special teamer, Shy Higgins. You know, again, you feel bad for c J. Saunders, but he was

right in that mix before he gets hurt. You wonder what's to happen with him now, So you start talking about a couple of guys for three or four guys for two or three jobs, and you wonder what's going to happen. I mean, there are things that do happen on the course of field during training camp and preseason games.

Obviously that changes the calculus on this. But yeah, figuring out who those five or six receivers are gonna be, and it might be five because they are keeping an extra quarterback this year, So you got to find that roster spot somewhere, and it's gonna be interesting to see where it comes from. Darren, if you were at the GM, would you go with five or six? I know that that I know that's not in a vacuum, because then

you've got to take that spot from somewhere else. But it feels to me like you, like you said, you just paired down that list. It was like six is the number. But when I start thinking about when I started thinking about how you fill out special teams, and you know, again you see Higgins and Shy and making all these plays where the Carolina Panthers have been special teams wise without a brand and zeal stretch, and not just as a backup kicker, um just all the roles

he plays. He's a four team special teams guy, and you've got to have some of those. So that's gonna be one of the evaluations, not just of the receivers, but of the backup linebackers and backup dbs over the next couple of weeks, because Chris TB is gonna need some guys who are also on this roster for that reason.

So that's why this thing is a lot more complicated than I think a lot of people think, because you you can't you can't take away a zeal stretch just because he might not have the same offensive potential as a Higgins or a Shot Smith. It's a lot of it's a lot of putting together the puzzle and I don't envy the decision makers in that one. I want to go rapid fire through a few things. Darren. Can you give us some injury updates what we've learned in

terms of how people are looking. And I think, on the one hand, let's start with that j C. Horn looks good today and that's a good thing. Yes, Yeah. Good news is j C keeps doing a little bit more and a little bit more every day and they have to pull him out of drills he's not supposed to be in. J C keeps trying to sneak onto the field. Um, he is back. That is good. Tears. Marshall's working his way back. Uh. You saw him in

and out a little bit today, shy Smith. Uh may have fallen on a football, got the win knocked out of him or something, so he was out for a little bit. I think the one we gotta keep our eye on for the next couple of days is Bradley Boseman. He went down and they were looking at his ankle, foot leg area, um, and he stood up and took a few steps and was just sort of standing there. And we thought okay, Well, Bradley's okay, and then they

bring the card out to haul him off. So it's like his Bradley okay or not, And we haven't really gotten an update on him, but um, he's a key part. I mean, he's a guy who could have he could potentially end up starting at center. Uh, he is at least solid depth the guy who has started both at guard and center over the last three years for the Ravens um So at the moment, you know it would if he's out for any amount of time, it would be Pat elf Line in the middle more than likely.

But they've got options. I mean, again, we'll see how Bradley is and hope for the best for him, but you know they've got Pat, They've got Cad May's is a guy who has looked good in training camp and has that kind of multi position flexibility that coaches love and back five. In fact, he's he's played all five positions in college. He played the left tackle at Tennessee, but I think he's probably a four position guy. I

don't see him playing left tackle in the NFL. He may not have that kind of ability to get out against speed rushers, but he's a big, physical guy and they think he could play center, some two could play guard, could play right tackle. So I mean a versatile guy and those are the ones you need. It's great to have deaths, as we talked about at the beginning, and quickly, I know that we've all got to go. You guys

have articles to write. But I want to go back to what feels like a million years ago but was just a couple of days ago. Was the preseason game, the first preseason game. We've talked a lot about the starters, a lot about the ones in this podcast, but I want to go back to some of the things that we saw in that game, and specifically, I wanted to ask you guys about Matt Correll. You know, Darren, I know it's it's probably not the it's probably not the

debut he wanted to have. And what did you take away from what we saw of him and his brief time out there? Matt Correll authored the weirdest game winning drive ever. Um the man completed one of eleven passes in his first preseason game. Uh. It didn't look great always, but at it it was kind of weird. I think the Washington commanders were really interested in winning the first game as the Washington Commanders because they got in the middle of the fourth quarter and they were down a

couple of touchdowns and they started blitzing. They did they don't do that in the preseason. That Jack del Rio defense started look like a regular there. Jack started taking this seriously all of a sudden, and um, I don't think they were anticipating that. And it wasn't a great situation for Matt to be successful in. But I'll tell you, I mean, and it's maybe we're putting too fine a point on this, but there was that moment where Matt gets his helmet pulled off of his head is kind

of neck was twisted around at an odd angle. You know, we're all glad he he's okay. But when he got his helmet pulled off his head, he continues to look down field to make a play. And not everybody does that. A lot of people get their helmet jerked off, they're gonna be tucking and covering and trying. It's mad that the ref through the flag because he was like, hey,

that's now, you cannot do that in the game. I thought that was a nice moment for of course, you want him to the first thing is be okay, like Gusa didn't know. I mean, I thought that was a really cool moment for he's such a competitor that he was like, I don't care if I know that the play is about to be stopped. I'm still gonna try to do something well exactly. It's like Darren mentioned earlier. You know, he got that dog in him. That's what everyone was saying, and it's true. I mean, that's what

he showed, you know. I mean, regardless of the stat line, like Darren said, he did technically leave that the weirdest drive you'll ever see win a game, But he he showed that you know, he's locked in, he's doing his best. He had his rooky moments. He looks like a rookie, but he doesn't look scared. He actually looks quite the opposite. When you have something like that happen and you're still locked in the way that he was. And those photos

that the Ape God are so good. Just just you see that that the potential is there, and I think that's why a lot of people are excited about him, even if it wasn't necessarily statistically performance wise, the best debut in the world. He showed that he had potential and that he has confidence, and I I hope it, you know, just keeps him going and doesn't um, you know, just keeps growing on that. I think. I think there's

a lot to grow from. And and as we learned in Panthers Confidential, he can jump rope effectively even with size fifteen feet. It really isn't pressive, you know. I did ask Ben McAdoo, I said, who has the all time record? If anyone doesn't know, you'll see it in

Panthers Confidential. But Macadeo starts out his his drills with his quarterbacks every practice, doing different footwork, drills, different um you know, things with their hands, and the thing that he always does is have them a jump rope and you can really see just how much better all of them are than I have ever been a jumping rope when you watch them and um, I said, look, how long have you been doing this? So McAdoo told me

he's been doing this since two thousand three. He would not tell me who the best jump roper is, but he said all the quarterbacks know it, and they are all coming for some records. So guys, I might have to enlist you to help me find out who it is and what whatever it is that they're trying to get to. Okay, that's our assignment for them. Will commit a journalism. We will absolutely do that. Well, guys, this

has been great. You know, it's fun. We were just all down there eating together, and we've all been up in our rooms talking. So I'm glad. I get to see you almost pretty much, you know, every second of the day while around these while we're on these trips. Um, get to peek into your hotel rooms. Darren, Yours looks great, Augusta, yours looks great, very tidy. I appreciate we are having a great time. Um, and I'll see you guys at dinner in like just a few minutes. Okay, it's gonna

be great. It's one of my favorite parts of the preseason. It's, uh, we're away from home a lot, but we're I mean, we're doing the same thing teams do. This digital department is better today than it was four weeks ago because we're all in the same box, all together, working and creating content all day, all night. It's it's inconvenient. Sometimes the logistics are a challenge, but we're also better as a team. Coming out of it from our standpoint as

well as a team same way. I love it. Absolutely got Augusta, our star rookie up here taking the first team reps and we love it. We will see you guys next week. Thanks for joining us on the Happy half Hour.