Happy Half Hour Episode 96: Time of Transition

Kristin Balboni, Augusta Stone, and Darren Gannon. Hello, friends, Welcome to another episode of the Happy Half Hour. One hundred percent pure Anthers content for me, Darren her Agusta Stone, and even though I believe in truth and advertising, this may not actually be an entire happy half hour. It'll be entirely happy, but maybe not an entire half hour.

We'll just kind of see how it goes once we start jabbering about all the latest and what's coming in the next couple of day in the world of the Carolina Panthers.

I get really really talkative. And that's usually the time when I'm texting my friends and they're trying to go to bed, and I'm like thinking about different ways to save, like solve world problems or you know, new ideas here in like like usually there's a point in my exhaustion where I do just continue to ramble and ramble and ramble.

And that's relevant because I almost got to that point when I got home at an unforseeable hour on Friday morning or Saturday morning, I don't even know what day of the week it was.

football and perhaps the expectations. This has been I think for a lot of people a really weird offseason because you go through the process of hiring a new coach, bringing in a whole new cast of characters, especially on offense, basically a brand new set of skill position talent, knowing what's to come into the draft, then trading for the number one pick, then landing Bryce Young and all the attendant excitement that came with it, and it's like, there's

been this four months of anticipation, and now when we get to the preseason and Frank Craig and Bryce Young in the Carolina Panthers offense do not look like Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs, immediately, I think people started freaking out. And I think that's probably normal considering all the build up of the last four months, but it always kind of makes me giggle for lack of a better word, and sometimes I do giggle that. You know, people get so lathered up about

the preseason. I was telling somebody the story the other day. In two thousand and one, when the Panthers won the opener and proceeded to lose the next fifteen. The new coach, John Fox comes in the door and says, you know, everything's brand new, blah blah blah. John's bringing all this excitement. They lose their first preseason game and I didn't tweet out because tweeting wasn't a thing in two thousand and two, but I wrote somewhere that the Panthers hadn't won a

game in three hundred and forty eight days. John took a dimn view of that. He's like, you know how unimportant these games are, don't you, Darin, And I said, yes, John, I'm aware. And then they lost the next week and it was three hundred fifty five days or whatever the math turned out to be, and he didn't He took a DM view of that as well. So anyway, the results of these games are hardly important at all, the

Baltimore Ravens notwithstanding. But at the same time, there are things that I think you can draw from this, I mean, with this offense, everything is new, and frank Reich has been offered a number of opportunities to talk about kind of the goal for this offense, and he is pretty steadfastly leaned toward we don't want to show a lot more so than we need to get Bryce X, Y and Z before the start of the regular season exactly.

just in terms of so much coming at us. It's like you you were able to get into some sort of rhythm, have an idea of what's going on, and the preseason frank Reich has kept it really well in perspective, I think, because like you mentioned, they really are meaningless games in terms of result, In terms of points, of course, I'll always say they want to win, but in terms of just their evaluation, I mean, they're getting more time

for the guys that they're not Tuesdays. The roster cutdown day is looming, and they're getting time to look at those guys. I think too, that between when we were here last week to now, there are more things to

talk about that you know happened. You know, you can say, Okay, Bryce Young and the offense hasn't haven't reached the end zone yet first teamers, but they did lead that field goal drive, and there were some mistakes and I think if you want to talk about that one drive that got you know, pretty far down and then ended up being pushed back and then ended up being a Matthew right field goal. But I think one thing you can talk about there is that, you know, it showed movement.

That's good. Show very very long drive. I don't remember if it was seven minutes or ten minutes. It was really long though, and I think that's the kind of progress. But when you have those kind of things that where you push back, you want to see that in the preseason so you can go ahead and squash it. I think that's you know, they can take positives from it, and they have time before Atlanta. They'll also have you know, a relatively a fuller cast of characters. You know, Eddie

Pinero talked yesterday. He sounds like he's going to be back. I think there's pieces to maybe be concerned about. But I think and I do think things have calmed down to like between the Jets and the Giants game, I think we're not as much so when you hear things on the outside, it's not as panicked, which is good. So because I remember last week we came in here and we were like ugh, and this week is not as bad.

of that. Things we haven't seen. Game planning, strategy, Miles Sanders, who is going to be a really big part of this outfense. I think that as much as anything, you know, they are going to lean on him. One of the themes. I've mentioned this with different people in interviews before, on radio and podcast. If you're thinking about the overarching theme of this offseason, everything's been about protecting Bryshong, even before

he walked in the door. What they do. They built his staff full of all these elders, and I'm constantly amazed when I walk in the Cafteria and Jim Calwell stand there eating breakfast. It's just a great coach, not a good coach with this extra job and ill defined responsibilities. Jim Callwell, Josh McCown, Thomas Brown, Frank Craig. Was done to protect that quarterback from a coaching standpoint. Then they go out in free agency and they find the easy targets.

A tight end in Hayden Hurst, a slot receiver in Adam Thielen, a high volume back in Miles Sanders who can also catch the ball. Everything's been done to make this guy's life easier from day one before he walked in the door. So now this preseason has been about continuing to protect him by a not leaving him out there for too long, you know, not showing a lot of the cool new stuff they want to try to do, but also just kind of getting through this thing without drama.

Someone asked me one of my friends, Tom Pelsero from NFL Network was in town the other day and he asked how training camp was, and he said, hadn't really been a lot of drama. I said, that's a good that's good thing. Nobody likes drama in training camp because usually training camp drama is bad. So if you get through this entire process no gigantic injuries, no big upheavals, no big contract drama or anything like that, I think that's a great thing for everybody involved. So it's you know,

just mentioning the injuries. I think it's probably worth pointing out. I've seen some concern online about the numbers of guys. The one thing I know, and this isn't exactly breaking news or anything, but just from talking to people around the building, the only guy we know isn't playing in Atlanta is Austin Corbett, who's coming off in acl and

wasn't expected to play in the opener anyway. None of the other of this laundry list of injuries that you see on Panthers dot Com on a daily basis, And we appreciate you doing that are considered the kind of big you know, long term, big, dramatic, miss a chunk of the regular season kind of stuff. There's a lot of things, the things that come at the end of a long and fairly physical training camp. And they've gotten after it this week, I mean the two practices Monday Tuesday,

I believe it was, or Sunday Monday or whatever the sequence. Again, don't ask me what day of the week it is. Those two practices this week were pretty intense. First one in Pad's second one was long, even though it was in shorts and shells. It guys are getting after it, and there's a physical toll that comes with that. But it's almost like building up a callous You know, they're going to work them hard and then they're gonna pull back.

There's gonna be some breaks in this thing, and players are about to get a three to four day break before they go into the regular season and everybody needs it. But before they got to that, they wanted to push them. They wanted them conditioned because you know, I remember opening seasons in Tampa Bay and seeing guys gassed on either side of the field. Because if you're not conditioned to go into what used to be a sixteen now seventeen game regular season. It's going to be a long one exactly.

I think preseason kind of dinged them up quite a bit last year. But also it gives you a chance to see some depth pieces develop the depth pieces, and then it's gonna inevitably happen, like you mentioned, with a seventeen game schedule, regardless of how condition you get, you're gonna have to look at those guys either way. And I think that it's not necessarily the most negative thing in the world to kind of be able to pull

back certain guys. I mean, we've seen a lot of Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshir just thinking about Miles Sanders getting back this week and just those opportunities now versus you know, week six, week seven, whenever, it'll inevitably fall that one guy might get a you know, a hamstring here, one guy might get you know, a little sprain here.

Like it's gonna it's gonna happen. But I was gonna ask you, as the date kind of looms, who are you looking for in this game specifically to kind of make a splash or maybe have extra opportunities with with the guys that that you're thinking that they might you know, hold over other than your your obvious starters and your ones.

is going to get a lot of play time. I know you you like a dog on the roster, so Wims is Wims has been interesting and where I think he's got an opportunity here. If you look over the scope of all these wide receivers that everybody's playing on making the team, there aren't a lot of them that you think of as a core special teams kind of guy. And Wims is a big, physical dude who, as we

are aware, is not afraid of contact. So I think the opportunity for guys like that to show, Okay, Chris Tabor, you can trust me, I can be one of your guys and also contribute during the regular season, potentially some on offense. Frank's talked about, you know, guys he's had in the past who make teams that way as special teamers and end up being parts of offense. So I think Wims is a guy who's got an opportunity there.

Derek Wright has always had good hands and knows how to get himself open, and he's been a little dinged up himself, but he's shooting to come back this week. You know, you see him walking around the facility and he's upbeat and ready to go after being you know, kind of on the mend a little bit. So I think there are a number of those guys, whether it's those two on the offensive line. Young guys like some of the undrafted rookies Nashins and Ricky Lee, or guys

who have caught some eyes. You know, there are a couple of them out there. And with defensive linemen, whether it's Nick Thurman, Lebryan Ray, some of those guys who aren't necessarily household names are going to have opportunities to create roles for themselves with what happens this week in the game and then coupled with the body of work they presented so far in training camp.

was reading writing his stat line last night. I think he had two where he had a tackle for loss of sack kind of paired together, and then two quarterback pressures. I think just kind of making the day really really tough for them. And he was one of those guys that I think, at least here in camp, that I didn't pay too much attention to, and then saw him kind of flash like that. I think if he gets another preseason game flash, I mean, look, it's kind of

like what Frankraik has been saying. You know, you say these preseason games and you're so concerned about the the the point totals, but in his experience won it playing in the league but also coaching in the league, he said that his memories aren't necessarily about the score. They're more or less about you know, oh, I remember this guy flashing. I remember this player. I remember this kind of thing, and he's a guy I think that could really capitalize on it and find himself some sort of role.

He's been here for a minute. He was a practice squad holdover, I believe, and I think he looked really comfortable and I mean just very splashy along that defensive line. Again, like you said, on top of the Brian Rays and the Nick Thurmans of the roster, I think that there's there's a lot of opportunity there behind those guys to really see what they have to do. But I agree, I was also going to make a mention of Nashjinsen

and Ricky Lee. I think this game is also really really important for them just to see what their role will end up being, especially with Caid Mays and that next thing are just now getting back to practice and you know the role that they have to fill in at right guard. There's a lot of opportunities for guys to maybe get some more plays and more looks, and they hadn't they wouldn't have had previously, so I think

it's another big game for them too. I think the lines are some really good places to look at guys where oh, maybe this guy will be, like you said, a bubble guy just making it in. Those are two groups that I've kind of honed in on with opportunities, and.

one for a long time. But I think there is an opportunity for movement because when you're trying to put together something brand new, you know. I go back to the very start of free agency of the in the first week they go out and Seinshoy tuttle into Shawn Williams immediately because they needed lineman to be able to line up in a three four, and there's a particular body type they're looking for. They would love to find some guys who were in that six foot five, three

hundred and twenty pound, long armed kind of profile. Now that's not necessarily what Shie and Sean are, but those are guys who have proven they can play this kind of football. I mean, especially to Shaun. He was out there in Denver with this coaching staff and playing pretty well. So they've got a couple of parts in those two. In Derek Brown obviously, who's going to be a big part of this defense. But they need to supplement that and that's why I mentioned Thurman and Lebrin Ray a

second ago. There are going to be a lot of guys, a lot of names popping up, whether it's on the waiver wire, whether it's trade talk, whether it's bringing in some veterans who are kind of on the street for different reasons right now, I think there's an opportunity for some movement inside that group. So trying to project, if you're out there trying to create your own fifty three you may and roster, I'm just gonna promise you you're wrong, because that thing's going to be moving quite a bit

between next yeah know. I mean honestly, between today or between tomorrow whenever what day is this, the day after the game and then going into Tuesday's final cuts, is thing's going to be fluid. So stay tuned to Panthers dot com for all the latest, as we like to say.

his process and his staff's process. So Jah found it to be a very interesting perspective about how it kind of all happens at once and you don't have to kind of spin your wheels. You have it all happen at once. Okay, now we can look and see where we're going. But yeah, that all the indications from when we talk to him where that you know, they're always looking, like he said, to upgrade, and there's always the opportunity to kind of look and see what they've been evaluating,

see what they have. But yeah, no, to call that I think a final fifty three man is a questionable term. I think we could call it a preliminary. It's the first one.

Then a lot of people are looking forward to for a lot of reasons. But this is a grueling week for all the human being involved because no matter what, there is a degree of relationship that's built up with guys as you've worked with him for an entire offseason. I've talked to, you know, Deshaun Williams and Frank Reich about when Frank had to cut to Shaun in Indianapolis and they end up crying together while they're, you know,

having this conversation. And Deshaun was an early cut during OTAs for Frank up in Indy before he got his feet underneath him in Denver and kind of established himself. So it's an emotional time. It's hard for the human beings involved. And I know, you know a lot of times fans get excited or frustrated with certain guys, but

these are human beings. Dreams are coming to an end this week, and a lot of cases, families are going to have to move based on what happens this weekend, and that has an impact on a lot of people, you know, in addition to the people here in the building who have to be the guy who go gets that guy, and so it's a hard week for everybody involved.

One of the you know, one of the unpleasant realities of this business is you've got to go through that process before you get to that fifty three, before you get to the regular season. And that's the point we're at. So I would ask fans, as you're monitoring next week's cuts online on Twitter, I'm not calling it that other thing ever again or ever period. I am a traditionalist and it will always be twittered like I tweeted back

in the nineties. So as you're watching Twitter next week, you know, have a little compassion for the human beings on either side of these transactions. I know everybody's excited about this, but remember the human beings on times like this too. So anyway, it is a time of transition. We're almost out of the preseason. As we go into the regular season, what are you most grateful for as you get into an actual schedule. What becomes normal for AUGUSTA. Stone Once the schedule is normal.

and all this stuff my way through. I will say I got in this nice rhythm last season of knowing the times that I could go cook meals if there was a one pm kickoff at the stadium, I could get home around seven, eight nine and cook a nice big meal while watching Sunday night football. That helped me set up my week really nicely because I'd have lunch food or dinner food set up for me. So I loved my kind of routine post game for one pm kicks. I know we don't really have a lot of home

one pm kicks to start. I don't think we actually have one here until October first, because we have the Monday game, which I've never done a Monday night game, so I'm really excited about that, but also kind of being on the road a lot. But those are those are like the moments that I cherish the most I really like my time in my kitchen, my time, you know, to myself, So kind of knowing when my I'll get

myself time. I'm a big self care kind of girl, and making meals and having that ritual is very special to me. So being able to kind of know that I'm going to do that on Sunday nights, you know, knowing when we get into the groove of one pm kicks, That's what I'm most excited for. How about y'all?

I am not fearful in that same way. I also choose to think this is my own psychosis, but I choose to think that helps with the with the immune reaction. I think I'm building up a pretty solid defense by going with that day five, day six leftover. Usually I don't even question it un till it gets to the second week.