The fifth day of training camp ended Tuesday as the Carolina Panthers next practice will come at Bank of America Stadium for Fan Fest Wednesday night. The Panthers began the week in pads for the first time on Monday and will continue to work toward the New York Jets joint practice Aug. 9-10 to know where the team stands.
Carolina Panthers Training Camp Takeaways
Chark Week Continues
Throughout the start of camp, DJ Chark has excelled in contested catches by becoming the go-to deep ball receiver. Chark has played this role for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions throughout his career. At least once in every practice, he’s come down with a highlight-worthy catch.
Nice throw by Bryce Young. Better catch by DJ Chark. pic.twitter.com/krVr30ur2u
— Joe Person (@josephperson) July 29, 2023
With quarterback Bryce Young looking toward Chark often, they’ve certainly built chemistry to begin camp. During red zone 7-on-7, Young connected on back-to-back touchdowns to Chark during Tuesday’s practice.
Panthers head coach Frank Reich spoke about the early connection in camp between Young and Chark.
“It seems like they do connect every practice,” Reich said. “You’ve got two really smart players. D.J.’s a really smart player, very savvy and instinctive. Then he’s got the speed to go with it. I think Bryce (is) obviously the same way. That’s looked good. We’re excited about that.”
The best ability is availability, and Chark needs to prove that he can actually stay on the field in 2023. Historically speaking, he has not been able to do that, as he had made 10 appearances on the injury report during his five years in the league.
Shenault Carving Out a Role for Himself
During OTA’s, Reich mentioned a possible Deebo Samuel role for wide receiver Laviska Shenault. Since OTA’s, Shenault arrived at camp with added muscle to his 6′-1″, 220-pound frame.
“We do think Laviska is a guy that can be versatile,” Reich said. “I think, as an offensive staff, we’ve all had experience with guys that we’ve had, right? But we have to look at Laviska for him and how he fits in our offense. We’ll dip our toe in the water on some of that stuff and see how it goes.”
On Tuesday, Shenault saw some work in the backfield and took an outside run into the endzone. He’s shown flashes of his potential as a short route receiver that can be moved around the field last season for Carolina. Against the New Orleans Saints in 2022 on Week 3, he took a screen pass 67 yards into the endzone.
https://twitter.com/Panthers/status/1686435464058720266
“I’m just doing what’s been asked of me and, of course, I had to train harder this offseason,” he said following Saturday’s practice. “Because I know what’s coming. So I gotta be prepared in every way possible.”
The 2023 season will be a contract year for Shenault, and he’s expecting to play his way toward getting paid in 2024.
Young Testing Boundaries
As a rookie quarterback, Young is finding the limits during camp as he’s learned what windows are worth risking throwing the ball. Even as he’s thrown an interception in four consecutive practices, Reich is encouraging Young to test the boundaries.
“As we all know. And so, we’re at a stage where you have to try things out,” Reich said. “Like, we’re gonna tell him, ‘Hey, challenge yourself. See if you can put the ball in that place, in that window, against that coverage. We need to find those things out now.”
Even when Young makes a mistake, he’s rebounded by keeping his composure and leading the offense through practice. Throughout camp, Young has rarely shown emotion and has kept his poise. Whether the result of a play is negative or positive, Young goes into the next play with an 0-0 mentality.
“There’s ups and downs, there’s always stuff to learn, you take every rep in stride,” Young said. “You have initial reactions to stuff on the field and then the real learning and being able to see is when you roll back the tape, which we haven’t had the chance to do yet.”
Main Photo: Jim Dedmon – USA Today Sports
