{"id":143753,"date":"2023-08-14T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T16:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=143753"},"modified":"2023-08-14T10:18:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T14:18:49","slug":"panthers-preseason-loss-players-coaches-quotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2023\/08\/14\/panthers-preseason-loss-players-coaches-quotes\/","title":{"rendered":"Panthers Players, Coaches Discuss “Disappointing” Preseason Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a positive beginning to the week for the Carolina Panthers, it ended with a negative preseason game. Throughout intrasquad training camp and joint practice, the vibes were high in Carolina. Those were squandered in a 27-0 home loss against the New York Jets<\/a> to begin the preseason.<\/p>\n

Panthers head coach Frank Reich tried to look on the positive side after the loss.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t like getting shut out and getting beat 27-0,\u201d Reich said. \u201cBut I have a lot of years in this league that tell me that preseason scores aren\u2019t the most meaningful thing. And not that we\u2019re not accountable for that. We are. But it\u2019s not the most important thing right now. It\u2019s just not. We\u2019re tryin\u2019 to evaluate our team.”<\/p>\n

Panthers Begin Preseason In Disappointing Fashion<\/h2>\n

Offensive Growing Pains<\/h3>\n

One of the glaring issues was the lack of positive offensive drives, with 165 total yards. Two factors played into this: offensive line woes and generic playcalling.<\/p>\n

The Panthers offensive line gave up five sacks and saw the quarterback under consistent duress. Bryce Young<\/a> and Matt Corral took multiple hits as the offensive line collapsed due to the Jets pass rush depth. The Panthers were without starting guard Austin Corbett as he\u2019s recovering from a torn ACL. Corbett\u2019s mid-season return is expected to cement the interior of the line. In the meantime, the Panthers are forced to piece together an interior line that was vulnerable<\/a> in Saturday\u2019s preseason game.<\/p>\n

After the game, the Panthers offensive line held a meeting<\/a> to address the disappointing preseason debut.<\/p>\n

“Just disappointed. Not what we’re looking for at all,” left tackle Ikem Ekwonu said on giving up a free shot on Young. “He shouldn’t be getting hit at all. That’s on us. We just weren’t good enough today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding playcalling, the Panthers offense lacked creativity and movement. While the coaching staff wants to withhold most play calls for the regular season, giving the offense a game plan destined to fail is poor judgment.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, this is by design. I mentioned this the other day. We\u2019re very generic now. We did nothing in our scheme. Nothing. And that\u2019s not an excuse. I expected us to do a lot,\u201d Reich said. \u201cSo, we kept it simple so that we could do a lot, so we didn\u2019t have to think much, so we could evaluate one-on-one play. So, we need to do better there. But as a coaching staff, we weren\u2019t tryin\u2019 to put the guys in the best position the whole game, really, in any phase.\u201d<\/p>\n

Defense Breaking off the Rust<\/h3>\n

The Panthers suffered from a lack of effort and rust on the defensive side. This was seen alarmingly as rookie Jammie Robinson missed an open-field tackle on Jets running back Israel Abanikanda.<\/p>\n

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Israel Abanikanda \ud83c\udf2a\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/VsK3tpnNno<\/a><\/p>\n

— PFF College (@PFF_College) August 12, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n