It was an intimate affair at Bank of America Stadium on Saturday morning as a grouping of Carolina Panthers fans sat scattered across the lower bowl to watch their favorite NFL team host the third practice of training camp.
The annual “Back Together Saturday” practice welcomed a rather light showing from the Carolina faithful, but the event offered some big highlight plays that led to cheers from the die-hard crowd. Second-year wide receiver Jonathan Mingo, in particular, took it upon himself to be the star of the show, as he caught a handful of passes from draft classmate, quarterback Bryce Young, during 11-on-11 drills.
Mingo, last year’s second-round pick, is coming off a forgettable rookie campaign. But with a new offensive staff in place, and more competition directly in front of him, Mingo has put together a strong week of work to begin the summer.
Mingo failed to score a touchdown during his rookie season, but during the third practice of training camp, he made a pair of impressive touchdown grabs. He also had a pair of flashy yards-after-catch moments in the middle of the field.
With Diontae Johnson and first-round pick Xavier Legette added to the mix, Mingo needs to fight for playing time among a group that also features Adam Thielen, Terrace Marshall Jr. and Ihmir Smith-Marsette.
Through the first three practices of camp, Mingo has met that challenge with a reel of strong plays in the passing game.
Wide receivers shine in red zone drills
Mingo wasn’t the only standout on the wide receiver depth chart on Saturday.
Marshall had the offensive highlight of practice for a second consecutive workout, catching a leaping fade pass from backup QB Andy Dalton over cornerback D’Shawn Jamison in the end zone for a touchdown. Marshall made the grab falling to the ground with Jamison basically on top of him. The wideout kept his feet in-bounds and received the biggest ovation of the day from the crowd.
Smith-Marsette added to the highlight reel with a pair of big gains off passes across the middle. Johnson and Thielen both had some grabs in 11-on-11 drills, while undrafted rookie Jalen Coker and practice-squad holdover Mike Strachan both caught touchdown passes in red-zone team drills. Coker’s catch came off a fastball over the middle from Dalton, while Strachan’s was a fade route catch over Jamison from Young immediately after Marshall’s scoring snag.
Legette also made a pair of leaping grabs over the middle. While he has gotten off to a bit of a slow start in camp, Legette has flashed his trademark size-speed combo in spurts, especially over the past two workouts.
“You see Mingo, Terrace Marshall, really showing who they are,” Canales said after practice. “David Moore you throw the ball his way, he comes up with it. So I’ve seen those guys come through, and we can depend on them. It’s a really good room. It’s a really good competition. Some different styles of players. Ihmir (Smith-Marsette) making some nice plays today. So it’s something we’re counting on.”
Overall, it was a strong bounce-back day for the offense. While Young had a couple of off-the-mark throws and his first team-drill interception of camp, the overall offense flowed pretty well with a bunch of wide receivers snagging passes. The Panthers are spreading the ball around with the first-, second- and third-string offenses.
Pitch count for the Panthers’ former top pick
Jaycee Horn’s injury history is well documented. He’s missed 29 games due to various injuries during this three-year career.
So, it’s understandable that the Panthers would like to get ahead of any potential pop-up ailments this summer by keeping Horn on a steady practice plan. On Saturday, he was limited by a prearranged rep allotment, according to Canales.
“He had a great day two days ago, some of his highest speeds that he’s had,” Canales said. “So with that, we just want to make sure that we’re just continuing that flow. This is still an acclimation period. So we’re really trying to take advantage of that and that we continue to ramp him up so he’s ready to go.”
Horn participated in team drills early on in the practice. He even produced a highlight with a pass breakup on Diontae Johnson during 11-on-11 drills. But later in practice, he was replaced on the first-team defense by Dicaprio Bootle, who appears to be the top depth outside cornerback on the roster behind Horn and Dane Jackson.
“Dane had an incredible interception today on a boot play that was fantastic,” Canales said. “Jaycee put another solid day together. But D’Shawn (Jamison), Dicaprio (Bootle), Troy (Hill), Lamar Jackson made some nice plays in one-on-ones. So it’s really good. The group is starting to shape. We just need more football. More plays. More opportunities to evaluate guys playing the ball.”
Speaking of Dane Jackson … play of the day
During 11-on-11 drills, Young flowed to his right on a designed roll out and targeted Legette toward the sideline directly in front of the quarterback. Cornerback Dane Jackson made a heads-up move and jumped in front of Legette for an impressive interception that was returned for several yards the other way.
Jackson has had a couple of standout moments in camp so far. The No. 2 cornerback on the roster was bested by Legette on a jump ball during 1-on-1 drills on Thursday, but he ultimately got his revenge on Young and the rookie wide receiver during team drills in the home stadium this weekend.
Canales talks about Thompkins signing
The Panthers signed former Tampa Bay Buccaneers wideout/return Deven Thompkins on Thursday. Thompkins played under Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik in Tampa Bay last season and was a standout returner.
Thompkins was waived by the Buccaneers in May with an injury designation. Following his release, Thompkins’ wife, Maria Castilhos, came forward on social media with allegations of domestic violence, according to reporting from GulfLive.com.
Thompkins has denied the allegations. Earlier this month, Fox Sports’ Greg Auman reported that Thompkins has been cleared of the allegations by the NFL.
“Following a review of the matter, the league did not discover sufficient evidence to support a finding of a violation of the personal conduct policy,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told Auman.
On Saturday, Canales was asked about Thompkins joining the Panthers.
“We had to be patient,” Canales said. “We had to wait for the league to process (the investigation) before they could give us a green light on it. I have experience with Deven, I know what he can do as a football player — he was certainly just a great energy guy, really bought into what we were doing in Tampa. So, we did our due diligence on that part.
“And I’m excited to get him in here. He’s another kick returner, as well. He’s got some explosive elements to his play, so really fun. Brings a different style of guy. We have a really big, strong group — which I love — but it’s also good to have change-of-pace guys that can attack the defense in a different ways.”
When asked if signing Thompkins was complicated due to the recent domestic violence allegations made against the departed personnel exec Adrian Wilson, Canales separated the two situations.
“Those are separate incidents,” Canales said. “So as we were looking at, those were different things, and I don’t want to get too much into it. Those are all things that the league had to talk through and work through.”
Canales said he was unsure of whether or not the team did its own investigation into Thompkins’ accusations outside of the NFL’s process. A team spokesperson later confirmed the team handled its own investigation.
Quick hits
▪ The Panthers practiced without tight end Tommy Tremble (hamstring) for a second consecutive practice. While he missed working with the team, he still did his routine JUGS machine drills after practice. Safety Jordan Fuller, who missed Thursday’s practice due to family reasons, returned to the field on Saturday.
▪ Running back Jonathon Brooks remained on the active/non-football (NFI) list. Outside linebackers D.J. Wonnum (quad) and Amare Barno (knee) and offensive tackle Yosh Nijman (undisclosed) remain on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list.
▪ The Panthers hosted 43 former players as part of the “Back Together Saturday” practice. The attendees, according to the team, included Wesley Walls, Charles Johnson, Charles “Peanut” Tillman, Al Wallace, Brett Maxie, Dante Wesley, Jake Delhomme, Jonathan Stewart, Luke Kuechly, Mario Addison, Muhsin Muhammad, Nick Goings, Roman Harper, Thomas Davis, Steve Beuerlein, Rod Smith, Captain Munnerlyn, Mike Rucker, Brentson Buckner, KK Short, Stephen Davis, Mike Tolbert, Will Witherspoon and Jon Beason.
▪ Rookie kicker Harrison Mevis went 3 of 5 on field-goal attempts. He missed from 40 and 55 yards, with both going wide left. Mevis is in a competition with Eddy Piñeiro, who went a perfect 5-for-5 on the first day of camp.
▪ Defensive tackle Derrick Brown had an emphatic batted pass at the line during team drills against Young. Brown was a dominant force last season and was paid well for that breakout campaign. The Panthers are hoping his ascension continues in 2024.
▪ Veteran tight end Jordan Matthews had a touchdown grab in red-zone drills. He has consistently been among the first players at practice every day this week.
▪ Safety Xavier Woods broke up a pass from Young to Thielen in 11-on-11 work.
▪ The Panthers’ next training camp practice will take place on Monday at 9:30 a.m. The practice is sold out for fan attendance, according to the team.
▪ The Charlotte Observer will host a special night with Panthers legend Mike Rucker on Monday, Aug. 5, at OMB Ballantyne (15025 Bowl Street Charlotte, NC 28277). Join Fowler, Kaye, Zietlow and Rucker as they take a look at the past, present and future of the Carolina franchise. Tickets are currently $5 for Charlotte Observer subscribers.
Proceeds from the event will go toward the Best Defense Foundation, a charity founded by former NFL linebacker Donnie Edwards in 2018. OMB Ballantyne also will make a donation to the foundation based on customers rounding up their check totals during the month of August.
▪ Follow The Observer’s Panthers beat reporters, Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) and Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05), and sports columnist, Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler), on “X”, formerly known as Twitter for the latest news and highlights.
The Observer’s Alex Zietlow contributed to this report.
.JPG)
Mike Kaye covers the Carolina Panthers for The Charlotte Observer. Kaye previously covered the entire NFL for Pro Football Network, the Philadelphia Eagles for NJ Advance Media and the Jacksonville Jaguars for First Coast News. He is a graduate of the University of North Florida.
