WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 45: Let's Wednesday It Up 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:11.760 It's time for a Happy half Hour with your friends 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:22.560 Kristen Belboni, Will Brian and Darren Gamp. Welcome to the 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:26.880 Happy Half Hour podcast. It's Kristen, Darren and producer Matt 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:29.960 will Is. Busy busy today and can't make it as 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.200 we all are getting ready for week one. But Darren, 0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:34.640 how how are you feeling? You just casually dropped that 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:37.360 you just took a run in a thunderstorm early this morning, 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:40.640 So I think you're feeling good? Yeah? Dangerous? Yeah, I 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.640 feel I mean you've cheated death basically when you run 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:45.920 during a lightning storm and you know by all the 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:49.199 big trees in the area. Yeah, you've cheated death. So 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.200 now nothing, nothing, just yelling at the sky this morning. 0:00:53.479 --> 0:00:57.840 Bring it on? Oh man, Yeah, it's that Tom. Hey, 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:01.400 it's football season. We should do the football now. It's football. 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.000 All the stuff we've talked about for the last six 0:01:04.080 --> 0:01:07.759 months is now. You know, it's gone from abstract to concrete. 0:01:07.880 --> 0:01:10.119 There's a thing out in front of us now there's 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:13.640 a game Sunday. Absolutely, and you know no one is 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.640 more well aware of that than the Panthers quarterback Sam Donald. 0:01:17.680 --> 0:01:19.200 I just we were talking about what we should talk 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.280 about and said, let's just start with the elephant in 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.520 the room, right, it's Sam Donald against his former team 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.560 Week one. The Jets are coming to Bank of America Stadium, 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.560 and all the storylines. I was gonna say, right themselves, 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.600 but then that's a that's a bad joke. And also 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.480 you're writing the storyline, so I don't know, you know 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.000 what I'm saying, You're you're the words guya? Sam played 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:41.119 for the Jets. I should probably do something about that now. 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.080 It's it's funny. And one of the interesting things about 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.600 Sam and getting to know him over the last five 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:51.000 months is, of course it's the Jets in the opener. 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:55.040 Of course the league scheduled this game, didn't just randomly 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:58.160 happen right in the league offices. He laughed about this 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:00.120 couple of months ago. He's like, yeah, I'm sure that 0:02:00.200 --> 0:02:02.240 was a coincidence, and kind of. I mean, Sam is 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:05.160 self aware. That's one of the neat things about him 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.440 as a human being is he gets it. He understands it, 0:02:08.600 --> 0:02:12.120 but I don't think his personality is such that it's 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:14.960 that much different for him than if they were playing 0:02:14.960 --> 0:02:18.280 the Falcons this week or anybody else. I mean, he 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.440 is as regular a human being playing quarterback as I've 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.200 ever encountered. I mean, at least since like Jake Deloe, 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:27.680 who kind of walked in here and nobody ever expected 0:02:27.720 --> 0:02:29.639 anything out of him. So it was easy for Jake 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.200 to be normal. But for a guy who was the 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.320 quarterback at USC the first round pick of the New 0:02:35.400 --> 0:02:38.480 York Jets, has existed in a spotlight. Sam kind of 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.720 walks around like, yeah, week one, gotta study, gotta get 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.600 into playbook, gotta watch film correct. I mean, he says 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.040 all that stuff and it sounds trite, but I think 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:49.680 that's just how he's wired. And you know who's got 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.919 to love that is Matt Rule. That is exactly what 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.400 he wants. You know. I got a chance to talk 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:57.840 to him every single week last year about the upcoming 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:01.359 matchups for our TV show and whether it was Um 0:03:01.520 --> 0:03:03.760 last year, Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Brady going up against 0:03:03.800 --> 0:03:06.399 the Saints or any any matchup, as as coach Rule 0:03:06.400 --> 0:03:09.079 likes to say, if you look hard enough, any opponent 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.800 there's a history with with someone on the Panthers. But 0:03:11.880 --> 0:03:14.040 he that's what he wants. Like you, I don't think 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.600 there's a better compliment, of course than than the playing 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.640 of the football than to say that Sam is a 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:22.359 guy that's going to treat this like any week one matchup. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:26.280 That's exactly what he wants. No distractions, keep the emotions 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:29.320 out of it, and game plan right. And it's interesting. 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:31.840 I was talking to Matt a while back and I 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:34.320 wrote the story. It was on Panthers dot com yesterday. 0:03:34.639 --> 0:03:38.440 You should definitely go read it of Matt talking about 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:40.600 his vision and I and I asked, Matt, you know 0:03:40.800 --> 0:03:43.320 we're there mile Post. You wanted to have hit a 0:03:43.440 --> 0:03:45.920 year two? What are were the things you thought about 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.440 going into the second year? And it was almost like 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.520 Matt looked back at me, like what languages Darren speaking 0:03:51.520 --> 0:03:54.160 to me right now? Because Matt Rule doesn't think in 0:03:54.240 --> 0:03:58.360 terms of years or large spans of time. In Matt 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:02.720 Rule's mind, it's okay, we've got Wednesday and Wednesday. We're 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:05.480 gonna Wednesday it up, and we're gonna Wednesday as hard 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.000 as we can Wednesday, and then tomorrow we're gonna get 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.760 on to Thursday. I mean, that's just how the man thinks. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:13.640 And so from that standpoint, you're right, Kristen. I mean 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:16.200 these two are kind of made for each other. They've 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:19.240 got the same approach in terms of the way they 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:21.800 look at football and the way they think about doing 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:25.320 the job. I mean, listen, it's natural there's gonna be 0:04:25.400 --> 0:04:29.320 some butterflies with Sam, but I think he probably acknowledges 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:33.760 them to himself but doesn't project them, because Sam just 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:37.760 gives off normal vibes. I mean, he's you know, Christian 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:41.200 was kind of laughed and and Christian said, I mean 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.400 he was looking for the right word of how to 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:47.680 describe Sam, and he's like, he's just regular, the regular dude. Yeah, 0:04:48.240 --> 0:04:51.520 that's that was exactly the impression that I got on 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.080 his first day here talking to him. Hung out with 0:04:54.120 --> 0:04:55.960 all of us, you know what I mean, just in 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.760 the room where we were doing all the production day stuff, 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:00.440 and I don't know that there is a better way 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:03.120 to describe it, like a regular guy. And I mean, 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.800 normal is not what we're used to in quarterbacks, and 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.320 you know, because quarterbacks are big stars and they have 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:13.040 big personalities, and you know, it's it's unusual and it's 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.679 a departure. But you know, I think at the same 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:20.160 time that normal serves him well because listen, again, there's 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:22.160 no denying it. I mean, this is a big game 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:24.880 for Sam. Sam career in New York didn't go the 0:05:24.920 --> 0:05:27.080 way he would have hoped or they would have hoped, 0:05:27.120 --> 0:05:29.159 which is why he's here and why the Jets have 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.120 a shiny new rookie quarterback that they draft in the 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:35.120 first round. But you know, he just wants to get 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:37.800 about the business of being Sam, and that means this 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.920 week it just so happens to be the Jets. And 0:05:39.960 --> 0:05:42.719 there's also something that I think you made a great 0:05:42.720 --> 0:05:46.880 point about, the butterflies and and the nerves. Probably every 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:49.040 player has that going out on the field. I certainly 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:51.239 can't speak to it on a personal level because I 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.320 have never played in the NFL, surprisingly, but I'd imagine 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:57.120 that no matter who the matchup was, any position you're 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.880 going out there, there's gonna be a butterfly or two. 0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:03.839 It's the season opener, the fans are are back for 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:06.520 a regular season game, um, And so i'd imagine that 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.120 Sam would have if he does, have the same sense 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:12.440 of of butterflies or anticipation that he would have with 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.480 with any opponent. And there's also something that doesn't ever 0:06:15.520 --> 0:06:18.320 get talked about, but I always find really heartwarming, is 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.520 you know, whenever a player is going up against his 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:24.279 former team, especially when where there's a history or things 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:27.560 didn't end well, it gets billed as a revenge game, 0:06:27.800 --> 0:06:30.160 or you know, these two opponents, or there's gonna be 0:06:30.160 --> 0:06:32.479 a lot of angry emotions here. They get to see 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.280 people that they formed connections with, whether that's on the 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.200 staff or other players, and you always see it before 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.800 the game and after the game. There's a lot of hugs. 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.320 There's a lot of good feelings towards people that you know, 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.760 if you spent three years with an organization, whether it's 0:06:45.760 --> 0:06:49.719 the equipment person or the pr staff or or what 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.680 have you. There's a really nice kind of reunion aspect 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.560 to it as well. Even I'd imagine if if things 0:06:56.560 --> 0:06:59.919 went incredibly horribly for any player, there's still people that 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:02.440 you're looking forward to seeing. And I just always think 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.279 that gets swept under the rug a little bit. So 0:07:04.320 --> 0:07:08.360 there's it's not all bad for anyone facing a former opponent. Yeah, 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.120 and it's interesting too. I was talking to one of 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.280 my good friends who's a writer up in New York, 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:15.520 and he was talking about Sam and and I think 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.480 there's this perception because it didn't go great for Sam 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.760 with the Jets that it was a terrible experience. But 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.720 Bob said, you know, Sam was the best. I love 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:27.240 with Sam. He was so easy, he was such a 0:07:27.280 --> 0:07:30.280 pro And I think people have it built up in 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:32.800 their head said, oh, the big evil New York media. 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.400 It's so much tougher than the Charlotte media. Those guys 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:37.600 were fine with Sam, and Sam was fine with them. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.960 So I'm sure after the games they will be like, hey, Bobe, 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.280 what's going on. As much as we talk about revenge 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:46.200 games and setting this up as a competitive US versus 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:51.440 them environment, you know, it's still Sam who worked alongside Bob, 0:07:51.560 --> 0:07:54.720 and Joe who worked alongside Mark, you know that kind 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:57.480 of thing. I mean, it's just these are human beings 0:07:57.680 --> 0:08:01.040 who exist in a in a little community of their own. Absolutely, 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.760 it's you're going to see your former coworkers, and that's 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.760 a sometimes a complicated thing, good and bad, but obviously 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.600 no mistake about it. Of Course, Sam Donald meant rule 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:11.679 and the Panthers want to win this game. That makes 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:17.040 everything better of of everything else. As we as we 0:08:17.080 --> 0:08:19.480 get ready for this game and and looking at the Panthers, 0:08:19.560 --> 0:08:21.720 thought we would talk about what's a position group that 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.200 you feel really confident in, and what's one that you 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.120 want to keep an eye on for this game? So 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:28.760 let's let's start with how about one to keep an 0:08:28.760 --> 0:08:31.960 eye on? I think again, while we're talking about elephants 0:08:31.960 --> 0:08:34.920 in the room. Uh, it's been the storyline of the Panthers, 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.920 the non Sam Donald storyline of the Panthers all offseason. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:39.960 It's what's that offensive line? You don't look like? Was 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.199 that a was that a joke about big guys? Exactly? 0:08:42.520 --> 0:08:48.559 See what you saw there, Kristen. That's so gratifying for um. Yeah, 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:51.560 I mean, the Jets have their issues. The Jets are 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.480 a young team. The Jets are starting over with a 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:55.720 new coach, new quarterback. Their record in the last couple 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:57.679 of years haven't been good. But they've got a couple 0:08:57.679 --> 0:09:00.600 of dudes up front, specifically quinnin will you who can 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.400 create problems for people. And when you're the Carolina Panthers 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.720 and you've rebuilt a side of the offensive line, and 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.839 that's one of the other things about this week. I mean, 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.040 you could have gone into this matchup as the Panthers saying, Okay, 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:15.920 offensive line blah blah blah. Sixty of it's the same 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.920 as it was a year ago in the opening and 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:21.480 Matt Paris, John Miller, Taylor Motonin except John Miller is 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:23.240 on the COVID reserve list, and all of a sudden 0:09:23.240 --> 0:09:25.880 he's replaced by Dennis Daely the left side of that line. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.520 I mean, Pat Alfind and cam Irving are great unknowns 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.680 right now. We think the coaches think that cam Irving 0:09:32.760 --> 0:09:34.719 is going to perform at a better level than he's 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:37.760 show him because he's being allowed to concentrate on one thing, 0:09:37.880 --> 0:09:40.360 only do one thing, you know, l finds a little 0:09:40.360 --> 0:09:42.400 bit of I mean, he's as much of a question 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.040 mark to me as anybody in the roster right now 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:47.800 in terms of is he actually a guard. I mean 0:09:47.840 --> 0:09:50.679 he's played center before. He's not the biggest guard. And 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.480 when you look at the other people they've got who 0:09:53.559 --> 0:09:55.760 might slide into that, like a Dennis Daley, I mean 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.360 look at I mean, if you just line up Dennis Daily, 0:09:58.480 --> 0:10:02.600 John Miller, Pat Elfly, he's smaller, and you know a 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:04.680 lot of people want their guards to be bigger, have 0:10:04.760 --> 0:10:07.800 a little more mass. I'll be a little more elephantine 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:11.480 if you will. And he's just not that guy. But 0:10:11.559 --> 0:10:13.719 they do think there are things that Pat's good at 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:15.880 that can make up for some of that. We'll see 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.080 how it goes. I mean, but we'll see, is the 0:10:18.120 --> 0:10:21.480 only honest answer as it pertains to the Panther's offensive line, because, 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.720 especially now making a change the week of the opener, 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.560 all of a sudden, everything that's been kind of unsettled 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.360 all of season gets one more shake right before it 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:32.520 goes out there on the field. Yeah, as you said, 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:35.640 with the with Dennis Daily starting over John Miller at 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:37.520 right guard, I want to go back though, to to 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:41.480 Cam Irving because of this right guard situation and and 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:43.880 some of the questions. We haven't talked about that as 0:10:43.960 --> 0:10:47.200 much recently, but that left tackle position was the question 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.040 of the off season. What have you seen from Cam Irving? 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.680 And do you think it's one of those situations where 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.480 the coaches are waiting to see just as much how 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.120 he performs in the game as the rest of us. 0:10:58.120 --> 0:10:59.719 I think there's a little bit of it. I mean, 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.160 they're schematic things that they believe. And this is not 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:06.640 just us saying this as employees of Carolina Panther. Those 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:12.000 coaches down the hall absolutely believe that Cam Irving is 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.480 better than the people listening to this podcast think he is. 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:17.640 I mean they you know, Cam has been beating up. 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.120 The people who grade at Pro Football Focus and that 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.160 kind of stuff haven't had kind things to say about 0:11:22.200 --> 0:11:25.800 Cam Irving. But they are confident that Cam is able 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:28.640 to play well in this system and that he is 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:31.920 some degree of fit for this system. And again we'll see. 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:35.120 That's kind of the bottom line. But I think because 0:11:35.160 --> 0:11:39.000 he's athletic, because he's a nimble guy for his size, 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.160 it serves him well with some of the stuff they 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.520 want to do offensively. And again we'll get in the 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.320 game and see what happens when bullets start flying. But 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:50.440 for as much as we talk about left tackles and 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.520 that's been such a focus of haven't really had one 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.680 of those guys since Jordan Gross retired. Well, the reality 0:11:56.800 --> 0:11:59.319 is not a lot of other people do too. I mean, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.960 if you look across at the other New York team 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.080 and what Dave Getleman is trying to do, throwing together 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.520 in line at the last minute, trading for guys, claiming 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:10.040 people off waivers, who could end up starting that kind 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:13.160 of thing. I mean, it's that's what unsettled looks like. 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:17.959 And so they believe that Irving can be okay, and 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.400 we'll see. I mean, and and what's okay look like? 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:24.160 Is it Michael or level? Okay? If it is, they 0:12:24.160 --> 0:12:26.600 went to a super Bowl with Michael or left tackle. 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:30.040 So I mean, I don't think it's automatically. I don't 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:33.880 think Cam Irving's automatically the reason things can't work here. 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:37.040 They're more optimistic about him than I expected them to be. 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.760 It's a great point. Um. You know, they had the 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:43.000 majority of the off season and training camp and the 0:12:43.080 --> 0:12:46.200 preseason to watch and to try out different combinations of 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:49.080 this line. And this is the one with the exception 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.240 of of Dennis Daily starting over John Miller, which John 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.480 Miller would have been there preferred right guard. This is 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:56.840 the line that they feel is going to perform the 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.240 best out on the field. And they've certainly done their 0:12:59.320 --> 0:13:02.520 due diligence on it, and that included potentially moving your 0:13:02.520 --> 0:13:05.120 star right tackle over to left. And so it's a 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.920 great point of these coaches feel good about this. They've 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.320 certainly put in the hours and hours and hours to 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:13.240 make sure that this is the line that they want 0:13:13.240 --> 0:13:15.080 to go out there with and and we'll see how 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:18.400 it goes, yeah, we we will. And all it is 0:13:18.400 --> 0:13:21.840 is It's only the season, you know, I mean, you 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.400 know they've tried to and for all the other stuff 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.600 for Sam the offensive line, I think people also have 0:13:27.720 --> 0:13:30.960 to be mindful of this offense still has Christian McCaffrey, 0:13:31.040 --> 0:13:33.840 d J. Moore, Robby Anderson. Yes, and that's a pretty 0:13:33.880 --> 0:13:37.720 good place from which to start, and that makes everything easier. 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:40.320 I mean, I don't think for all the talk about 0:13:40.400 --> 0:13:44.040 left tackle were not necessarily anticipating that Sam Donald has 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.440 to take a seven step drop and throw the ball 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.400 thirty yards downfield on every place because you can get 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:51.079 it out quick and put it in the hands of 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.880 twenty two. And that's an alright thing to have happened 0:13:53.880 --> 0:13:56.200 for an offense. Well, speaking of which, we started this 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.160 UM segment out saying which you know, which position group 0:13:59.280 --> 0:14:01.880 do you feel confident about? And which one are you 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.600 keeping an eye on? So let's move over to the confidence. 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:06.400 I mean, if I wanted to, I could just say 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:08.400 running back. You know, I feel really confident in the 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:11.520 in the running back room because of Christian McCaffrey. I 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:14.439 feel good about the wide receivers Darren I I mean, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:16.559 I think that that's also potentially a lay up there 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.040 one of the strongest groups on this team last year, 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.600 but losing Curtis Samuel, who was coming off of a 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.120 banner year, Terrace Marshall looks great and I think that 0:14:25.200 --> 0:14:26.960 he is going to be someone that if Panthers fans 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:30.000 don't know much about him right now going into week one, 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:33.480 they certainly are going to um by let's let's call 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:37.080 it mid season. I anticipate seeing some some A D 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.560 eight jerseys in the stands. I just have been really 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:43.000 impressed by by what he's done. Some different yeah, right, 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:45.200 right right, not just you know, we've seen Eight make 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:47.560 plays here before, and you know, Marshall is a different 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.240 kind of cat. I mean, he's not anything like Curtis 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:53.359 um he is, you know, and I made the comparison 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:56.360 earlier in camp, and you know, comparisons are tricky, and 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:59.400 there's a reason coaches hat um there's a reason everybody 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:01.560 sort of is a little bit leery of him, because 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.640 you I don't want people to think that I'm about 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:06.720 to say Taras Marshall is going to become fill in 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.800 the blank, Terris Marshall has some moose in Muhammed qualities. 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.840 He's a big guy who can run. Now Moose's first 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:16.720 couple of years in the league, Moose struggled with some injuries, 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.440 he struggled with some drops. It took Moves a minute 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.920 to become Moose. Marshall's got some of that same big 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:26.240 guy flash. I mean, he's got that hung look at 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:28.480 that sort of thing, and the fact that he can 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.120 work out the slot or work outside. I mean, he's 0:15:31.160 --> 0:15:33.600 got some versatility where they can mix a match and 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:35.960 do different stuff with him. And Robbie and DJ and 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.160 I think, you know, we talk about all these other 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.920 guys so often. It's like, well, by the way, Robbie 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.760 Anderson is coming off a career season, you know, by 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.840 the way, d J Moore's nearly yards each of the 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.240 last two seasons, like nineteen yards a catch last year. 0:15:50.360 --> 0:15:53.040 He's a big play threat. I mean, DJ is one 0:15:53.040 --> 0:15:55.760 of those guys. I mean, and in a division where 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.840 you've had Julio Jones, who's now in Tennessee, where you've 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:01.600 got a Mike Evans, where you've got Mike Thomas, DJ 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:04.040 is kind of in that, I mean, if not in 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.160 the popular mind, he's pretty close to that neighborhood of guy. 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.480 So yeah, I mean, I I think it's absolutely fair 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.120 to look at them and say, that's a place where 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:16.400 it's gonna be hard for people to match up. And 0:16:16.440 --> 0:16:18.560 so what's the position group that that you feel good about? 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.320 I think the secondary probably, And again that's comparison to 0:16:23.440 --> 0:16:25.920 last year. Yeah, I thought about it. I thought about it, 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:27.800 and then I was like do I I'm so, I'm 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:29.720 glad you went with me. I mean, Kristen, you know 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.440 you from know from being here last year, guys who 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:35.320 were starting in the secondary were rolling in on Tuesday 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.680 and starting on Sunday. I mean, or I mean you 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:40.120 had you had so many rookies out here too. It 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.480 was a combination of the two of those things, guys 0:16:42.520 --> 0:16:45.440 who have been cut from other teams or rookies. And 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.800 now you've got j C. Horne, who speaking of guys 0:16:48.800 --> 0:16:51.600 who look like they could be that guy, j C. 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.600 Horne is not a rookie. J C. Horn doesn't have 0:16:54.720 --> 0:16:56.800 the bearing of a guy who's about to play his 0:16:56.840 --> 0:17:00.360 first NFL game. And so when you take Dante j Axon, 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:03.000 who's healthy now and played pretty well even on one 0:17:03.040 --> 0:17:07.399 good toe last year. Um, you put Dante with j C. Horne, 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.600 you make Jeremy Chin safety again and all of a sudden. 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.480 Through training camp, we've seen plays made back there and 0:17:14.520 --> 0:17:17.159 I mean it's this is another Will stat and I 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.800 hate that he's out on special assignment this morning because 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.119 this is all him. The Panthers led the league and 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:25.199 turnover margin in the preseason, and it was based on 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:27.639 taking the ball away. They've got some guys who can 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:31.640 pass rush, but that secondary is so much better than 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.440 it was a year ago, it's almost unfair to even 0:17:34.480 --> 0:17:37.080 compare it well. And we saw we saw it in 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:38.879 that first half of the third preseason game. I know 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:40.480 we talked about that quite a bit last week, so 0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:42.960 I won't go back too much of it, but you know, 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:46.880 those those third downs, you see Dante Jackson tackling and 0:17:46.880 --> 0:17:50.159 and and stopping the first two third downs. That defense 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:53.600 was out there. I'm excited to see what Dante, a 0:17:53.640 --> 0:17:56.440 fully healthy Dante Jackson, is going to do as well, 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.120 because as you said, you know, I kept my eye 0:17:59.119 --> 0:18:01.440 on him a lot last year, and he would he 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:03.960 would get out there and start and battle that turf 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.600 toe and you could tell just how much it was 0:18:06.680 --> 0:18:09.760 bothering him. Always tried to start every single game until 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.080 they eventually put him on. I r around the bye 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.359 week um towards the end of the season, and so 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.880 I'm I'm excited for him to have j C out there, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.000 to be fully healthy and to see what those two 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.200 guys can do. Yeah, and in a couple of weeks 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.520 when a J Boy comes back, I mean, that's gonna 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.080 be another big ad to that secondary, and it would 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.040 help if he was around from the start, but they 0:18:29.119 --> 0:18:31.399 knew that going in. He'd missed the first two games 0:18:31.440 --> 0:18:34.159 of the year, so you know, it's a young group. Again, 0:18:34.240 --> 0:18:36.560 it's kind of odd to think about Dante is the 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:39.680 only cornerback on the roster who started an NFL game, 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.560 and you know you say that, but Keith Taylor's had 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.359 a pretty good rookie camp and Stanley's a guy who 0:18:46.400 --> 0:18:49.560 can jump in and play role on special teams. But 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.480 a lot of it's gonna be on Dante and j C. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.639 And they've got so many other mix and match parts 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.760 in that secondary. That's where you know you've seen through 0:18:57.840 --> 0:19:00.399 last year. I mean, guys like Sam Franklin my hearts 0:19:00.400 --> 0:19:03.199 Field sort of play their own little particular roles, and 0:19:03.400 --> 0:19:05.920 especially here over the first couple of weeks when boy 0:19:05.960 --> 0:19:07.600 is not out there, I think Hartsfield is going to 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:11.080 play more naturally, but um, it'll be curious to see 0:19:11.080 --> 0:19:13.000 how those guys match up. I want to go back 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:16.639 to just a year ago very quickly, um, because I 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.960 can't help thinking about my first Panthers game as the 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:24.080 team reporter, which was this time last year Panthers Raiders 0:19:24.200 --> 0:19:27.879 home game. Strangest experience now that we look back on it. 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.760 There were no fans in the stands, absolutely no one. 0:19:30.840 --> 0:19:32.919 It was one o'clock, bright, sunny day. And if you 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.880