Mike recaps Panthers training camp and some things to watch!

What truly stuck out to me about training camp didn't have to do with anything on the field...not the position battles...or the rookies and their progression.  What really surprised me was seeing Steve Smith without a cast!

Although he recently broke his arm, he wasn't wearing a cast.  I'm assuming there are arm fractures where you don't need a cast, but for someone who broke his arm and supposedly won't be returning until right before the first game, I was caught off guard.

Eric Norwood is gonna be good.  Maybe not this season, but he has incredible acceleration and speed for a front 7 player.  During the team's scaled down 11 on 11 "shell" period, he made a sack and nearly had an interception on back to back plays.  He really stood out to me among the rookies. I think Norwood will be pushing James Anderson for a starting job in training camp now that I've seen him in person.

Unfortunately, Armanti Edwards did not look so good.  I realize he's a work in progress, but for some reason he didn't look as sharp as he did in mini-camp.  He was tipping off his routes and didn't seem to run full-go, as I've become accustomed to watching him play in college. In my opinion, if he really wants to find a contributing role on this team, he should be hustling through every drill running full speed.

Jimmy Clausen had his moments, showing himself on multiple occasions of being very solid at the intermediate passing game. He also had a fumbled snap on a center exchange and threw some screens to his running backs that would have gotten them crushed in a game.

Special teams should be much improved this season, as the team spent some money on special team only type guys. Wallace Wright comes in the Karl Hankton mold as a wide receiver, and Aaron Francisco is plenty capable of contributing as well. Among David Gettis, Armanti Edwards, and Mike Goodson, someone will help the return game.

I realized that being a kicker like John Kasay must be pretty nice, as his crew just kind of did their own thing on a separate field for a little bit and then became spectators like the rest of us.

When the team left, I witnessed an interesting moment with Dwayne Jarret playfully taking Steve Smith's seat on a golf cart, usually reserved for veterans to hitch a ride back to the locker room. Smith simply gave Jarret a mean look, and without saying anything Jarret quickly got up and ran off so Smith could have his usual ride.  Let's just say I wouldn't want to get on Smitty's bad side!