Pat Elflein to Remain in Starting Lineup for the Panthers
The Panthers invested a lot into improving the offensive line this offseason with the additions of Bradley Bozeman (free agency), Austin Corbett (free agency), Ikem Ekwonu (draft), and Cade Mays (draft). Of the three newcomers that were active on gameday against the Browns, Bozeman was the only one that did not see a single offensive snap.
The 27-year-old center suffered an ankle injury during one of the joint practices with the New England Patriots last month and has been working his way back ever since. Prior to the injury, Bozeman had put together a string of practices where he appeared to be the clear-cut option at center.
Despite fully recovering ahead of the season opener, the Panthers opted to start Pat Elflein over Bozeman. Elflein was solid in pass protection and marginal at best in the run game, but had a rough day snapping the ball with four bad exchanges with QB Baker Mayfield.
"Yeah, I'm not in favor of it. We've got to handle the ball better," said offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. "That's not the way we want it to look. There's no excuse for it, so we've got to spend more time working it. We got to make sure it's not one of those things where we walk around and say, 'oh, we got that.' The first game of the year, the ball hit the ground way too many times. For us to walk around saying the ball is king and to allow that to happen is not good. We've got to fix it and we're taking all of the steps to fix it."
Even though the connection between Elflein and Mayfield was inadequate, the Panthers will be rolling out the same starting offensive line this Sunday in New York.
"Same five are starting right now," head coach Matt Rhule said. "I think Bradley [Bozeman] is getting back in the groove and the rhythm. But I think Pat [Elflein] played well. I came away really pleased with the stoutness of our guards and center in the protection game. I thought those guys played well, so we're just going to keep improving."
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