Three Takeaways from Day 2 of Panthers Minicamp
It was another hot day in the sun as the Panthers completed their second practice of mandatory minicamp, yet the energy was present. After a near hour and thirty minutes of practice, kicker Zane Gonzalez booted one through the uprights from 56 yards out to cut the day a little short.
Here are my three takeaways from day two of minicamp:
Matt Corral threw the ball well
It felt like this was the most we saw Corral throw the ball since arriving in Charlotte. He had a couple of good periods in 7 on 7, especially when he was on the move. Had a good, tight spin on the ball and had good placement as well. He missed on a couple of deep balls, but one of those came after a bad snap in which he had no choice but to pick the ball up and hoist it. There's still a lot for him to learn, but today was a step in the right direction.
Robbie continues to miss valuable time
Skipping OTAs is one thing, but now Robbie is missing even more time during minicamp with a hip injury. He wasn't in a jersey today and was limited to some light work on the side. Although he said that his retirement tweet wasn't anything serious, it just doesn't seem like he has the same focus that he had a couple of years back. Not being here for OTAs and not getting reps during minicamp is going to lead to him playing catch-up once the team arrives in Spartanburg for training camp.
Although Robbie is indeed behind, Matt Rhule has confidence in him to get caught up to speed over the next month to where he can hit the ground running.
"Every player has the playbook. All of our players have a lot of work to do between now and training camp so they can compete at a high level. I think Robbie is right there in that mix. He's a talented player. He'll have to learn not just the plays but the nuances of the plays so that we can move him around and make him the weapon that he can be."
A few UDFAs impressing
We're still a long way away from the roster being trimmed down from 90 to 53, but those who are on the outside looking in can't view it that way. They need to be fighting to see the next day and I've seen that from a number of guys over the past two weeks. LB Isaiah Graham-Mobley, LB Arron Mosby, WR Derek Wright, and WR Charleston Rambo have each shown flashes and have done enough to make it to Wofford next month, in my opinion.
"I think you're evaluating everything," said Rhule. "I just don't think you can out and out win a job right now without the pads going on, but this is certainly one stage of it, right? Sometimes it's the elimination stage. If you can't learn or you're not serious about football, it's really hard to say, hey, this guy is going to change in the next five weeks and be ready for training camp. I don't have anyone that I'm upset with. I think a lot of guys are working really hard."
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