EllisEye: 8.5.11

Friday's camp activity through the EllisEye:

• Will Spartanburg ever get any rain? After neighboring Greenville and Anderson counties saw their share of storms, Wofford College was spared Friday night. Heavy clouds blanketed a muggy night.  
• Ron Rivera is intense. Spend a few minutes with the man in a simple conversation, and you’ll see he is all business. Friday night, Rivera, in a controlled manner, let his defense have it after allowing an easy completion.
• After Rivera’s loud directive, the defense played much tighter and was more vocal in terms of alignments and communication.

• A decent crowd gathered on “The Hill” at Wofford, but did not get the best view of Friday’s practice. The team moved to the field on the far side of the facility, due to some minor turf issues on the main field.
• This move meant practicing without the benefit of lights, which led to—in this writer’s view—a rather sloppy ending to a good practice.
• Team officials were mum on both injury and personnel situations. We’re told both will be addressed by Rivera on Saturday.
• One mystery remains: Derek Anderson. The veteran that signed this week with Carolina has still not thrown one pass in pads since his arrival. Under the 2011 CBA rules, he was eligible to practice on Thursday night and all day Friday, but was not a part of the team’s standard 7 on 7 and full contact drills.
• Legedu Naanee, a WR who was signed to the team Thursday, was expected to participate in Friday’s practice. However, he did not suit up. Expect to see him Saturday in his first round of action.
• Cam Newton continues to do the right things. Well past the end of practice, Newton was dropped off by team officials on a golf cart, and spent 10-15 minutes signing as many jerseys, helmets and footballs as possible. Authentic? Time will tell. But, give it to the guy—he’s making an effort.
• Olindo Mare missed an extra point tonight after a touchdown. Not a great sign, but not worth panicking over.

X's and O's du jour:

• Eric Norwood is showing a nice first step on his pass rush as a DE. The one-time LB is now rushing with his hand in the dirt, and told me Thursday that he’s happy about it.
• It may sound overstated, but the play of all three TE’s (Shockey/Olsen/Barnidge) have been stellar. Olsen, in particular, has shined, pulling in some nice catches in traffic. This trio will help either Clausen or Newton a ton.
• Went back and studied some tape on Chicago from 2010. Mike Martz was doing a good bit of movement with Olsen, but had him lined up in the slot position most of the time. This is the same concept that Norv Turner has utilized with e perennial All-Pro Antonio Gates. Both Norv’s son, Scott, and former Chargers’ TE Coach, Rob Chudzinski, are now with Carolina’s staff.
• SS Sherrod Martin is showing versatility. He has picked off three passes, all from Newton, this week. He was also engaged with Steve Smith in man coverage near the goal line and played a beautiful trail technique, using his reach to knock the ball away from 89.
• With the lack of veteran depth at CB, and Sean McDermott’s inevitable blitz packages, moving Martin to CB opposite Gamble may not be a bad idea. You will need at least two physical CB’s that can jam WR’s off their route tree while additional defenders pressure the QB.  Martin has the skills to pull that off.
• Ryan Kalil was seen spending a ton of time with conditioning coach Joe Kenn, working on flexibility and conditioning. Kalil did not practice Friday night.
• A fight broke out—again. This time, two rookies: OT Lee Ziemba and DE Malcom Tatum got into a quick scuffle. No injuries sustained.
• One defender that could not be identified by the media was overheard, playfully, taunting Chudzinski during the huddle. Defense got some of their confidence back.
• Jason Baker, punter, with perhaps the driest wit on the team. Walks by a few reporters, looks up (deadpan) and says, “Guys, not tonight…no time to talk”. Funny moment.
• Hurney and team president Danny Morrison were both at Friday’s practice, but neither were in a position to spend much time speaking with the media.

The Panthers will practice on Saturday morning, 9:45am, at Wofford College. At 4pm, the team will be back in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium for Fanfest. More information is available at www.panthers.com. I will be with the media pool again on Saturday in Charlotte, and will continue to provide as many live updates (relevant to the action on the field) as possible.