Carolina Panthers mandatory minicamp may have only lasted two days, but we still learned a whole lot.
Here are the 10 biggest takeaways from this spring’s workouts:
Vonn Bell and Chandler Zavala are healing up
Bell and Zavala, who could both play key roles for Carolina in 2023, were surprisingly absent from minicamp. But head coach Frank Reich cleared that up:
“He kinda tweaked his hamstring,” Reich said of Bell. “It’s not crazy, but we need to get that taken care of, and he’ll be fine.”
“He’s got a pec,” Reich added of Zavala. “He’s got a strained pec. So, again, same thing. He’ll be fine for training camp. Not surgical. Just needs time to recover.”
Donte Jackson expected to be back by training camp
While present, Jackson was not a participant in this year’s on-field activities. Reich, however, said the veteran cornerback—who’s still healing from a torn Achilles—is on track for training camp:
“Yeah, he’s making great progress. We miss him out here, but he’s making great progress. He should be ready to go for training camp.”
Brian Burns likes Bryce Young
Burns gave reporters a unique outlook on his rookie quarterback:
“I don’t like him. It’s hard not to like that kid. He put quite a stamp on the locker room. He walks around with this kind of humble, excuse my language, but ‘I’m humble, but I know I’m the [expletive]’ type of swag, know what I’m sayin’? He know he got it, but he humble with it.
“And he’s always happy, I don’t know. I mean, ain’t nothin’ to be mad about. But, yeah, it’s hard not to like that kid. He’s a good kid.”
Brian Burns, Panthers are having conversations about an extension
The two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher couldn’t get into specifics about his looming contract extension. But he did say that conversations are ongoing, even if there isn’t a timeline to get a deal done:
“I don’t have a timeline. I know I wanna be a Panther, that’s all I can tell you. I wanna be a Panther and, like I said, I can’t preach this anymore—I’m truly blessed to be in this position. It’s just like a dream come true just to have these kinda talks. So, it’s how I look at it.”
Adam Thielen believes Panthers have a talented WR group
Although he doesn’t have a Justin Jefferson or a Stefon Diggs at his side, Thielen thinks the Panthers are fielding a uniquely sound wideout group:
“I think this is a talented group. It’s not just one or two guys. I think it’s a group effort. We’re able to really put a lot of guys in there and not miss a beat. That doesn’t happen in the NFL. That just doesn’t. Usually, you can see a drop-off when you go to the 2’s and you go to the 3’s—usually, you see a little bit of a drop-off. I haven’t felt that here. So I think that’s a really cool thing and that says a lot about this group and this team.”
Jonathan Mingo is making a big impression
According to NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe, the second-round wideout is already wowing the coaching staff:
“I can tell ya this—talking with people in the building, they’ve been very impressed with Jonathan Mingo, their second-round pick. He’s developing chemistry with Bryce Young.
“Actually talked with Thomas Brown, their offensive coordinator, before practice and he mentioned one thing that surprised him about Mingo is that he’s more fluid than maybe they initially expected. He’s not this stiff, big receiver even though he’s one of the bigger impact players. And so expect Jonathan Mingo to have a big role within this team.”
Donte Jackson is happy with Bryce Young
Like Burns, Jackson also had some praise for Young:
“Knowing you were gonna take one of those players—all those guys really weren’t the wrong answer. Definitely, definitely happy with the guy we chose. But, yeah, like I said—there was no wrong answer. So we knew we was gonna go get a dog and we definitely happy with the dog we got ’cause he’s different.”
Donte Jackson is also very happy with Jammie Robinson
Jackson waxed poetic about the rookie safety as well:
“Jammie—pit bull. He’s one of my favorite players in the DB room. One of my favorite guys to talk to. He’s just football, man. And that type of stuff you just can’t teach. He can be a difference maker early—like a Tyrann Mathieu hybrid. For real. Just the amount of ball he’s able to consume and the amount of positions he’s able to play—yeah, he can be a good player in the secondary for a long time.”
Bryce Young will listen to team trainers about strength and conditioning
When asked if he’s planning on adding more weight this summer, the 200-pound Young said he’ll follow the team’s plan:
“For me, I trust the strength and conditioning staff here. We have an amazing strength staff that I’ve had the pleasure to work with and will continue to work with throughout the offseason. They do a great job here with not just me, but everybody on the team. So, they’re sending out plans, they’re sending out workouts and they have a plan for me just like they have a plan for everyone. I’m gonna follow their direction.”
Bryce Young looks forward to learning from mistakes
Young knows not being perfect is part of the process:
“Mistakes are gonna happen, but that doesn’t mean we have to be satisfied with it. We understand, it’s a tough game. On offense, we’re goin’ up against a great defense every day. Vice versa, we try to challenge ourselves. We understand the competition that happens. So we understand that mistakes are gonna be made, but we don’t get complacent in that. When those happen—we adjust them, we try to get better at them.”
