North Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE — This is when the real football starts. Until now, everything the Panthers have done through OTAs, minicamp, and the first week of training camp has been football adjacent. But on Tuesday, the pads go on and the hitting begins. It's when a team really starts to take shape and players separate themselves.

"We have our first padded day tomorrow, so we're hitting and the physical part of our play, we're getting after it just like we hoped for," Dave Canales previewed. "Everything's working out, everything's aligning perfectly right here with our schedule, the way we have it."

For those up front in the trenches, putting on the pads makes things easier.

"For us, I feel like it's the same thing every day," guard Robert Hunt said Monday. "I feel like playing without them and playing with them is the same thing. We’re playing fast and playing physical. Of course, that intensity goes up a little bit, but I think it's pretty much the same."

"Definitely," chimed in guard Damien Lewis. "Pads on, pads off, we still banging."

Lewis and Hunt are both large men who can take a hit without feeling it as much as smaller players might. The pads allow them to put an extra push into their movements, especially on downhill gap schemes, as center Austin Corbett explained. However, those along the front lines are already generating significant power within limited time frames.

Putting on the pads gives linemen something to hold onto.

"Pads are when I'm able to hold a little better. And so it makes the job easier," Corbett laughed.

The addition of Hunt and Lewis also makes their jobs easier. The Panthers invested significantly to bring in two guards who total 955 pounds along with Corbett (give or take a cheeseburger). This effort aims to provide more protection for Bryce Young, who was sacked 62 times last season (tying a franchise record) while learning a new offense in his second year.

"Both Damien and Robert are massive men who can move…It makes it exciting," added Corbett. "It's a lot of weight on the inside to get down, bend and move some bodies and open up some run lanes while anchoring down in the pocket to let (quarterback) Bryce Young do his thing."

Opening up run lanes—which will become more pronounced after practices are padded—has been something Canales promised since being hired to take over an offense that ranked 20th in total rushing last season. With each practice thus far, it becomes increasingly clear that he plans on keeping that promise.

"I think that teams that play well into the season, especially towards the end are ones who can run the football and stop the run," Canales said Monday. "That commitment is a formula I've seen work to make us competitive.

"It challenges both sides of it: As a defense when you force a team to pass you create good opportunities; as an offense when you can run the ball when needed—especially as a mixer because it opens up explosive plays—but finishing games running the ball is unparalleled."

The "circle of toughness," as Canales called it, gives each phase of play an area where they can adhere to this identity. For offense specifically: running the ball.

Team run periods will allow Panthers' offense hone in on this toughness once pads are strapped on—setting up one intriguing match-up at camp: Robert Hunt versus Derrick Brown.

"I probably should tape my hands more," joked Brown—the record-setting defensive tackle—about facing Hunt regularly during practice sessions."Robert is big fellow...spending most days against him truly feels like it'll elevate my game."

The interior trio remains what Hunt calls “a work-in-progress,” admitting this largely due taking time off during offseason following birth child; yet assuredly each rep brings closer together—with clear commitment running-ball now coupled freedom intensify starting Tuesday—the football becomes more real:

Said Hunt: “Whatever we do—I’m just going full speed—and just playing football.”

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