Are the Carolina Panthers going to get a win before the Bye?

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Now at Walmart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS and other fine pharmacies in the foot care section. Panthers are 0 and 3. We'll talk about Bryce Young and his injury in a minute. But we have other injuries to discuss. So let's bring in our favorite, Darren Gantt. We can ask the old guy, panthers.com.

Always has good stuff at panthers.com for us. Sir, first of all, are you a hundred percent? Are you going to show up on the injury report?

I'm a little tired, maybe a little jet lag, but on the whole, I'm okay. I was out for a run yesterday trying to take off some of the jet lag cobwebs. And I was wearing one of my favorite t-shirts. It's an old Frank Turner concert t-shirt. And it says, not dead yet.

And one of the landscapers in the neighborhood saw it and he said, nice shirt, not dead. And I said, there you go. That's that's all I can. It's all I can hope for today. Not dead yet. I'm just impressed you were out for a run.

Let me. Running game. We'll get to the quarterback in a minute. How do they create a running game right now? Because Frank Reich seems a little, I don't know if perplexed is the right word. He wants to run the ball.

He did. I mean, I can tell he wants to run it. And they just can't at this point. Why?

Well, I think there are a couple of things that work. Number one is people kind of keep daring them to do certain things. And I asked Frank yesterday, I mean, it was a little bit. When Frank said after the game on Sunday, you know, 58 passes, 14 runs, that's not our formula. And I felt like I was watching the guy in the hot dog suit saying, we're all trying to figure out who's responsible for this.

You're the one that called the place. Frank, you tell me how it got this way. It, a lot of it is situational. I mean, and when you get in a situation where you're down two scores in the second half, as Frank pointed out yesterday, 40 of those plays were when they were down two scores in the second half.

Well, what do you do when you're down two scores in second after throw the ball, you've got to catch up in a hurry. I think there's probably something to be said for being more intentional about running early and establishing that early. But I think probably the bigger question in my mind, Adam, honestly is how you kind of marry all these different concepts. I mean, Frank talked a lot this all season about a diversity of mind and bringing guys in from a lot of different offensive perspectives.

But right now what you've got is a lot of different perspectives rather than a cohesive, you know, kind of philosophy on how you want to do things. I mean, what we knew about the Carolina Panthers tail end of last year was they had a big physical offensive line, a big physical running back, and they were a big physical running team. Now they've got different coaches, some of the same alignment and definitely a different back field, but it's not matching up.

I mean, it's almost like they're still trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, which, oddly enough, happens when you throw a bunch of new people together in a bag and shake it up and see what comes out. Darren Gantt, Panthers.com, is joining us here on the Adam Gold show. Yes, the personnel is different. Miles Sanders isn't. Yeah, the personnel and the scheme. I mean, Miles Sanders and Deontay Foreman are not the same kind of back, so blocking the same kind of way for them doesn't make any sense. So, you know, again, there's a lot of, I think if you asked me to pinpoint anything that's gone wrong with the Carolina Panthers in the first three weeks, it's they're realizing all that new takes a little getting used to.

Yeah, 100% correct. The other thing is, as you said before, their defenses are daring Carolina to beat them throwing it. They're going to stack the line of scrimmage and take away the run. And Carolina's skill position players at this point are not scaring anybody over the top.

DJ Chark comes back. There's a little bit more threat to get down the field, but they also, it's hard to get down the field when you don't have a lot of time to let that play develop. Is there something else that maybe Frank Reich is working on to kind of create some opportunities in the run game with the pass game?

Yeah, I think there is a little bit of that. And honestly, last week should have helped. I mean, having Andy Dalton come in and, you know, the one thing Andy Dalton was the 7.6 yards per pass attempt guy for the Saints last year, not a great Saints team, and certainly not overburdened with skill position talent last year, although they had a decent core receivers with the guys they had out there. But it's, you know, Andy's always been a guy who can move the ball downfield. And I think showing some of that kind of stuff in Seattle might buy Bryce a little space if he's back on the field this week. And, you know, Frank said last week that it was one to two weekend injury, which sort of certainly leaves the door open for what he might do on Sunday. So we'll see if he's able to get back out there on the field practice tomorrow. Stay tuned to panthers.com for all the latest on that. And, you know, I think because Andy was able to loosen things up a little bit and show some of those routes, I mean, Thielen caught what, 175 balls the other day.

Yeah. You know, he is a guy who can get himself open in short areas, have a DJ chart, you know, in there can obviously stretch people vertically, but it's a little more complicated than, than just you go off. And I think some of it they can do with scheme, but I think a lot of it is still, you know, as they go through this thing, trying to determine what they want this offense, you know, big picture theoretical offense to look like the individual parts of it kind of get sideways sometimes. I mean, that clearly wasn't what they wanted it to be Sunday in Seattle, but as Frank pointed out, sometimes you get in that situation and you're calling the play in front of you rather than big picture philosophical plays, because you want to prove a thematic point. Frank Reich, and we're talking with Darren Ganapathers.com asked the old guy, Frank Reich talked about, you know, he knew that Bryce Young learned a lot by watching Andy Dalton. Could you make an argument? And I have made that argument already today that they should probably let Bryce watch again and maybe, maybe a few games. This is not about Bryce. This is about putting him in the best position to succeed going forward. Could he not benefit from watching Andy Dalton this week and maybe for a few more weeks?

One could make a reasonable case about that, but reasonable minds can also disagree. Here's where I am on Bryce. The stuff that you can learn from standing around watching on the sidelines, for instance, I mean, Sam Howell last year, Sam Howell got to stand and look and watch a lot of football and Sam Howell learned things. The things you can learn standing around on the sidelines are the parts of the game Bryce is already best at. The, the analyzing, the diagnosing, the going through progressions, the seeing this, this, this, this, what Bryce needs is a chance to do it. And I just think as the Carolina Panthers look at this season as a whole, I mean, the, whatever the record at the end of the 2023 season is, is so much less important than is Bryce young, the guy. And so I think what Bryce young needs to do is get in there and do the thing. And I think that's probably going to be more beneficial to him. I mean, listen, Andy's an excellent mentor. And he's also an adult about it. One of my favorite things about Andy, including the fact he's one of the few players closest in age to me is that Andy stood up there and said, when somebody opened the door to the, Hey, do you think you could win this job? Nope, that ain't me.

This is Bryce's deal. That's not why I'm here. And so he was very forward about, you know, Nope, don't try dragging me down that road. That's not what we're here to do. So he, um, he gets it and, and people who get it are in short supply and it seems like they're becoming in shorter supply every single day, based on this mail that I'm trying to plow through this afternoon. But, uh, no, I, I am, while I respect your opinion, I've always valued your friendship. I think that what Bryce needs more than anything is to get out there on the field and do the thing.

But here's, here's where, um, I'm going to back up. My point is that I thought in game two, that he looked like he could not not stare at the rush that I thought that the fact that the Panthers couldn't help him was hurting him. And that why not? I'm not saying wait until you can help him because that might never happen, but that maybe just seeing it a little bit from the sideline a little bit more would help him in the long run. I think there's a lot, I mean, Patrick Mahomes had to learn. Um, I think, look, who knows if Sam Howell is any good to be honest, because I think who you play matters. Uh, and Sam Howell didn't play anybody for two weeks. It looked good and then played Buffalo last week and it didn't look so hot.

Uh, so who you play matters. Same thing with the Cowboys. You know, with the, you know, you, you, you beat up the Jets and the Giants for two weeks. Uh, and all of a sudden you got put in a situation where it wasn't going so hot, oh, so hot.

And frankly, you weren't all that good. So I don't, I don't think it would hurt his development to watch at all. Hey, Carolina Panthers fans, Chris Lee and Dennis Cox here. We're excited to offer you all the inside information on your team with the newest member of the Capitol broadcasting podcast network Panthers playbook twice a week. We'll keep you updated on your Carolina Panthers. We're talking about locker room insight, exclusive interviews, and of course, in-depth looks at all of the Panthers wins touchdown, Carolina Panthers playbook download and subscribe today at wrelsportsfan.com or wherever you discover your favorite podcasts. Before Sarah discovered chumbacassino.com.

She enjoyed chamomile tea and being in PJs by six, the new fun Sarah often thinks about the old boring Sarah and wonders if that Sarah ever really existed. Chumbacassino has over a hundred casino style games. So join today and play for free for your chance to redeem some serious prizes. Well, here's the thing I would say to that. And I'm reminded of the wisdom of the great Eastern plus for John Fox, who once said, it's not when you play, it's who you play. Right. Uh, the new Orleans saints.

Here's, here's the thing. They're really good at getting after you with four people. They're not a team that's going to, this is not wink Martindale. They're not blitzing from every angle.

They're not trying to be exotic. What they've got the bunch of dudes who can get after you upfront. And the saints have been, have gone what, like a year plus without giving up 20 points to anybody. And because they can get all that pressure with just four dudes, you know, that makes them a tough matchup for most people.

That's a really good defense. So I think it's good actually for Bryce to see that kind of stuff. That's part of the reason, you know, a lot of times if a guy's got an injury and Bryce does have an injury, seriously theorists take off your tinfoil hat. He actually is hurt. Um, I think they wanted him to also hear Seattle. I think they want him to see new Orleans, uh, bringing four guys who were going to be in his face because part of the day, because those are the things he's going to have to learn to overcome.

So I just, you know, I, I think the long and short of this is this is Bryce young steel. And when he's well enough to get out there on the field, he can be out there on the field. So you think he's well enough to be out there in the field? No, none of us really saw the injury right.

Yeah. I mean, I mean, it is, you know, put it this way. This is one of those, the most trusty source in journalism source, my two eyes, you know, when I was in here last week at seven 30 in the morning and walk past Bryce at the training room, he wasn't there because he was trying to participate in a ruse or be a part of an elaborate plot to stash him while he's not really hurt. I mean, you know, this is a medical situation. And when the doctors and the athletic trainers and the coaches and Bryce get together and talk about it this week, they'll come to a determination, whether he's able to play or not. But I just, I just think where they are right now as a franchise, Bryce, if he's well enough to play, he going to play.

Well, I agree with that, but I would, I would certainly consider, you know, maybe your ankle in a hundred percent, a hundred percent out there. Let's go to other injuries, because that was the worst thing that really came out of the game was how many guys left the game hurt. Louvou, Woods, Mingo went out with an injury. Where do they stand? I guess I know we'll find out more tomorrow, but where do you think they stand health-wise? Well, they are beat up from the feet up. There is no doubt about that.

It's, uh, it is not a great thing. And listen, when you lose the JC horn and we wanted a Shaq Thompson and we do, and then Frankie Louvou at halftime at a certain point, it doesn't matter how resilient you are. Uh, you've missed too many dudes for the matter. And it's not an accident that the Seahawks outscored them 27 to 15 or whatever it was in the second half, because they were running out of people. And especially in the back end of that defense. And I think, you know, honestly, I think it's going to be interesting to see what his hero Evero dials up this week, because, you know, it's almost like when you go to your refrigerator and you go through the leftovers and you see what's in there and you decide to make soup. Well, you know, you, you don't have certain ingredients.

So what are you going to cook up the night? Um, I think he's going to have to experiment with this thing a little bit because they are running short on linebackers. Frankie is always a guy. I mean, they, and they need him out there. They added Frankie Louvou as a captain last week, uh, didn't necessarily replace Shaq Shaq, still a captain and still in their hearts and minds, uh, if not out there on the field. And I think that's a recognition of the energy he brings to that defense. So without him out there, without Shaq, everybody's kind of looking around at each other, like now what? And so when those spiritual leaders, in addition to some of your best players are the ones on the sideline, that makes it difficult.

Listen to Xavier Woods. If that hamstring is going to keep him off the field for any amount of time, that's tricky. I mean, Sam Franklin's good energy guy, uh, one of the better special teamers in the national football league, but he's not a regular on defense for a reason. He's had time to do that. So, you know, they're going to be mixing and matching for the next little bit.

And it's going to be curious to say, we'll find out how good a Vero is at this job over the next couple of weeks. I mean, the good news is they've been able to get consistent pressure on quarterbacks and part of that scheme. And part of that's having Brian Burns and Justin Houston on the edges. And, you know, he taught gross mottos is a guy who's probably done more in the last two weeks. And he's done at any point in his Panthers career, honestly.

I mean, that's no slam on him. He's just, he's developing and he's found a spot where he can make some plays and he's made them the last couple of weeks. So they're going to have to get pressure on Kirk Cousins. I mean, that's the first thing. And then they're going to have to sort of scheme it up on the backside and they're going to have to worry about Justin Jefferson with just really, um, because CJ, I forgot CJ Henderson also left the game, uh, with an ankle injury. So they're a, they're a thinned cornerback as well. Uh, I wish Jay DiCaprio, Boodle, and Sean Jamison against Justin Jefferson.

Is that problematic for you? Uh, DiCaprio, Leonardo DiCaprio, Boodle, DiCaprio, Boodle. I love that. It's one of my favorite names in history.

I need to write more about him just so I can say his name more often. It's happy making. If you, if you have an opportunity to say DiCaprio, Boodle in your day, you should. I agree with that. A hundred percent agree with that. Um, so yeah, they're just, could you make an argument that Frankie Louvoo is their best? Well, certainly their best linebacker. Uh, but I mean, he's just everywhere. And that, that's one of those things you just find by accident.

Yeah. The jet, the jets didn't need him anymore. He, uh, he was surplus to requirements in New York and these guys were all too happy to collect him, to catch him, to give him a soft place to land. No, Frankie's absolutely. I mean, I think it's a fascinating story and I've talked to Frankie about this in the past. I mean, when he was in New York, his position coach was Kevin Green and Kevin Green was five years into the league before he was ever really a regular. And really making that kind of contribution. And he ended up in the hall of fame.

Now I'm not saying Frankie's going to end up in the hall of fame, but their career paths are so similar in that it took them a couple of years to really find that spot where they latched on and, and found a place that used them to the best of their abilities. And he's been, he's been fantastic. I mean, he's a shot of energy, but also he's really good at football. He is tremendous. I love him. Um, I appreciate your time. I, I, you are the Frankie Louvou of, uh, of people I talked to about the Panthers.

I hear you. Thank you, my brother, man. Uh, be well that's there again. Ask the old guy, panthers.com.

Stay tuned for great content and insightful musings, uh, right there at panthers.com talk to you later. Are your toenails unsightly? Huh? Come on, come on.

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