Jeffery Breazeale Photo
Cam Newton, Greg Olson and Christian McCaffery make their way to the practice field Sunday.
Jeffery Breazeale Photo
Will Grier, Taylor Heinicke and Kyle Allen give autographs to waiting fans.
Jeffery Breazeale Photo
The offensive line got some work off getting off the ball together.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton took time during a water break Sunday to tell fans what he missed while at summer camp at Wofford College.
Being Sunday, Newton said, “I miss not being able to go to church this morning, my family and kids, and especially the home cooked meals.”
Fans got to see QB1 dancing around and having a blast interacting with the fans.
Newton is the crowd favorite and he didn’t miss many opportunities Sunday to entertain fans during inactivity. Last year he had to be called back to the field several times during a passing drill while entertaining fans in the end zone.
Rivera impressed with Newton’s progress
Head coach Ron Rivera is impressed with Newton’s progress in training camp. “I thought he did really well, had some real good sessions.” Rivera was happy about the progression thus far being Cam’s only third time throwing.
Day 4 observations
• Wide receiver Chris Hogan appeared to have come up lame about 20 minutes into practice. He walked off the field gingerly.
• Linebacker/defensive end Christian Miller appeared to get the upper hand on offensive tackle Greg Little off the end of the line.
• Rookie linebacker/defensive end Brian Burns continued to show his explosive speed off the ball.
• Newton hooked up with his running backs out of the backfield consistently as he was going through his check downs. He also connected with several receivers down field with precision and accurate sideline passing.
• Greg Little was escorted off the field but it may have been health related due to the heat. There was a quality air alert for Spartanburg Sunday. Little did not appear to be limping.
• A skirmish broke out between second team lines. It was just some pushing and yelling back and forth.
Wide receiver Jarius Wright
Wide receiver Jarius Wright has spent most of his seven seasons with offensive coordinator Norv Turner’s offense. They were part of the Minnesota Vikings from 2014 to 2016 and re-united last year when Turner was hired by the Panthers.
Wright was asked how much he knew about Cam Newton’s injury last year? “You know, we knew he was hurting,” Wright said. “He told use he was hurting. But you know, a guy who’s knowingly hurt and knows that he can only do so much.
“Going out there each and every Sunday and putting it on the line for us . . . you can’t say enough great things about a guy like that.”
Wright was asked to assess wide receiver Curtis Samuel’s improvements. “You know, he’s always been quick, he’s always been fast. He’s just gotten a lot better at his route running and also great hands.
“Some of the catches he’s been making are just great catches,” Wright said. “And you know, he’s still a young player and getting older, so it’s only room to grow for a guy like that.”
This week’s practices
Monday, 9:25-11:30 a.m.
Tuesday off
Wednesday, 9:25-11:30 a.m.
Thursday, 9:25-11:30 a.m.
Friday: Fan Day at Bank America Stadium, 7 p.m. ($5 ticket required)
Saturday: Off