CHARLOTTE -- As the season drags on, Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme is throwing fewer balls than ever.
That, believe it or not, is the good news.
Just over a year removed from Tommy John surgery to repair his right elbow, Delhomme and those around him say his arm is better than ever. So in case you're wondering if he's had a relapse because of a recent dip in passing numbers, they'll tell you quickly the answer is absolutely not physical.
"Obviously, this year he's got a little more pop," said passing game coordinator Mike McCoy, who has worked with Delhomme his entire time in Charlotte.
"He hasn't changed," said wide receiver Steve Smith, the recipient of so many deep balls over the years. "Same Jake. Stronger arm, though."
That in and of itself has caused the most adjustments for Delhomme and the Panthers this year.
In addition to repairing the ulnar collateral ligament last October, doctors repaired a torn muscle and cleaned out some bone spurs. His arm was a mess before, and the ligament finally snapping allowed doctors to fix it. "He went and got a little tuneup," McCoy said.
Delhomme said the biggest difference he can tell now is that he doesn't have to spend as much time warming up, getting ready to throw. It took maintenance before. Now he's throwing like a kid again -- walk out the door and fling it.
"It's not a process for me to get warmed up to get loose to go to practice," Delhomme said. "I think that's the biggest thing, that's what I looked forward to. I can't tell you how great it is. It's just nice to not have that feeling.
"When they fixed it, they fixed it. It's been talked about too much. We had a lot of stuff in there, and now it's fixed. It shouldn't hurt."
When you look at Delhomme's numbers, you don't see much statistical evidence that anything is different.
Though his completion percentage this year (57.1) is down a bit, his numbers aren't far out of line in any other category. In fact, his 7.21 yards per attempt (as good an indicator as any of his overall efficiency) is identical to his average with the Panthers.
The best news for him is that he's not having to throw as much. In addition to not needing long stretches to get warm before practices and games, the Panthers' running game has helped him find the groove he's generally best in. He's throwing 28.4 passes per game this year. He threw 27.2 in 2005 and 28.1 in 2003 when they made playoff runs, but 33.3 in 2004 and 33.2 in 2006 when they didn't. That points to overall team success more than his own, but it shows he's back where he should be.
Delhomme said last year's work has made him a cleaner quarterback, more technically sound.
"I probably dropped the elbow because of the bone spur reasons, I dropped when I released," Delhomme said. "I would think I did that, more subconsciously than anything else.
"I hope I'm releasing it a little higher. I'll still sling it (three-quarters or sidearm), but hopefully I'm releasing it higher and that adds more revolutions on it."
McCoy, whose job, in part, is to analyze Delhomme's traditionally non-textbook throwing motion, said he thinks being healthy again has made the biggest difference.
"You don't think about it anymore," McCoy said. "When your arm's bothering you, you're always thinking about it. When you're feeling fine, you just go out and play. In practice, when your arm's tired and it's sore, that's what you're thinking about a lot of times. So it's human nature to hold back a little bit, or take longer to warm up.
"But when you feel great, you just go and play and practice and don't even worry about it. In training camp, for example, when your arm gets tired, you're fighting through it. Well when your arm feels great, you go play."
Having Delhomme at full strength, which the Panthers hadn't really had for three years, has taken a moment to adjust to.
Smith said it was evident from the first minicamp that Delhomme was throwing a different ball. As a guy who has often had to come back and jump for underthrown balls in the past (though that was occasionally by design), Smith said he was grateful for the new Jake.
"Immediately, he overthrew me on some balls," Smith said. "I was like 'Whoa,' because I wasn't expecting it. I had the running joke with him that he couldn't overthrow me, so that's pretty good.
"Yeah, his arm is stronger. I think maybe in prior years he wasn't overthrowing guys as much as he is, but that's a good thing, that's not by any means me complaining. Yeah, it's easier to run a ball down than to adjust to a ball that's behind you."
