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Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008

Panthers putting camp, and fight, behind them

SPARTANBURG -- On Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers wrapped up their shortest training camp and probably the most pleasant in terms of weather and injury news.

Of course, it'll also be remembered for one thing -- the Aug. 1 fight between Steve Smith and Ken Lucas.

Even without being asked about the incident, every player asked about the close of camp pointed to it and the way it has a chance to define the season. Smith's going to be suspended the first two regular-season games, and Lucas will miss another week or so while his broken nose heals, but all anyone can say is how it's become a watershed event for the team.

"Just given everything that's happened, it has just made us a stronger team," linebacker Thomas Davis said. "Everybody's gelled together, and we're playing for each other. We feel like we have a brotherhood and good camaraderie right now. That's what you go to camp for, to try to build that and join together, and I think we've accomplished that here."

There was a chance for it to become divisive, and the fact that coach John Fox had to issue a "no retaliation" edict underscores how touchy a situation it was. Smith has been making the rounds of atonement, but Davis and a number of other players said that Lucas' forgiveness was the key to the healing.

"We have high-character guys," Davis said. "Luc accepted the situation; he handled it the way he did, and that did volumes for our team.

"It wasn't to follow his lead. We all had our own personal opinions on the matter, but once we were able to sit down and see how Luc handled the situation, it sets your mind at ease. You can't be mad if he's not mad about it."

As quickly as the sideline fight flared, the team's been working to keep it at arm's length. The suddenness of their words of healing wasn't an accident, either.

"It's been fantastic," quarterback Jake Delhomme said. "That was a rough deal, and everybody knows that. I really truly believe we have the right group of guys in the right areas of this team to get everything out in the open. Guys talked, and Steve knew he did wrong. But the big thing out of all of it was Ken Lucas. For him to get up here and (talk about it), I think guys got to release a lot of emotions by listening to Ken and feeling how he felt.

"But things have gone smooth. Those times you can make or break a team, something like that, there is anger and whatnot, but there hasn't been any of that. You see it on the practice field. Guys are still working and still battling, and that is a great sign. It really and truly is."

The practices have gone efficiently, with the exceptions of a traveling injury bug that hit the defensive tackles, then the tight ends and then the wide receivers. Fox referred to the team as being in "relative health," even though they're leaving 10 players home from tonight's preseason game at Philadelphia.

They got in 23 practices with just seven two-a-days. The pullback was designed because of the shortage of bodies, since they lost exemptions for now-defunct NFL Europe. That has players feeling fresher than normal this time of year, knowing they're out of Spartanburg after three weeks instead of four.

"It's a lot shorter, even though it doesn't seem that way at times," fullback Brad Hoover said. "Really, that's the biggest difference. Camps aren't fun, you just sort of muster through them and pick something to get better at each day and work on it."

There's been a different energy as well, because of the turnover in the roster since last year. They came to camp with just 41 players who reported the first day of camp in 2007, and all the new faces have necessitated a new atmosphere.

"It's a time for us to bond together and find out what we're made of down here," Hoover said. "Not that we were not doing that before, but coming close to these guys and finding out what they offer us and vice versa. But it's a time you come in and play, guys are fighting for position, try to gel together as an offense, trying to work on those things and get better."

But before they can concentrate solely on getting better, they had to make sure they were getting along.

That accomplished, they can worry about the small matter of turning around from two straight non-playoff seasons.

"There's always a different energy each season," Davis said. "The way last season finished, our record, we felt like we were a much better team than our record.

"We feel like we can't let that happen again this year."