Carolina Panthers rookie linebacker Shaq Thompson flashes potential

Carolina Panthers rookie linebacker Shaq Thompson still hasn’t had his “Welcome to the NFL” moment, but he was finally able to introduce himself to his teammates and coaches on the field.

Thompson had his best play as a member of the Panthers Tuesday when he intercepted a Derek Anderson pass near the goal line, showing some of the instincts and athleticism that led Carolina to selecting him in the first round of the draft.

Thompson drifted back toward the goal line, read Anderson’s eyes and stepped in front of a pass intended for Brenton Bersin. Thompson returned the ball to about the 30-yard line before stepping out of bounds as Anderson gave chase.

“First of all, the quickness in his break,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said, describing the play. “Playing with the vision that he has, the athleticism showed in terms of being able to plant and drive, undercut the ball and make the interception.

“Plus, he’s got great hands.”

Thompson missed most of rookie camp, organized team activities and minicamp with a hamstring injury as well as staying at Washington to work on his degree. He’s been limited for most of training camp with the same strained hamstring and Tuesday was his first full day back.

“It was good to have Shaq back on the field and practicing, doing things he’s capable of,” Rivera said. “We’ve got to be smart with our guys right now, especially guys that are coming off hamstrings and lower-back tightness just because it’s going to happen this time of the year.

“But the nice thing about having Shaq out there is you see his abilities, you see him do the things that you need out of him, especially for situational football.”

Cornerback T.J. Heath continues to impress Rivera

Cornerback T.J. Heath continues to make plays just one week after the Carolina Panthers called him while he was playing golf at an Alabama course.

Heath, who went undrafted out of Jacksonville State in 2011, has had at least one pass breakup seemingly every day since he came to the Panthers. On his first day in camp he had two, and Tuesday he repeated that.

On a Cam Newton pass intended for tight end Ed Dickson, Heath jumped in front of Dickson and batted the pass away with one arm near the goal line for his best play of the day.

By Monday he had already moved up to working with the second-team defense across from Melvin White.

“It’s kind of interesting that a guy like that was out there and available,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “You bring him in, you work him out, you see his quickness and his ball skills and you think this is a guy who should be in a camp and wonder why he’s not. So that’s why we gave him an opportunity.”

Why wasn’t he in a camp?

“Good question,” Rivera said.

First-team red zone struggles continue in 2-minute drill

The first-team offense is still having trouble finding the end zone in training camp, and Tuesday the trouble came in the form of the two-minute drill.

Carolina puts its first-, second- and third-team offenses in the drill Tuesday at Wofford College and got one touchdown despite reaching the red zone on all three occasions.

“It’s just up to us to find a way to get better,” quarterback Cam Newton said. “I think our third down efficiency today was great. Offensively that was the focus. We still have to get better in goal line production but that’s going to come with time. We still have guys who are learning on the move and when we get everything gelling it’ll be dangerous and fun to watch.”

Carolina’s first-team offense had previously struggled in red zone drills, and again it was efficiency inside the 20 that doomed the Panthers.

Newton got the team down the field with a deep pass to Kelvin Benjamin, but ultimately the drive stalled inside the 10 when a pass to Benjamin, who was covered well by cornerback Josh Norman, sailed high and out of bounds.

It wasn’t until Joe Webb scrambled to the right sideline, turned back to his left and found Avius Capers in the end zone on fourth down that Carolina’s offense (the third team at that) scored against the defense.

But Panthers coach Ron Rivera pointed out the team used Tuesday to work on only part of the drill, with the focus being on more deep passes.

“A lot of times in some two-minute drills you’re working on shorter to immediate routes, and we wanted to stretch the field a little bit and I liked the things we did,” Rivera said. “For the most part though I think there are some things we can clean up. I’d like to see our protection be a little better.

“And again, not having everybody in there that you need – there are some guys down on both sides of the ball – was a little disappointing.”

Observations

▪  Receiver Jarrett Boykin started the day well but ended poorly. Boykin made a nice move against cornerback Josh Norman in one-on-one drills to get free for a Cam Newton pass to begin Tuesday. But later he dropped two passes, including one near the goal line from Newton in 9-on-9 drills.

▪  Second-year cornerback Bené Benwikere got his most extended time Tuesday returning from a hamstring strain, but he didn’t seem to trust it. Benwikere didn’t open up in a full sprint on some plays where he needed to. He’ll need more time.

▪  Receiver Brenton Bersin had a nice hands catch against cornerback Melvin White, who didn’t know the Newton pass was coming because of how steadily Bersin ran down the sideline.

▪  Linebacker Luke Kuechly has said he wants to improve on his pass coverage and it’s showing this camp. He got depth on a pass intended for tight end Ed Dickson and broke up the play about 8 yards from the line of scrimmage.

▪  Mark Morrison’s 1996 R&B hit “Return of the Mack” played before practice as several players danced and sang the memorable tune to lighten up practice during stretching.

▪  Receiver Kelvin Benjamin had the biggest play of the day when he tracked down a nearly 40-yard pass from Newton during the 2-mintue drill against White.

▪  Rookie linebacker David Mayo had a nice pass breakup in the end zone. He’s beginning to show more as camp rolls along.

This story was originally published August 11, 2015 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers rookie linebacker Shaq Thompson flashes potential."