FOXBORO, Mass.—This was a wild one. For the second straight day, the Panthers and Patriots engaged in multiple donnybrooks, complete with players being ejected from practice. Is it unusual to see fights at joint practices? It is not. But the volume of altercations, and that they involved buttoned-up New England, definitely got my attention. As for what I’d take on the Carolina side, after spending some time with the Panthers, we’ve got a few things to glean …
1. The staff is really optimistic that C.J. Henderson, the ninth pick in the 2020 draft who was traded from Jacksonville to Carolina last fall, has turned a corner. The Florida product, who’s had mental health issues through his career, came to camp locked in and ready to go, and is showing signs of putting his impressive package of physical gifts together. A couple people went so far as to say, through the last three weeks, he’s become one of the Panthers’ best players.
2. Veteran safety Xavier Woods has been a revelation, coming to the Panthers on relatively short money (he did a three-year, $15.75-million deal in March). He’s a good player to begin with, but where he’s really made a difference is in how he’s improved the communication on the back end of the defense. It’s early still, but Woods has given every indication that he’ll be a glue guy for Phil Snow’s unit.
