Team Notes week 2 2021

According to ESPN.com's David Newton, the jury is still out on quarterback Sam Darnold. While the third pick of the 2018 draft was efficient against his former team in Sunday's win against the Jets, it should not have been that close.

Newton added, "Darnold only proved he can play well against a bad team."

As is his custom, Darnold downplayed any emotions about beating the team which contributed to him taking a beating for three years. He said it was "a little different for me," seeing green uniforms on the visiting sideline, but he put that aside quickly.

"You kind of forget about it in the middle of the game while you're playing," he said. And after watching him work for five months, you realize that's just kind of how he's wired.

But aside from two ugly early trips to the red zone (which included a failed fourth down attempt and a fumble when the ball appeared to hit fullback Giovanni Ricci), Darnold turned in a solid game.

He finished 24-of-35 for 279 yards, with a 57-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson (who had a jet plane celebration -- he was going to enjoy beating his old team even if Darnold didn't). Darnold also ran for a score, keeping that touchdown ball as a tangible reminder of his first win here.

"It was just good to get a win," he said flatly.

That's not a surprise to his teammates, who voted him a captain last week, and have been impressed with his ability to fit into a new environment.

"He was calm," wide receiver D.J. Moore said. "He wasn't too crazy. He was just calm, cool, collected."

"I've never seen him different," Christian McCaffrey said. "I think that's the biggest thing for us that we see, since OTAs, he's been the same guy. He comes to work every day, he's a first-one-in, last-one-out kind of guy, and that's the kind of guy you want leading your team."

Head coach Matt Rhule said he was confident in his quarterback anyway, but had a good feeling when Darnold started teasing him during pregame for talking to so many old friends from New York.

"He was making fun of me before the game, saying you're saying hi to more people than I am," Rhule said with a smile.

"Coming into the game, he was the least of my concerns," Rhule said. "I wasn't worried about Sam. He's been locked in this week. ... He's the kind of guy you want to succeed. And when you have those guys in the building, things are good.

"I think Sam's resilient. Honestly, this whole week, he's been locked in. I think he was ready to go all week, and played like it, and hung in there."

As for McCaffrey, he had 21 rushes for 98 yards, and nine receptions for another 89 yards. So you know, your basic 30-touch, 187-yard day from a guy who missed 13 games last season with a collection of injuries.

That might be too much of a workload to be sustainable, but not for him -- at least not right now.

"Yeah," he replied when asked if he was ready for that much action. "I'm ready to roll."

For all the yards, his best play came when the ball never touched his hands at all.

On Darnold's deep touchdown to Anderson, McCaffrey helped out his offensive linemen by picking up a defensive tackle coming up the middle.

"The deep play to Robby, we whiffed up front, and Christian blocked the defensive tackle himself," Rhule said. "If that doesn't happen, that play doesn't happen. That might have been Christian's best play of the day."

McCaffrey grinned when asked about the block, saying it reminded him of all the blocks he's gotten over the years from guys who never got the attention he does.

"I get a lot of satisfaction from that," he said. "Those are the fun plays. Those are the plays that are fun for the guys. There are so many guys who never get recognized. We work as one unit, all 11 guys, that's the most important thing. Football is the biggest team sport that gets a lot of individual attention, but you can't have one without the other."

Rhule also complimented McCaffrey for getting down in bounds after a late first-down rush, the kind of play that didn't help his stat line, but enabled Darnold to take a knee, which is always the best revenge in any game.

"That's just how unselfish he is," Rhule said of McCaffrey. "I thought he looked great out there. We'll continue to build off what he did schematically and continue to improve. I think Christian's ready to have a great year."

If he does, then Darnold has an ever better chance to continue to build. But they'll both build in a way that sounds more boring than it actually is -- one day at a time.

The biggest question coming out of Sunday's opener: Can the offensive line protect Darnold against a good defense?

This group that Rhule says remains a work in progress gave up only one sack, but Darnold was hit eight times. Right guard John Miller didn't play after testing positive for COVID-19, but he could be back for Week 2.

Darnold's ultimate success depends on how he is protected against top defenses such as the New Orleans Saints, who are coming up next. ...

Other notes of interest. ... McCaffrey played 89 percent of the snaps en route to his 30-touch day. Those numbers might not be sustainable, but fantasy managers have plenty to be pleased about the initial direction the offense has taken.

Moore and Anderson played an identical 52 snaps. Moore caught six of his eight targets for 80 yards, while Anderson had the 57-yard touchdown catch.

Ian Thomas (35 snaps) played the most of the tight ends, followed by Dan Arnold (33 snaps), Tommy Tremble (12 snaps) and Colin Thompson (12 snaps). ...

The Panthers kicker carousel continues to spin. ... Per Joe Person of TheAthletic.com, Carolina cut Ryan Santoso on Tuesday.

The move means the Panthers will keep the seventh-round pick they'd conditionally agreed to trade to the Giants for Santoso. The kicker had to be on Carolina's roster for two games for New York to receive the pick.

Santoso was 2-of-2 on field goals, but 1-of-2 on extra points in Sunday's victory over the Jets.

After cutting Santoso, the Panthers announced that they've signed Zane Gonzalez off of Detroit's practice squad.

Gonzalez spent most of the last three seasons with the Cardinals. He hit 87 percent of his field-goal attempts in 2019, but that dipped to 73 percent last year in 12 games. He was placed on injured reserve in December after going just 16-of-22 on field goals, missing five from 40-49 yards.

In 51 career games for Arizona and Cleveland, Gonzalez has made 78 percent of his field-goal attempts and 95 percent of his extra points. He's also sent 57 percent of his kickoffs for touchbacks.

Gonzalez signed with the Lions in the spring but didn't earn Detroit's job out of camp. The Lions claimed Austin Seibert off waivers after teams reduced their rosters to 53.

The Panthers are now on their third starting kicker since mid-August. The team cut Joey Slye after trading for Santoso. Carolina also has Dominik Eberle on its practice squad.

On the injury front. ... Nickel back Myles Hartsfield injured his wrist in the second half and Rhule said it "could be significant." Juston Burris moved to nickel back for the rest of the game. A.J. Bouye is projected to be the team's nickel back but he is serving a two-game suspension to start the season.

DEPTH CHART
QBs: Bryce Young, Andy Dalton
RBs: Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders, Raheem Blackshear
WRs: Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo, D.J. Chark, Terrace Marshall Jr., Laviska Shenault, Ihmir Smith-Marsette, Mike Strachan
TEs: Tommy Tremble, Stephen Sullivan, Ian Thomas, Hayden Hurst