The Raiders selected Terrelle Pryor in the third round of Monday’s supplemental draft, choosing to give up their third round pick in 2012.

No other players were chosen which should mean that players like Western Carolina defensive back Torez Jones, Georgia running back Caleb King, Lindenwood defensive end Keenan Mace, North Carolina defensive end Mike McAdoo and Northern Illinois defensive back Tracy Wilson are out there for teams to sign.

James Dator posted an artice last week posing the question if the Carolina Panthers should spend a pick on McAdoo... Since they did not opt to do so should they at least bring him in for a look or possible practice squad?

**UPDATE** Last night McAdoo signed with the Baltimore Ravens according to Pro Football Talk

I don't want to be too much of an alarmist however reading this story on the Observer online this morning about Jon Beason and the tendinitis in his left Achilles is starting to concern me a bit.

"We're just trying to rest it. You push it to the point where it said, 'Hey, I can't go anymore.' The pain becomes a factor," Beason said Monday at Wofford.

"When you do have time, you kind of want to take advantage of it. Once you get in the season, it'll be different. There'll be more of a sense of urgency - on their part and on my part.

"I just want to deal with it because it definitely could be something that lingers."

For some reason those quotes give me eerie flashbacks to last summer and Jeff Otah's his knee situation. I sure hope not.

Anyone else worried?

I was operating all along under the impression that the Free Agent Signings (Johnson, DeAngelo Williams, Payne, Mare) and the new contract guys (Jon Beason, Thomas Davis, James Anderson) Would automatically be able to practice on August 4th because of a "waiting period"

Not necessarily the case. I just read that none of these guys can practice until the new CBA is ratified and that hasn't happened yet. Per Ryan Clark of the Pittsburgh Steelers the issue of Roger Goodell's heavy handed disipline is holding up the players ratifying the deal .

To me this seems a bit like sour grapes and something that can be fixed. What do these guys want no rules???

Anyway for a team like the Carolina Panthers who need every available player (yes I know Beason is still hurt) on the field every practice to learn, this could really hurt.

Thoughts?

I am sorry if this has been asked and answered here somewhere previously but I have a question I was hoing someone knew the answer too. It seems like Darin Gantt (formerly just Rock Hill Herald) is the only Charlotte observer reporter covering the Panthers at training camp. The pictures of Charles Chandler and David Scott seem to have been taken down from the Observer's Inside the Panthers Blog and there have been no Tweets from Chandler since before the 4th of July.  Does anyone have any infomation on this? What is the deal. Both Chandler and Scott still appear on the online listing of Observer sports staff but it seems as if they are no longer working. Please tell me this isn't true and I am just jumping to conclusions. Anyone know whats up?

From Don Banks on SI.com:

Isn't it just logical that Brady Quinn should be the next Browns first-round pick to be traded? With next week's Oct. 20 trading deadline looming, why wouldn't Cleveland consider unloading the guy who apparently can't even replace a quarterback in Derek Anderson, who went 2 of 17 for 23 yards on Sunday in Buffalo?

It's not as if Browns head coach Eric Mangini hasn't made up his mind about Quinn at this point. Couldn't a team like Buffalo, or Jacksonville, or Oakland, or Washington, or Carolina, or St. Louis use an extra arm around?

Do you think the Carolina Panthers should be interested? What do you think as a possible look at for long range solution at QB? My feeling is that at Cleveland he has no weapons to gauge what kind of QB he could be. If the finances could be worked out and the draft pick was not a high one would you bite on Brady Quinn?

In preparation for the Dallas Cowboys next Monday night the Carolina Panthers practiced Friday on a modified week schedule. Held out of practice today were LB Na'il Diggs (Ribs) S Chris Harris (Knee) FB Brad Hoover (age) and Everette Brown (ankle).  Limited in practice were RB Jonathan Stewart OL  Jordan Gross, and OL Jeff Otah.  Both Captain Munnerlyn and Charles Johnson were taken off the practice field with dehydration and heat related problems. (hopefully not a flu-like situation) RB Mike Goodson returned to full participation today.

In preperation for the Dallas Cowboys next Monday night the Carolina Panthers returned to practice Thursday. Held out of practice were RB Jonathan Stewart (heel) FB Brad Hoover (rest) RB Mike Goodson (illness - please don't let it be the swine flu) and LB Na'il Diggs (Ribs). Limited in practice were S Chris Harris, OL  Jordan Gross, and OL Jeff Otah.  I will update this post with the probables and questionables as soon as that information is available.

The only Carolina Panthers player not to participate in practice Friday was safety Chris Harriswho is still dealing with a knee injury and is considered doubtful for Sunday's game agaist the Atlanta Falcons. This likely means another start for safety Quinton Teal in the defensive secondary. Listed as questionable for the Panthers is DT Nick Hayden.  OL Jeff Otah has now upgraded to probable along with RB Jonathan Stewart and DE Everette Brown. Look for all but Harris to be available Sunday to take on the Falcons.  The biggest question remaining is who will be Jake Delhomme's back up and who will be third string QB, Matt Moore or AJ Feeley?

Just read this little bit this morning from SI's Fan Nation Truth and Rumors and was taken a little bit aback: 

In a segment from the Week One game between Philadelphia and Carolina, during which Panthers receiver Steve Smith was wearing a microphone, a bizarre exchange unfolded between Smith and quarterback Jake Delhomme, who coughed up five turnovers in a 38-10 drubbing. Delhomme, whose confidence clearly is shattered, apologizes to Smith while the duo are sitting on the bench. Says Smith: "I never really liked you as a quarterback. But as a person . . . I love you as a person."

Very interesting. I wonder if there is any context to this and also wonder if this was being recorder by NFL films. Was Smitty trying to motivate Jake? Was he giving a little bit of tough love? Is that Smitty's back handed way of making Jake feel better? Thoughts on this guys? Without turning this into a total bash Jake-fest...

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Update by Jaxon: Darin Gantt feels he was kidding:

For one thing, he also made a crack about Jake's looks immediately before, and is clearly trying to relieve some of the tension that was hanging over the team like a fog.
    There's also the simple fact that busting chops is part of the institutional modus operandi for dealing with stress.
    But does Smith really like Delhomme as a quarterback? Probably not completely.

Gantt offers a nice analysis:

So if the question is, does Smith hate working with Delhomme because of all the picks, I guess my answer would be "No more than before."
    They get along, in part, because they're of like mind. They're both fighters, and that translates whether you're from South Central L.A. or south central La.
    But the bottom line on their relationship remains, Smith's probably not going to be happy with any quarterback, so I don't know that this is necessarily evidence of any greater problem.

So Smith was probably kidding in this case but if he is losing faith in Delhomme no one would blame at this point. Let's hope this doesn't manifest itself any further.

The Carolina Panthers practiced Wednesday with embattled quarterback Jake Delhomme taking the reps with the 1st offensive and backups Jay Feely and Matt Moore working with the second team, apparently John Fox is choosing not to disclose which QB will be Jake's bacukup and who will be the emergency 3rd stringer. Panthers held out of practice included Safety Chris Harris and Sherrod Martin. Running back Jonathan Stewartwas held out as a slight precaution as was DT Nick Hayden with a toe injury.

Limited in practice were Everette Brown with an ankle Jeff Otah with a shoulder and Charles Johnson with a knee.

I haven't seen anyone else post this yet so I figured what the hay. Several media outlets are reporting on a humorous Craigslist posting this morning offering Jake Delhomme up for sale by contract. The ad says that Jake "needs a loving home," etc. etc. etc. Link Here to one article on it.  Here is a link to the supposed actual posting itself, I'm not responsible if it has been removed from their site. I haven't seen it posted here yet so I figured we could use a little levity this morning.

NFL Season starts tomorrow for the Carolina Panthers at home against an NFC East foe in the Philadelphia Eagles. I wanted to guage the feelings of Cat Scratch Reader's fans on the game and what the final score will be. If this does well I will try and make it a weekly thing (as long as Jaxon approves) Post your thoughts in a short concise comment with your prediction of the final score and come Monday we will reward the poster who comes closest to predicting the final score in some way. I will also keep a tally as the season goes on. Lets have some fun with this.

I will go ahead and start I think the final score will be Philly 28 Carolina 31

Friday's practice report is that all Carolina Panthers players participated in practice. This includes safety Chris Harris who has been out with a bone bruise to his knee. The report says he practiced fully and is listed as questionable. Also listed as questionable is safety Sherrod Martin who has also been suffering from a slight knee injury.

Sounds like good news to me. Look for the team to be at full strength on Sunday to take on the Philadelphia Eagles 1 pm at Bank of America Stadium.

Both Darin Gantt of the Rock Hill Herald and Charles Chandler of the Charlotte Observer are reporting today that Steve Smith is among the options for returning punts on Sunday according to Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox. Reading Smith's quotes in the above linked articles he sure seems to be less than thrilled about the prospect and I for one can't blame him. I think the risks of injury outweigh the advantages on the surface, however with risk comes reward. Smith is a dynamic player that is a touchdown just waiting to happen when returning punts. I wanted to give Panther Nation the chance to voice their opinion on this matter. Should the Panthers put Steve Smith back there, go with Chris Gamble or one of the fumble prone rookies? What do you think?

No I am not kidding. Not a joke. Last night I was watching NFL Network's preseason "roundtable" where Michael Irvin, Steve Mariuchi,  Marshall Faulk, and Deion Sanders all were giving their thoughts about the upcoming season and previewing each of the divisions. As a part of this each had to predict the upcoming Super Bowl matchup. Sanders first picked Pittsburgh Steelers from the AFC and then said his NFC pick was a bit of a surprise. He picks the Carolina Panthers and gets a bit of ribbing from the others. He gives his reason as Coach John Fox.  Solid defense and the ability to run the ball in the division he gives as the reason.

I have been looking for a link to the video but have been unable to find one however the NFL Network schedule online says the program will re-air tomorrow at noon and Saturday morning at 8 am if anyone wants to check it out.

Thoughts on this anyone?

I just got Tweets from two seperate sources indicating that Carolina Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart and LB Jon Beason both "fully participated" in practice today 9/9/09 and according to John Fox "looked really good".  The only player held out was Chris Harris for a bruised knee. In my opinion this is GREAT NEWS!

On a seperate note the Panthers named team captains for the season; Jon Beason, Julius Peppers, Jordan Gross, John Kasay, and Jake Delhomme

In a somewhat disturbing trend it seems that 2009 has become the summer of the fired offensive coordinator. In addition to Chan Gailey from Kansas City and Jeff Jagodzinski from Tampa Bay  the Bullalo Bills have just announced that they no longer require the services of OC Turk Schonert. What is going on with this? Your team goes all the way through the off season workouts and training camps and you decide on the eve of the start of the season to "go in a different direction"? If I were an offensive coordinator I would be considering myself an endangered species right about now considering almost 10% of NFL teams have fired theirs in the past 4 days. I wonder who is next?

According to this article just posted on the Los Angeles Times website Michael Vick will meet today with commissioner Roger Goodell to learn about the date for his reinstatement. If you believe the article Vick may be available when the Eagles come to Charlotte September 13th for the opening game of the 2009 season.

Thoughts on this? My initial reaction is that the Panthers defense has enough problems without having to game plan for the Eagles and worry about what kind of exotic "wildcat" schemes Andy Reid can come up with for Vick to run.  The second is as someone who will be attending the game, fairly or unfairly on a purely selfish level I don't particularly want all the extra attention and possible protests could accompany Vick's "return" to the NFL.  Would love to hear what others think on this.

Reports today indicate that Jerry Richardson founder/owner of the Carolina Panthers has wasted no time in choosing a sucessor for his son Mark who resigned yesterday from the position of team president. Word has come from reliable sources that the Panthers intend to name Texas Christian University Athletic director Danny Morrison as team President. Morrison is former commisionar of the Southern Conference and most importantly former athletic director at Wofford College which is certainly where the Richardson connection comes into play.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this hire? Does anyone have any additional information on Danny Morrison?

Since the resignation of Mark Richardson as team president for the Carolina Panthers the organization will obviously need someone to lead them in the future. Keep in mind Bill Polian left the team for Indianapolis because Mark was to become president. Any ideas on who the next President of the Carolina Panthers should be? I submit into nomination Mike Shanahan former coach of the Denver Broncos to lead the Panthers into the future. He is a great leader a good football guy and is currently unemployed.  Any other ideas?