Today was the last day of mini camp for the Carolina Panthers and it was open to the fans… so I decided to leave my house at 5:00 am and drive 300 miles to see it.  It was worth it!!

There were four players that impressed me over the two hour practice; Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Mike Tolbert, and surprisingly Lamont Bryant.

Starting with Lamont Bryant, you may ask who is he?  Well he is a receiver that was just signed earlier this week and already impressing fans.  Backup Quarterback Derek Anderson threw a deep ball to the corner of the end zone the Bryant came down with.  To my surprise he came up with the ball.  One way to earn one of the last spots on the team is to impress the fans.

Next was Mike Tolbert, you is a lot faster than I thought he would be.  I won’t say too much on how the Panthers used him but I will tell you that he can make a nice cutback and extra burst of speed out of nowhere.

Luke Kuechly, the Panthers first round pick this year, had a pick six on backup Quarterback Jimmy Clausen.  Jokingly Cam Newton chased him down from the sideline to prevent a touchdown, or try.  Also he was making really good reads, he was fast off the ball and met the ball at the line of scrimmage.  Even Jon Beason looked to be back to his normal self again, which is great news.

Finally we have Cam Newton, who was phenomenal.  He was looking excellent and very accurate on all of his throws, yes all of them!  He has built great timing with all of the receivers and only had one incomplete pass due to a dropped pass.  Of course, no matter how big of a throw it was, the fans didn’t nearly appreciate it as much as the 10 yard pass to Steve Smith.

Next up is training camp for the Panthers in Spartensburg, SC and I suggest that everyone should try to go.  It is a great atmosphere to be in and I can tell you first hand it is fun, especially after I got my Cam Newton jersey signed by none other than Newton himself.

It was nice to get to see what to expect this year and Panther fans should be rooting hard this year because I believe they are going to go a long way.

If anything couldn’t get worse for the Saints then you might reconsider.  Brees has missed six OTA’s and has missed the mini camp due to the contract negotiations.

If there is any leader on the team that is not suspended and needs to show up it is Brees.  He is not closer than before on signing anything, and there’s no rush being that he doesn’t have to sign before mini camps.

The New Orleans Saints are one of the first teams to start their mini camps which may mean they will be done with all workouts before Brees does sign.

What does this mean for the Panthers?  Well as of right now they might not be going against Drew Brees, but it is early enough in the summer that Chase Danniel can get a good grasp on how to run things.

Fortunately, the Panthers do face the Saints the second game of the season at home, so hopefully whichever quarterback they decide to use, he will not be in good rhythm.

Linebacker Curtis Lofton said that even though Brees is gone they are going to continue to work hard and that even though Brees is gone the team feels closer for stepping up in his absence.

The team doesn’t feel worried about this whole situation but they don’t feel they can win the Super Bowl without him, and so does everybody else in the NFL.

Earlier this weekend, Jeff Otah had to get an MRI on his left knee, which is the same knee that has limited him to four games out of the last thirty five.

Otah had tweaked his knee in non contact drills on the last day of OTA’s.  The results have been released and he is okay, but okay is not really good enough.

This makes fans wonder though, if simple drills can tweak his knee, will he be able to play at all this season.  It is unfortunate  for him he is in his last year of his rookie contract which means that unless he actually can play most of the games, he will probably be gone.

I really do not see any team that would pick him up next year if they are only going to get a good game every other year.

Coach Ron Rivera said this isn’t really a setback for the team, “But we just wanted to make sure everything’s OK.”; I am sure it is easy to say that when you have Jason Campbell or Bryon Bell in the depth chart.

Earlier this year, Otah’s agent said he was back to full health.  When he is fully healthy, you get a running game like back in 2008 and a playoff run.  Since he has been gone there really hasn’t been a superstar at the position.

I am not going to look into this too quickly, as he might not have a problem after all, but if by chance that something later on happens and is bad, Carolina might have to put him on the practice squad to avoid a wasted spot on the 53 man roster.