Carolina Panthers: Joint practices provide excitement to preseason

The Carolina Panthers will be hosting the Bills.

The Carolina Panthers will be taking part in joint practices this coming season. According to a report from Joe Person of The Athletic, the Panthers will host the Buffalo Bills in the second week of the preseason. This will be in conjunction with the game the two teams will play following the practices.

This will be the second time that the two teams will meet for a preseason showdown and the third overall game between the two teams since the 2017 campaign. There are certainly some ties involved in this matchup. Buffalo head coach Sean McDermott was a defensive coordinator for Carolina, serving that position from 2011 to 2016. Brandon Beane, who now is the Buffalo Bills general manager worked for the Panthers since their early days in 1998. He would go on to serve as the assistant general manager by the time his tenure ended.

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Joint practices have always been a favorite of mine. For one, it gives two teams a chance to break the monotony of the preseason. You get to hit new faces on the defensive side of the ball, you get to read different coverages if you are on the offensive side of football and it culminates in a game at the end of the week. It’s fun for the fans too, as they get to see different players as well. For the Bills, quarterback Josh Allen and running back LeSean McCoy are just a couple of the names to watch for Buffalo.

I can imagine that as a coach, it gives you a good measuring stick to see where your team is at. I know that I’ll be interested to see how they do. With a bunch of new faces slated to be on the roster in just a week or so, this Panthers team should have a different feel to it than last year. In this case, that is a good thing as Carolina certainly wants to build on the positives from last year. They certainly have a lot to build off. I’ll be interested to see if a player like a Christian McCaffrey, who carried the load offensively for the team, will be able to replicate his numbers from last year.

However, preseason isn’t usually the time for guys like McCaffrey to show what he can do. That is because, we know what he can do. I’ll be interested to see how the rookies perform and how some of the “on the bubble” type of players perform as well. Preseason is where I knew that Donte Jackson was going to be a solid player. Obviously, there were inklings of hope before that suggested he would be good. It was great to see him follow through and have an outstanding season.

It all starts with practice, and the Panthers will have plenty of it before the season begins. Their week with Buffalo well certainly benefit them. I can’t wait to see how it all unfolds, it should be a lot of fun.

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