All right, Chris, we're on to week two. It's time to get ready for the Saints week one's done. But key injuries and some key spots for the Carolina Panthers not looking good and maybe a key acquisition that won't be able to help out this week and we might actually have a wide receiver that can beat somebody one on one coming back this week. I don't know, we'll figure it out. Let's start. I hope so. Let's start this sucker. The state of North Carolina covers 53,000 square miles. It is the habitat of the feared Carolina get dialed in Panthers fans for an in depth. Look at your team exclusive interviews, lock a rooms inside. Let's huddle up for Panthers playbook. Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee. Welcome back to another episode of Panthers Playbook. That's Chris Lee. Dennis Cox here with you. Before we get into week two, we're previewing the game against the Saints coming up this week. Uh Monday night football. That's right. The world gets to see Bryce Young play Chris on in front of a national audience. But before we do that, like to remind all the people out there make sure you smash the subscribe button, hit the likes, leave comments as well. By the way, Chris, there are a lot of people that disagree with us on our takes about Frank Reich and his play calling last week. That's fine. Let us know in the comment section how you feel. We're ok with that. Hey, look, it's all good. We're all gonna have differing opinions. Uh But at the end of the day, we just want to be able to express ourselves and talk about our team because clearly we all have one thing in common. We want the Carolina Panthers to win. So that's what we have going on that we do. We're gonna get into the play calling here in just a little bit when we get into our keys of the game coming up against the New Orleans Saints. Put some news and notes here first, Chris, we knew about the injury last week to JC Horn, but one injury we didn't know about that. We found out today, Brady Christensen starting left guard for the Carolina Panthers on injured reserve. And according to multiple reports, looks like Brady Christensen is done for the season. Um, the guy who started just about every game last season at left guard and really had acquitted himself right there next to Icky Kwan. This is a big blow to a team that already is without starting offensive guard. Austin Corbett. Yeah, man, it's, uh, one of those things where it kind of, um, it came out of nowhere because it wasn't what we expected. We expected maybe to hear more uh about JC Horn and we'll talk about him in just a bit. But to hear that with Brady Christensen, um, it, it's definitely, uh like AAA gut, uh a blow to the gut. You know what I'm saying? Like, you know, you, you already had this offensive line that you felt like once Austin Corbett could come back, guys could um you know, look better together, you get that offensive line back together, that was there from last year. And uh and you'd have that continuity and so we're not gonna have that this year. We're not gonna be able to see that uh this year. So, uh we'll end up seeing what happens uh when other guys are, are moved into that spot, but it'll be interesting to see what happens because um you know, you have Nash Jensen who can come in, you have Cade Mays who can come in um and uh fill in that role. And so we'll see who Frank right, decides to place there. Does he put Chandler Zavala back on the left side next to Ike Aqua. So you can have that NC state hookup once again, uh this coming week, we'll have to see, does that mean that Nash Jenson or either Kate Mays goes back to the right side. Kate Mays has filled in on the right side before. So there's some pieces right there to play with. Um But all, all we know is is that there is uh they do think highly of Kay Mays and Nash Jensen and they feel like they can do a good job with that. Chandler Zavala has been doing a good job so far. So, you know, I think the Panthers are, are confident they can fill in that role pretty well. I think you mentioned it. Um I think the solution is my opinion. I'm with you on this moves the voler to left guard because when Austin Corbett is ready to play and ready to perform when he comes off, Ir you put him right back in his bright guard spot and you already have left guard taken care of with Zavala. I think you go ahead and make that move now with Zavala, like you mentioned, he played right there next to a at NC state that left guard position. I think that's the solution because it's not only the fix for now, but it's the, the solution hopefully for the, for the rest of the season. By the way, the Panthers last season only had two different starting offensive line combinations the entire season last year, week two, we're gonna have our second starting offensive line combination in just two weeks. Um The them's the breaks that, that's just kind of kind of how things work. But now the question is though on the defensive side who fills in for JC Horn right now, look, my, my guess is gonna be CJ Henderson, but this was a major concern going into this season. We knew the talent of JC Horn and Dante Jackson, right. But Dante Jackson had the achilles injury last season. Uh JC Horn has been injured every single year in his NFL career. He's only played 17 of a possible 35 games and it looks like according to Frank Reich, he's gonna miss a lot more time this season, potentially surgery on his hamstring injury injury that we, uh we saw because he apparently felt a pop in the hamstring. I mean, it sucks. It really does suck for that young man because he is legit that good. But the question is now moving forward, who steps in, in that spot? Is it CJ Henderson? Do you go to Troy Hill? This is a major question mark because now you're down without your top cover corner. It feels like this is CJ Henderson, right? Because he has the, he has the most approved CJ. Henderson still was a first round pick. So let's not forget that. And he, he is considered first round talent, but could he live up to that? And that's what he hasn't done so far, uh, in his time in the NFL. So, um, and we know what happened, we've talked about it at the end of the year last year when JC Horn went down there, uh, at that point and then all of a sudden it was CJ Henderson's job, him and Keith Taylor and they just couldn't do anything with the Bucks. The Bucks were struggling passing the ball all year last year. All of a sudden there's a, there's a Mike Evans and Tom Brady resurgence after we were wondering what's wrong and what's happening. Um, so I, I really hope that CJ Henderson takes this personally and realizes that whether it's with the Carolina Panthers or with any other team, he still wants to get paid next year or at least find another job. He can very well play himself out of the NFL this year this year, he could play himself out of the NFL. Um If he does not, you know, rise up to the occasion and, you know, I'm not saying be be perfect, but at least don't have a performance like you had last year uh at Tampa Bay. So, um you know, II I, I'm wishing him the best. I really hope he does rise to the occasion, but he hasn't really given us much to, to really show from uh from all of that in the last couple of years. Like you mentioned, former first round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars Panthers traded for him uh in recent years. Um Ja ja it's, it's how I say it wires, it's how I say it. Um Either way, his fifth year option by the Panthers was not picked up, it was not picked up. So this is a prove it year. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Prove it year for the Carolina Panthers and CJ Henderson or for, for CJ Henderson with the Carolina Panthers. Not, not your chance. All right. No excuses anymore for you and your career. Now you have a chance to go, prove yourself, go. You want, do you want a job next year? That's really it, you better play. It doesn't have to be with the Panthers. It could be with any of the other 31 teams back in the NFL. Go prove yourself. Otherwise you're just gonna be viewed as a special teams guy which those guys are cheap and easy to find. Would you rather be in the NFL or would you rather be in the US FL or the XFL next year? Choose? Yeah, make some NFL plays this this year because you're gonna get a grand opportunity to do so. Ok. Speaking of the NFL, making plays now, is he gonna make some plays against the New Orleans Saints? Chris? Let's actually get into some keys for Monday night's game, which by the way, Monday night, 7 15, if you're in the Raleigh area, you can listen to that game on 99 9, the fan, it's a 7 15 kickoff. So a little earlier than we actually normally are used to on a Monday night football, which is awesome. Uh I, we can get to bed a little earlier, Chris, which by the way, uh for all those watching and listening right now, Chris and I will have a post game Panthers playbook much just like we had against the Atlanta Falcons. We are going to have that for you all. So again, make sure you subscribe, like hit the notification bell, so you don't miss anything. And also there's a link in the description, your favorite podcast platform. You can find us right there as well. So you can have it for when you wake up in the next morning on Tuesday and you're driving to work, you can listen to Panthers playbook as well. Three keys, New Orleans Saints coming up, we talked about the offensive line injuries, right? That was a big concern in the preseason, protecting Bryce Young. This is a pretty tough Saints defense that really gave the Tennessee Titans some trouble, Tennessee Titans team. I know Ryan Tan Hill ain't that great, but they still got Derek Henry, they still got deandre Hopkins and they shut that offense down. Yeah, man. Uh and so, and plus, you know, Cameron Jordan, he's been uh with the Saints. It seems like for, for the last 25 years, it feels like, uh and he plays well every single time against the Carolina Panthers. It's, it almost feels like it's his favorite team to, to play against, right? Um It, it might be, it really might be. And so uh a huge key there is just gonna be keeping him and the rest of that defensive line in check and it doesn't matter like who they have, they lose people, they bring people in or whatever, they always seem to be, be very stout. It's one of the more consistent parts of that team, uh is the Saints defensive line. And so, um, with the new piece on, on, on the offensive line with, uh, younger, a younger, uh, tackle in, um, a Ake Awan in the second season and Chandler Zavala in his first year, potentially, uh, Cade Mays in his second year or Nas Jensen in his first year on that line, you know, how will the, the Panthers kind of hold up? Right? They're gonna have to lean on Bradley Bozeman and Taylor Moton because that, that line is gonna try to, uh, confuse and trick, uh, some of those young guys on our offensive line. So, uh, keeping them in check is gonna be very huge. Plus the run game was really good for the Carolina Panthers against the, the Atlanta Falcons. As you said, they kept Derrick Henry mostly in check. I mean, what it was 100 and four yards rushing for the Tennessee Titans. Do you think they'd get, they'd get more than that? Um, so just 63 yards for Derrick Henry Sanders and, uh, you know, Chuba Hubbard, hey, it's, you know, you, you have to run behind the line, but also we need some production out of you as well. Uh To keep that ball moving, we talked about this actually gets into the, into our second key protecting Bryce Young is gonna be important. But the scheme in terms of how they get guys open is going to be important because if they actually can have a run game, I would like to see maybe a little more play action and, and bootlegs, things like we didn't see any of that in week one. It's not the most like astronomical like concepts that we've seen in the world. Like play action, bootleg. We've seen Bryce Young throw on the run. He's mobile enough. He's not a tuck and run guy, but the guy is mobile. Maybe you can actually scheme some guys open a little bit better. What might help that we might see DJ Shark back? I know he was at practice today. Uh We're recording this on Wednesday. I notice this drops on every Thursday, but what is his status for this upcoming week? That's a major question mark. How is he gonna handle coming off the hamstring injury? The thing about hamstring injuries is that they never really seem to go away like they always just kind of linger there. Does he have a setback during the week? So I would like to see the Carolina Panthers have a pass completion that goes for more than 14 yards. I want to see that. I want to see a pass that goes more than 14 yards. I don't care if it's a catch-up run or a deep shot more than 14 yards. But scheme is going to be important, Chris because this is a, a Saints defense that picked off Ryan Tanny Hill three times. Ryan Tannahill was, was Ryan Tanny Hill was below 50% completion percentage and they also had 11 pass breakups. You actually mentioned Cam Jordan. Cam Jordan at the line of scrimmage even had multiple pass breakups himself, he had two of them. So not only batting balls down the line of Srinagar again, and this is the week where, you know, I, I kind of wonder what they're gonna do with somebody like Levis Shano, right? Like if other, other guys had a hard time getting open, we saw against the Atlanta Falcons, um maybe DJ chart comes back and so maybe you have that tall big receiver that's also AAA threat over the top. But then who else can you uh get the ball to that can make people miss in space that can make, uh make those plays. And we've seen that a lot from uh Levis Chan and if, and, and I might be getting this wrong, but I believe that one of his long touchdown runs from last season was against the Saints last year at home against, uh uh you know, for the Carolina Panthers, I could be getting that wrong, but I, I want to see how they're gonna use Levis Channa in his uh in, in that gadget type of way because it didn't feel like they used him a lot like that against the Atlanta Falcons. Now, Frank Reich is a smart guy. He's not gonna show his, his whole hand in one game. Uh So I, I feel like we're probably gonna see some new stuff that we didn't see. Last week. We did question Scheme, scheme, scheme scheme we kept hearing. So what, what new wrinkles to the scheme are we gonna be able to see uh against this team? Because I, I know you didn't show your full hand last week. Uh And will Levis should not be a part of that. That's the thing. I'd be interested to look at. Third key. You mentioned this, Chris uh before we started recording this episode, the Saints offensively, they rushing attack as a whole only 69 yards. Some people might say that's nice, but in the NFL, maybe not so much now they are missing Alvin Kumara who's suspended right now, but Jamal Williams just 45 yards on 18 carries uh offensively. So the rushing attack really wasn't there, but I will say this. They got some receivers on the outside that are a real threat. I'm sorry, Michael Thomas, Michael Thomas ain't been healthy in a long time but, but he's good and he had a lot of targets. He had five catches last week. But last time I checked Chris Olave also on the other side of him, who that's gonna be tough to cover, that's gonna be a really tough test. And again, we talked about CJ Henderson before CJ Henderson. This is not only a big-time test for you, but this is, these are some big boys you're going up against, right? Like these are some of the best receivers in the NFL now. I know that we've barely seen Michael Thomas over the last couple of years. So Panthers fans haven't really had the chance, haven't really had to worry about him. He's back and he's gonna want to prove that he was worth that big contract that he signed a few years ago. Plus you got Chris Olave who's gonna want to get paid in a few years, uh, himself. So, uh, that's gonna be very tough. So, already, you know, as you said, if we can hold them to only 69 yards, like, uh, like the Titans did, that would be nice. That's a nice number. It's, it, it'd be nice for the Panthers defense, but we do know that the Saints do have Gadgets themselves. Taysom Hill, right. And, you know, Dennis Allen, he was around Sean Payton all those years and I'm pretty sure he's looking at that film and he's seeing that the Panthers run defense can be vulnerable. So how can we potentially use Jason Hill to add in to our, our poor, um, you know, running attack that we had against the Titans. But then also we're gonna go after CJ Henderson because we're gonna make you prove what you're gonna do. So whoever's lining up on his side, whether it's gonna be Michael Thomas Chris or whomever else CJ Henderson has to be ready. And if the Carolina Panthers can hold, uh, that passing attack down from and, and also make, uh, Derek Carr just extremely uncomfortable. They can do that keep the, uh rushing attack to a nice number like 69 yards. Then then the Saints are not gonna be able to move the ball at all. They only scored 16 points against the Titans, right? So this might be a low scoring game for on both ends, but maybe you guys can squeak out a win. Uh If you can keep that passing attack down. I I think the, the Panthers are going to be tested in a different way because we saw with the, with the Falcons, they didn't really trust Desmond Ritter to go downfield. They didn't, I think he had one pass that traveled more than like 15 air yards downfield. Everything was like checked down low with, with Robinson rush game with Robinson and Al Geer. Uh So everything was, was down low and it was just really methodical. Uh which is why the first, the second half looked different for Brian Burns. People were talking about Brian Burns but they were getting that ball out a lot quicker in the second half. So don't, don't get on Brian burns' case. He did his job that he did. But these guys, the Saints have the outside threats to really stretch the field down again with Thomas and Olave. Uh So it's gonna be a different, different stress on the secondary. Uh for the Carolina Panthers going into this one. You, you have to stretch the field when you're only getting 69 yards rushing. Right. Exactly. Exactly. My prediction for this game coming up, first team to score more than 20 points wins. I'm dead serious. I think this is, I, I think it's gonna be low scoring because Panthers only scored 10 in their game. The Saints won their first game against the Titans 16 to 15. Like that's it. Like we're not, we're not talking about a couple offensive juggernauts going out here. All right, like, like, let's be honest, I think the first one to team team to get to 20 points wins this game, this does feel kind of like a, uh a 20 to 17 or 21 to 17 kind of feel for, for a game. And I, I think the Carolina Panthers, they could have won the last game. Uh, but we saw what turnovers did for them. Um But how fast does Bryce Young bounce back from that? Like, and so that's one of the things I'm looking at, you had Jesse Bates last week. You got Marshawn Lattimore this week. So you're gonna go up against some big boys who know what they're doing, uh, in the NFL. Um, how can you, uh, you know, not get, so I wouldn't call it confused but, uh, you know, Frank Wright said it, you know, Jesse Bates was, was breaking the rules. You think he's gonna do one thing? But he did something else. So he tricked Bryce Young at a certain point. Um, so realized that you're gonna have to do something different with the ball, uh, with that. But this is definitely a winnable game for the Carolina Panthers. And what I've said before, I hope they get out of September at least one and two. And this is the most winnable game out of the three that they have in the, in the month of September, I think. II I hate using this term so early in the season, but you don't want to fall. Oh, and two in the division as well. That's the last thing you don't wanna start. Oh, and two in the division that kinda has that must win feel. It really kind of has a must win feel because you don't want to be not only just oh and two in the season. Oh, and two in the division as well. All right, Chris, let's wrap things up here. Uh, you and I love the state of North Carolina, one of our own Cohen from bun high school, which is right up near Raleigh, which is where we're located, went to North Carolina A and T State University now is part of the Carolina Panthers organization. He signed with the practice squad. Uh, he hasn't played in a, in a few seasons because of multiple injuries. He had an achilles injury, uh, as well as an AC L and MC L injury as well. Nice to see him back just 28 years old. Uh, that very time. Like he's not very big. He's like 561 81 I think is what he's listed at. But man, that dude is fast and is explosive and might be a guy. The Panthers turned to in a couple of weeks to help with the return game. It might be a little play wrinkled here or a little wrinkle here and there as a play offensively for him, tell you a little bit about Tarique Cohen. Um He might be only 1 81 or whatever, but that is a thick 1, 81 because that dude is built and so he's not gonna be easy to get down. Um I covered Tariq at A and T and um was had a lot of fun doing so because boy, he was the most explosive player that I think I've ever covered uh on the college ranks and I mean, just play after play, you saw that a little bit uh with his time with the Chicago Bears, especially on special teams. Um He's somebody who can, who has the ability to change the game uh with one play. And so, um I'm excited for him just mainly because this has been a tough two years. He uh tore his a cli believe and also maybe his MC L let go of the Chicago Bears came back, was trying to work. His way back was overweight. Goes on Instagram live and on Instagram live tears his achilles and admitted today in the locker room again, we're recording on Wednesday that uh he thought about quitting that, he thought it was over, you know, he was thinking his career was done. And uh as he kind of kept getting back in shape and rehabbing started getting that itch back and was uh rehabbing in high point, North Carolina pretty nice place. Uh If I do say so myself and got himself back, right. And uh I'm excited for him on a personal level just because I've covered the guy. Uh I, I've had a great time like being around him. He's, he's one of the uh best athletes I I've ever covered from just a, a personal standpoint, like as a person, he's a good person. And um and I'm, I'm rooting for him, man, North, this is a big time North Carolina story. And if he can make, if he can complete this comeback and get back on an NFL field and, and be productive while doing so, this is a win win in any situation but will he get his explosiveness back. He did have an AC L and an achilles. There. No medicine is a lot better this year, uh these days, but that those are still devastating injuries to try to come back from. All right, real quick on that. Uh Mike Glennon, former NFL player, former teammate of Tyrique Owens, uh in Chicago, uh, was on, uh, on the drive with Tim Donnelly, which is a part of our, uh, uh 99 9, the fan lineup from 3 to 6 on 99 9. The fan, Mike Glennon told Tim Donnelly, there are three players that, that he's experienced in the NFL that have just difference making speed. One Tyrique Hill to Antonio Brown three, Tarik Cohen if he can get back to anywhere close to that big time, get. But here's one thing I will say as a running back, we can wrap up on this. We was talking about running backs as they age the wear and tear on their bodies. Tyrique Cohen has never been in between the tackles runner in the NFL. So he doesn't have all the cumulative and his, he just doesn't, he doesn't. So, yeah, he doesn't have a 28 year old running back body. He just doesn't. Uh, so if, if he's, if he's healthy and has rehabbed his body, he got his back right. This could be a real big time addition, uh to the Carolina Panthers. I hope I, I hope to see him on a, in a Panthers uniform on the field on a coming Sunday. You never know. Maybe even next week when they, when they go to, when they travel to Seattle, you never know. Uh, we might see it that quickly. He also could be Lavis number two. So that's something to look out for the same things that they're, they're planning to do with Levis Shano. You could probably put Tarique Cohen in those same spots. He's just shorter. So we'll see what happens with it. We'll see that. Make sure again you like subscribe, leave us comments down below. We will have another episode Monday night after the Carolina Panthers. Hopefully when he gets to New Orleans Saints, Chris is gonna be, you're gonna be down there at Bank of America Stadium. So we'll have exclusive interviews from in the locker room live reaction from right after the game. Again, Chris is gonna be at Bank of America. We'll I have that for you. So again, make, make sure you subscribe, hit the notification bell and again, go into the description. We have a link down there for you for our podcast links as well. So you can take us with you when you're driving to work on Tuesday morning to get a full reaction to the Carolina Panthers, hopefully beating the New Orleans Saints uh until Monday night. Enjoy your weekend. Enjoy, hopefully some cool weather. Stay safe. We'll see you on Monday night.