Tux of Borg Posted June 20, 2005 Posted June 20, 2005 article Peppers leaves Panthers teammates in the dust By Joe Menzer JOURNAL REPORTER Friday, June 17, 2005 CHARLOTTE Training camp will open for the Carolina Panthers at Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., precisely six weeks from today. Until then, the lasting image from the team's June coaching sessions that wrapped up early yesterday will be of defensive end Julius Peppers beating the rest of his teammates in sprints - seemingly without breaking a sweat. Teammate Mike Minter watched in amazement as Peppers, at 6-6 and nearly 300 pounds, ran effortlessly in the 90-degree heat. Jerry Simmons, the Panthers' strength and conditioning coach, generally has the offensive and defensive linemen run in one group and everyone else - quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, linebackers and defensive backs - in another. The linemen are required to run a series of four sprints from one side of the football field to the other and back within 45 seconds; the others are required to make it in 35. Most players were required to do the series of four side-to-side sprints twice each at the end of yesterday's 90-minute workout. After watching Peppers finish 20 yards ahead of the nearest lineman on his first series, Minter challenged him. "I told him to run a 35 and he said, 'All right, I'll do it,' " Minter said. And then Peppers did. While many of his teammates faded badly on their second series of sprints, Peppers only seemed to get stronger. Minter shook his head after watching the display. "I'm impressed with everything this man does. Every day he does something to impress me," he said. "And that was his last (series). So you can just imagine a guy 300 pounds moving that fast across a field in a game. You saw them other guys out there, right? That just shows you how graceful he was running those things." Yes, the media saw the other guys out there. Drew Carter, a wide receiver who is coming off a serious knee injury, consistently led the second group to the finish line. But many others struggled behind him. Linebacker Sean Tufts made a point of finishing near the front in his first series. But he fell way back in his second, and then spent several minutes on his hands and knees afterward, looking as if he might lose his lunch before it was even lunchtime. No one looked as athletic or as well conditioned as Peppers in the sprints. And Minter said he thinks it means something. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what he'll do this year with (defensive tackle Kris) Jenkins (who missed most of last season with a shoulder injury) back in the middle," Minter said of Peppers. "I think he might break the sack record." That would be the NFL single-season sack record, which is held by Michael Strahan. He racked up 22 1/2 sacks in 2001 when his defensive coordinator with the New York Giants was John Fox, who now is head coach of the Panthers. Peppers has never had more than 12 in a season. Fox wasn't ready to talk about anyone breaking any sack records yesterday, but he did say he was pleased with how his players performed during the 11 coaching sessions that began June 1. Originally, Fox had three more sessions scheduled for next week. But he told his players he would send them home early if he liked what he saw from them in the first 11. "There was definitely potential for another week three days ago, the way we had been practicing," Fox said yesterday. "But I'm sure all of the players - not to mention the coaches and the media - were happy that we didn't decide to go those extra three days." Next for the Panthers is to report to training camp at Wofford on July 29. But Minter said no one will take it completely easy the next six weeks. He said that he expects all of the players will continue to do some conditioning work, with the idea that it will pay off on Sundays beginning in the fall. "We've got confidence as a football team," Minter said. "Now it's time to get ready to build on that."
Pete Posted June 20, 2005 Posted June 20, 2005 I would of loved to have traded up and drafted Peppers at #2 instead of Big Mike. I am a fan of big Mike but unblockable DEs I place a premium on. Carolina also has Mike Rucker and Kris Jenkins and Brenston Buckner. That defensive line is awesome!
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