Williams faces old foe
By Andrew Mason
Panthers.com

CHARLOTTE — John Fox hasn’t had to do much motivating during organized team activities. His players have found it in the foul taste that lingers from the Panthers’ playoff loss to Arizona.

But it’s always helpful to give a reminder — especially when the players are about to scatter for the next six and a half weeks prior to training camp. The final words are the ones that linger in the mind, which was why Fox chose to close with a reminder of the 33-13 loss.

“It’s like that elephant in the room; it’s there,” Fox said. “You can’t pretend that it’s not. But I think guys have felt that, and I’ve seen that through their work this offseason — both in conditioning and in football opportunities, whether it was minicamp or OTAs.”

“It definitely hurts when you think about it,” added middle linebacker Jon Beason. “It comes up in conversation a lot among guys in the locker room. So it’s good that we’re conscious of it.”

From the pain of the loss comes motivation. From motivation, the Panthers believe, will rise a better result.

“You look at that game — we know we could beat them,” Beason said. “And that’s the disappointing part of it. At the end of the day, we know we’re good enough to play with them, and on that day, we didn’t get it done. So all we can do know is come out, compete every day and get better.”

Motivation wouldn’t be an issue regardless, but a little extra never hurt.

“If you don’t have a chip on your shoulder, I don’t know why you’re playing this game,” Beason said.
Vacation?

While many Panthers will scatter to points near and far between now and their arrival for training camp on Aug. 2, Beason doesn’t plan to stray far — or for long. The final stages of his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery preclude it.

“Vacation? Oh, man, this is where the real work starts for me,” he said. “You’re coming off an injury. I’m just trying to come back ready to go.

“When you get this personal time like this, you’ve got to take full advantage. I get away on the weekends — fly here, fly there — but during the week it’s all business.”

For those who will not be regulars at Bank of America Stadium for the next few weeks, what Fox asks is that they don't lose their mental edge between now and August.

“I think they go off, they get their mind right — and that’s the most important muscle in the body, when (the mind) shuts down, it all shuts down," he said. “We’re getting ready for a marathon, and I just wanted to make sure everybody was accountable as we departed and (prepare to) come back Aug. 2.”

Added left tackle Jordan Gross: “(Fox tells us) to be smart. ‘I don’t want to read about anybody in the paper unless you win the lottery.’ That’s what he always says. Hopefully we’ll read about somebody (winning). Just enjoy the time away, rest up ... and when the season (arrives), you don’t have any excuses not to be fresh.”

Fresh, but ready. The next month and a half must be about more than rest and relaxation — even for Gross, who plans to be by a river in Idaho by Monday.

“You do a lot in the offseason here from winter until now to get back in shape and get your strength up," he said. “It’d be silly to lose it over the summer.”

Split seconds
Jonathan Stewart cited a sore Achilles tendon as the reason he didn’t practice at all during minicamp and summer school, but Fox doesn't expect his injury to be an issue going forward. “He’s had some little issues medically, but we put it in the medical people’s hands. We’ve seen good progress. We’re most interested in having him ready for the season.”

Stewart ran windsprints with his teammates at the end of practice, as did tight end Dante Rosario, who was recovering from a back injury throughout OTAs. Rosario and Stewart were present at all the sessions, standing on the sideline for the most part. Stewart would often head into the huddle to listen to the offensive play calls

•With wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad not on hand Tuesday, Dwayne Jarrett saw action with the first team.