CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -Practice ran long, there was less joking around and receiver Steve Smith used his earsplitting air horn to make it clear it was time for reporters to leave the locker room.
After a seven-turnover, 38-10 embarrassment in Week 1, there was a sense the Carolina Panthers have already reached a critical point in the 2009 season.
“This is where a lot of teams are made and where a lot of teams fall normally during as season,” linebacker Na’il Diggs said Wednesday. “How you start is pretty big.”
Diggs brought up the opener in San Diego last year, saying Jake Delhomme’s game-winning touchdown pass to Dante Rosario as time expired “catapulted them” to a 12-4 record and the NFC South title.
Now the Panthers can only hope the first road game Sunday in Atlanta can serve as a mulligan of sorts after the Philadelphia debacle.
“We’re going to have to go on the road and beat a very good team,” Diggs said. “It’s going to be more than important to put what’s happened in the past.”
Not after Delhomme threw four interceptions, lost a fumble and became the target of the home fans’ wrath. Not after the experienced offensive line couldn’t pick up the Eagles’ blitzes. Not after the running game vanished and the defense was overwhelmed with the Eagles starting field position.
“You can’t worry about making mistakes. You’ve just got to go out and play. That’s something I’ve always been able to do – and I didn’t do it well on Sunday,” Delhomme said. “How do you fix it? Well, it will be fixed. I promise you.”
As Delhomme talked Wednesday, several reporters slipped away when A.J. Feeley appeared from around the corner. A day after officially signing with Carolina to replace injured No. 2 QB Josh McCown, Feeley was scrambling to learn a “foreign” offense as compared to his last three seasons in Philadelphia.
Feeley, who said he spent 14 hours at Bank of America Stadium Tuesday, chose the Panthers over the Eagles when both teams called a day earlier looking for QB help.
“I loved those guys, but it was time to move on,” Feeley said of Philadelphia.
Feeley then indicated he hopes to not play this season. That would mean Delhomme has gotten out of his funk and the offense returned to its 2008 form.
les’ tendon, Stewart practiced and played last week.
But after managing 35 yards on 11 carries against the Eagles, Stewart was sitting out again Wednesday.
“It wasn’t a setback,” insisted coach John Fox. “We felt like he needed to take the day off.”
The Panthers abandoned the running game Sunday after falling behind big after the early turnovers. And while Delhomme took the heat, the experienced offensive line caved under Philadelphia’s elaborate blitz scheme.
Right tackle Jeff Otah, who was limited in practice with a sore shoulder, said the focus Wednesday was avoiding their numerous mental errors on blitz pickups.
“We’ve just got to do a better job working together, identifying the (middle linebacker) and things like that,” Otah said.
Of course if Delhomme’s turnover spree continues, nothing else will matter. There will be no chance in Atlanta of a stirring road victory like last season against the Chargers.
“We know he’s going to get better,” Diggs said of Delhomme. “We’re all going to get better. We’ve all made mistakes, too. Maybe not as evident, but we all had our hand in that game.
“Everybody is being accountable. He’s being accountable. Coaches are being accountable. So there’s nothing left than to go out and really prove ourselves and get better.”
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