Some people prefer vanilla and some prefer chocolate. And on Saturday, the Carolina Panthers definitely preferred vanilla.
Following his team’s 27-0 loss to the New York Jets in the preseason opener, head coach Frank Reich admitted to reporters that the offense took a “very generic” approach—as not to reveal too much of their game plan. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown was asked about that on Tuesday.
“Our approach, regardless if it’s ‘vanilla’ or if it’s dynamic from a playbook standpoint, execution is the overall goal,” he said. “So it’s always frustrating every time you don’t get the results you’ve been workin’ on, especially going against that same opponent you had some success against earlier in the week, in the joint practice—which is practice vs. the game. But it’s definitely frustrating. But, it’s still a preseason game. We’re excited about gettin’ back to work.”
Reich, Brown and the offense didn’t do much work in their first exhibition outing. The Panthers amassed all of 199 total yards against the Jets, with 35 of those coming during the final minute of garbage time.
Brown then offered some insight into how he and Reich came together to meld their mindsets into one.
“I would say it was less of taking the Rams’ playbook and the Coach playbook and puttin’ together, and more of breakin’ down both systems,” said Brown, who worked under Los Angeles head coach Sean McVay. “Starting all over again from ground zero. To everything from general information, how we ID fronts, our formations, shifts, our motions, the snap counts. Obviously, buildin’ to the more complex things when it comes to motion adjustment—whether it be backfield motions, receiver motions, tight end motions. And also tryin’ to figure out how it best fits our players to get those guys the best shot to have success on game day.”
So, are they going to give them a shot on Friday against the New York Giants?
“Well, we’ll see,” he said with a smile. “We’ll see. I think, again, the score always matters. I mean, we’re in a results-driven business. But during this time of year, it’s definitely more about the evaluation process and tryin’ to find the best guys to make this roster down the road. Maybe we’ll have a couple more wrinkles we’ll throw in here and there. But to me, regardless of that, it’s more about the execution.”
