Former Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had some criticism of the practice structure implemented by head coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Joe Brady during their first season at the helm in Carolina.
Rhule responded to that criticism on Wednesday saying he was disappointed Bridgewater didn’t believe in their structure but they have confidence in the way they prepare their team each week.
“I’m not going to delve into specifics about our process, some of that is specific to us,” Rhule said, via Darin Gantt of the Panthers’ website. “But I feel really good about our preparation, and the amount of work our coaches put in and the amount of work our players put in. The amount of practice work, I think we push them in a really smart way.”
Bridgewater said in a podcast appearance that the Panthers would do very little work on red zone sequences or two-minute drills throughout the week. The reps that they did get in those scenarios came mostly during walkthrough practices and in limited numbers.
“One thing we didn’t do much of when I was there, we didn’t practice two minute, really. We didn’t practice red zone. . . . You walk through the red zone stuff and then Saturday you come out and practice red zone, but you’d only get like 15 live reps. Guys’ reps would be limited,” Bridgewater said.
Rhule was complimentary of Bridgewater but expressed disappointment he didn’t have the same feelings about the way the team practiced last year
“When you have 140 guys in a locker room, guys will disagree on some things sometimes,” Rhule said. “You can’t ask everyone to agree with everything. ... But I feel really good about what we do, I want to make sure to say I feel really good about the way we practice and our process. I’m disappointed to hear he didn’t feel the same way.”
