Clausen’s early struggles at camp no big deal
The Carolina Panthers got rid of their long time franchise quarterback Jake Delhomme after he came off one of his worst seasons as a pro. The veteran was replaced during the mid way mark of the 2009 season by fourth-year quarterback Matt Moore. But the Panthers are not sure if Moore is their guy in the years to come.
Enter rookie Jimmy Clausen.
Three months after being drafted by the Carolina Panthers, Clausen’s chance to impress the coaching staff and his teammates went up in smoke. The rookie’s first taste in the NFL was bitter sweet as Clausen had trouble getting the snap from the centre and fumbled the ball early and often in his first workout of training camp.
Yes, the former star from Notre Dame will have to overcome an awful start to his professional career, but the good news is that this is just training camp. No real damage was done- except for his bruised ego.
After signing a four-year contract on Wednesday that could be worth up to $6.3 million, Clausen credited his poor play to “a little pre-practice jitters."
"I really don't think about it too often, but I'm sure it'll be in the back of my head," Clausen said. "That's one of the things that makes me strive to be the best quarterback I can be. Go out each and every day and work as hard as I can and try to be perfect."
As it stands, Clausen is third on the depth chart behind Moore and Hunter Cantwell. While the Panthers believe Clausen can someday become their franchise quarterback, Moore, who managed to salvage the Panthers’ season last year, is the projected starter heading into the season opener.
The former Fighting Irish quarterback’s plans for the next few weeks are twofold. The first, pass Cantwell on the depth chart to become the backup quarterback which would get him more reps with the first team. The second, overtake Moore’s position and become the Panthers signal caller.
"That's how you have to think. When you go out to practice you want to do as much as you can to be the starting quarterback," Clausen said. "At the end of the day, I can control only what I can control and the coaches are going to make the decisions, who's going to play and who's not going to play."
Coach John Fox steered clear from question pertaining to a few mechanics that Clausen needs to work on, but did mention that he needs practice time to get more comfortable in their system. Despite a few similarities with Clausen’s playbook in a collegiate level and in the pros, the Panthers’ playbook is more detailed, more complex and a lot bigger.
“I feel like I'm in a good position right now playing in an offence that I did at Notre Dame for three years," Clausen said. "At the same time you've got to get used of the speed. You've got to get used to different guys running routes. There's a lot of timing that goes into everything, so that's a big thing that I'm going to be working on in camp."
Both Clausen and Cantwell, who are ultimately competing for the second spot in the quarterback rotation, are expected to see a significant amount of playing time in the pre-season. For now, Carolina and Clausen will get back to work and continue fine tuning techniques at training camp.
Certainly the 48th pick in the second round of the draft will be looking to improve and do much better moving forward. He is set to resume camp as he gets ready for Carolina’s exhibition opener on 12 August against the Baltimore Ravens
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