Foxhole: Team Captains

Guess who's a team captain again.

Foxhole: Team captains
September 7, 2006

Panthers.com

Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.


On team captains: On offense, we've got Jake Delhomme and Mike Wahle. On defense, we have Mike Minter and Dan Morgan. Then on special teams Karl Hankton. Those were voted by the team.

On the status of wide receiver Steve Smith: Right now, he's day-to-day and when it gets closer to that time, it will be a game day decision.

On the development of linebacker Thomas Davis: Going all the way back to when we drafted Thomas, he had been both a linebacker and safety in college. Most recently he had been a safety. We really envisioned him as being a linebacker. Due to some team needs a year ago, we put him at safety. We went down that road and then we moved him back to linebacker and then really created a position for him by using some different packages, and those were primarily linebacker roles. Starting this year, we lined him up at the Sam linebacker position, left him there and I think his growth has been tremendous.

On if Davis is more comfortable this season: No question. I would expect that. Any first-year player is at a disadvantage. He's competing against people that have been doing it multiple years. It's no different for any rookie. In fact, when we had to change positions with him, it didn't make his job any easier either. He's a fine, young player who has worked very hard, and our coaches have done a good job bringing him up to speed at the linebacker position.

On if he would have moved Davis around so much as a rookie if he had it to do over again: If our team was totally healthy and we wouldn't have had injuries. The Colin Branch injury very early on had something to do with that. You only get to keep 53 guys and you just try to do the best you can with what you have. Unfortunately, that situation included him moving around. I wasn't done purposely. It was done out of necessity.

 

Hankton being voted as ST captain is the only thing that keeps him on this roster. The moment someone else is voted in as ST captain, Hank is gone.

But I doubt that'll happen.

 

Well, you make the team first.

Karl will be the first 50 year old team captain playing special teams.

Get em Gramdpa!

 

him physically being voted captain doesn't get him a pass. Him doing what gets him voted captain is what keeps him.

 

like having 8 tackles a year

:229031_ha

 

Hankton is the most useless player on this team. I don't know how he hangs on. It's not like he's irreplaceable. They keep him to just play special teams and he's just not special. They can't use him as a receiver, because he can't catch a cold. I don't get it.

 

Picking up doughnuts and coffee for the coaching staff?

 

He must have some serious intangibles to keep being voted captain this long.