Week one of the Carolina Panthers OTA sessions has come and gone. Here is what you need to know from Thursday’s session that was open to the media.

Yes, Cam Newton was in attendance, but his official activity was limited to light drills and rehab. Unofficially, Newton was the cheerleader for the Carolina Panther offense. After each impressive offensive play, Cam would walk over to the defense and make sure they took notice. Of course, Thomas Davis usually took exception to Cam’s jawing. Newton is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and is expected to be ready for training camp.

The starting wide receivers for the day were Kelvin Benjamin and Russell Shepard. Devin Funchess did not participate in practice due to turning an ankle during Wednesdays practice. Kelvin Benjamin has had much of the attention lately, which is a shame. Russell Shepard should probably be getting a fair share of it. Shepard looks like an upgrade over Philly Brown at this point. If he continues to impress, one has to wonder who he will be taking targets away from on Sundays?

It looks Panthers rookie nickel Corn Elder has already jumped ahead of Zack Sanchez on the depth chart. Because of James Bradberry’s absence, Captain Munnerlyn played on the outside most of practice. In his place at starting nickel was Corn Elder. It was a mild surprise that the chance happened so quickly. Conventional thinking was that the rookies play behind the veterans during offseason workouts. Apparently not the case this year.

Thursday was the media’s first opportunity to get a look at newly acquired left tackle Matt Kalil. One aspect of Kalil’s transition that is not talked about is the upgrade at guard he will now be playing next to. Having Andrew Norwell on his right side could make a world of difference. This would be welcome news to a player with still many questions to be answered.

You should be excited about the prospects of Vernon Butler and Kawann Short playing together this season.

Both players have the ability to play on the inside as well as the outside of the defensive line. I suspect Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is chomping at the bit to use them together in more creative ways.

General Ramblings from Practice

Shaq Thompson is a fast linebacker. I mean, Shaq Thompson is a really fast linebacker. At one point Thompson was assigned to cover speedster Damiere Byrd on a crossing route. Thompson kept up with Byrd step for step and broke up the pass from Derek Anderson. I can’t say that many NFL linebackers would have been able to accomplish this.

Undrafted free agent corner Cole Luke was very impressive today with more than one pass broken up. There is a serious lack of depth at corner on the Carolina Panthers roster this year. If ever there was a time for an undrafted corner to come in and make some noise, it is now.

Blaine Clausell spent quite a bit of time at left tackle today, but I would not read much into it at this point. The Panthers typically try different personnel along the offensive line during OTAs. Still, worth noting and keeping an eye on.

Charlotte’s Austin Duke nearly had the play of the day, beating Zack Sanchez on a long ball. Duke was able to haul in the pass, but sadly he was a step out of bounds as the ball was slightly overthrown from Joe Webb.