SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Observations from the Carolina Panthers’ practice on Tuesday at Wofford College:

Off target: Quarterback Cam Newton has been sharp for most of camp, but that wasn't the case on this day. He was off on many of his throws, particularly deep passes over the middle and on the sideline. Coach Ron Rivera wasn’t concerned, noting Newton made the correct reads even though he missed the receiver. He also noted that Newton has shown with extra work in practice that he is headed in the right direction to increase his career completion percentage -- 59.5 -- that has been scrutinized by the media.

Sluggish finish: The tempo at practice on Monday was so good that the Panthers knocked 12 minutes off of the scheduled time. Today’s practice wasn’t quite as efficient, particularly in the two-minute drills at the end where it got sluggish. Neither Newton and the first-team offense nor Derek Anderson and the second-team offense were sharp.

One-handed catch: Newton made his usual one-handed catch at the start of practice.

Cam Newton never misses one handed catch to start practice. Today Derek Anderson did it. #Panthers pic.twitter.com/MfUOkPmwFO — David Newton (@DNewtonespn) August 18, 2015

That prompted the question: Why doesn’t backup quarterback Anderson ever do this? About the time those words were uttered Anderson did it. Sorry, no picture.

Non-message message: Rivera insisted he wasn’t sending a message to Frank Alexander on Monday when the defensive end went from first- to third-team reps. Take that for what it’s worth. Alexander continued to get third-team snaps early Tuesday before getting second-team snaps late. Rakim Cox continued to get most of the first-team reps at right end after having a good showing in the fourth quarter of Friday’s preseason win at Buffalo. But it’s clear Cox is better suited as a pass rusher. He was manhandled by left tackle Michael Oher in run drills.

One-on-one: The offensive line definitely got the best of the defensive line in one-on-one drills, but that didn’t translate over into team drills as the defense dominated.

Return game: Undrafted rookie Damiere Byrd was first up among Jordan Todman and Ted Ginn Jr. in returning kickoffs. He was one of the three -- Ginn and Brenton Bersin were the others -- punt returners. Byrd has shown flashes at wide receiver, but his best chance to make the final roster is on special teams.