During Monday’s practice at the Carolina Panthers training camp in Charlotte, offensive guard Robert Hunt drew attention during one-on-one pass-rush drills. Lined up against defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, Hunt demonstrated his strength and technique by holding his ground and stopping Robinson’s advance.
Robinson, who is listed at 6-foot-3 and 320 pounds, recorded 5.5 sacks last season and played a career-high number of snaps. Panthers head coach Dave Canales commented on Robinson’s preparation for the season: “A’Shawn looks great,” Canales said. “A’Shawn has worked, you can tell this summer, you can tell this spring, just really taking care of his body. . . . He’s looked really explosive. He’s playing with length.”
The moment highlighted not only Hunt’s individual power but also the team’s focus on building size and strength on both sides of the ball. Head coach Canales addressed how padded practices shift the balance toward offensive linemen: “Absolutely,” Canales replied when asked about the offensive line balancing the scales in practice once pads go on. “It’s like having handlebars out there when there’s shoulder pads, you know, there’s a lot more surface to grip inside for the O-linemen where they can really get in there and steer.”
Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu acknowledged Hunt’s performance after the drill with respect.
Running back Chuba Hubbard noted that players were eager for full-contact practices this year: “I think this year, everybody was eager to get pads on offense and defense, and that kind of shows the state of where our team’s at right now,” Hubbard said. “Guys want to play football, guys want to hit, guys want to be aggressive, and that’s what you want. . . .
“I think they brought the right guys in obviously last year and we already had a bunch of great guys here already and I think just building that chemistry throughout the throughout the season, working with the guys, it just started to come together perfectly and this year we’re just looking to build off that so yeah it’s great.”
