The Carolina Panthers open up the 2020 NFL season at home versus the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, and with very little tape for either team due to a shortened offseason and no preseason, Carolina has one new addition that has brought some insight on this week's opponent.
Linebacker Tahir Whitehead, who signed with the Panthers this offseason, spent the last two years with the Raiders and has done his best to pass along as much knowledge and game-planning as he can to his new teammates.
"Everything," Whitehead responded when asked what his teammates have picked his brain about the Raiders. "You see (Jon) Gruden's track record from an offensive standpoint. He is who he is. They are who they are from an offensive standpoint. They have a good back in (Josh) Jacobs and a good tight end in (Darren) Waller and they're going to try and run the ball and take some deep-shots. Nothing really major that you can't tell from the tape."
With Whitehead as one of the few veterans on an extremely young defense, the Panthers will need any tips they can to stop Vegas tight end Darren Waller and running back Josh Jacobs, who are the Raiders' top offensive threats.
"The fact that he's like 6-foot-6 in change and can run like a dang-on wide receiver," Whitehead said about Waller. "I think that presents a lot of matchups issues. You can get a bigger guy on him and get him at the line scrimmage or if he runs away you can get a smaller guy on him and he might not be able to jump and you can box him out. At the end of the day, it comes down to technique. You gotta use your help and it'll take care of everyone else."
Whitehead has also prepared Carolina for the big threat that Jacobs presents.
"He's a tough runner. He runs angry," Whitehead said. "I've let the guys know that we're gonna have to gang-tackle him. No shoe-string tackles, arm tackles are gonna bring him down. He's not gonna run out of bounds. He's a down-hill, one-cut runner. He's shifty enough to make a move on you and go the distance. We can't expect it to be a tackle or easy down when the ball is in his hands cause he's looking to get to the end zone."
With all the advice and preparation, the Panthers still won't really get a true idea of what they're working with on the young defense until Sunday.
"At the end of the day it's going to come down on whether or not we focus in on the details and we don't beat ourselves," Whitehead said. "As cliche' as it may sound, each and every game and week-to-week on a year-to-year basis, it comes down to the teams that make the least amount of mistakes. I think for us, not having preseason where you get an opportunity to go tackle live and things like that, tackling may be an issue but I think we've done a great job at being in tune with the detail and all that stuff so we have 11 heads at the ball and we tackle properly."
While Whitehead's background with the Raiders will be especially important this week, he will also be a big part in helping this young Carolina defense grow as the season goes on.
"Tahir has been just a tremendous, tremendous, presence on defense. He's a true professional," head coach Matt Rhule said. "I think he'll go out there and play really hard on Sunday."
Even Las Vegas head coach Jon Gruden, who coached Whitehead the last two years, still has high praise.
"He's going to be one of your leading tacklers," Gruden said. "I wish him the very best and I can't wait to see him. I know Matt Rhule respects him having coached him in college...He gave us everything he had."
Other takeaways from Panthers media sessions on Wednesday:
Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore said he's extremely confident for the start of the season and had some high praise for his new fellow receiver, Robby Anderson.
"As far as the person Robby is, he's cool, calm and more laid back than I am. It's great to have him in the room. He might not say a lot but he's collecting all the things going on around him," Moore said. "He's a player that is sneaky. You can lose him in the game plan and he can go for 100 yards and you won't even know because that's the type of player he is. Until he's noticed and gets the recognition he deserves, he's always going to be under the radar and make big plays that nobody is expecting."
The confidence also remains high in quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who will finally show what he can do in his first game with the Panthers.
Moore said he's 100 percent confident in Bridgewater and Rhule continues to have high praise in his QB.
"I'm just so anxious to see Teddy get out there and play. You say Joe Brady's offense but I think it's Teddy's offense as much as anyone right now," Rhule said. "He's gotta take the reigns. Joe has a great game plan and the offensive staff will call the game but it's Teddy's turn now to go distribute the ball. We have a bunch of playmakers and we gotta get the ball spread out and I think Teddy will do that.
"The Raiders will present us with a lot of challenges in terms of what they can do defensively and Teddy's job on Sunday will be equally physical as well as mental."
For Bridgewater, he's just making sure to stay in the right mindset.
"My mindset throughout my career has always been once I step foot between those white lines, everything outside the white lines don't matter," Bridgewater said. "There's a three, sometimes four-hour window where I can really just focus on one thing. That's the common goal of the team. I'm in paradise when I'm doing that. I can't control the fans or my family things. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that I have a Panthers logo on my helmet, name on the back of my jersey and team name on the front of my jersey."