For Carolina Panthers rookie OT Ickey Ekwonu, it won’t get much harder than Week 1
Ickey Ekwonu, the rookie left tackle for whom the Carolina Panthers have such high hopes, has drawn a first-game assignment akin to taking a college chemistry final during the first week of class.
Ekwonu is scheduled to face Cleveland All-Pro defensive end Myles Garrett in Week 1. Ekwonu will try to protect Baker Mayfield’s blindside against a Browns player who had a career-high 16 sacks in 2021 and is also undoubtedly motivated to sack his former teammate.
“I’m diving in head-first,” Ekwonu said Monday with a smile.
The Panthers drafted Ekwonu at No. 6 overall in April for moments just like this one. Garrett can wreak havoc on a game — he’s a three-time Pro Bowler and one of “the best of the best,” as Ekwonu said.
Still, Ekwonu said he would be ready.
“I’ve been going against a Pro Bowler already every day in training camp,” Ekwonu said. “Shout-out to Brian Burns.”
As good as Burns is, though, he hasn’t yet been the dominant NFL force that Garrett has been. Burns has never reached double-digit sacks in the league. Garrett’s last four NFL season sack totals read like this: 13.5, 10, 12 and then the 16 in 2021.
Ekwonu (6-4, 320) was famed at N.C. State for his pancake blocks, where he often drilled an opponent to the ground, especially on running plays. His NFL-level pass protection, though, is a work in progress. Expect the Panthers to try to help him some with an extra blocker Sunday — either with a tight end or a running back who can chip Garrett.
“We’ll try to do some things to help him,” Panther head coach Matt Rhule said of Ekwonu, “but we can’t do that the whole game…. I want Ickey to go out and compete and play. Things are going to happen that are good, and things are going to happen that he has to learn from…. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Ickey. He’s here for a reason.”
Ekwonu, who grew up in Charlotte before attending N.C. State, said Monday he would have at least 20 friends and family at the game. His mother was handling ticket requests, he said.
“There should be a pretty good Ickey crowd there,” he said.
When asked if he would rather face a mid-level defensive end in his first NFL game instead of an All-Pro one, Ekwonu said: “I can’t really choose my battles, so I can’t answer that question. Whoever’s in front of me, I have a job to do, they have a job to do, and may the best man win.”
Said Burns, who has had a front-row seat to Ekwonu’s first training camp and beat him cleanly a number of times early in camp one-on-one battles: “Ickey has made some huge leaps from training camp to now… We’ve been trying to give him some tricks of the trade of D-Ends.”
Ping Pong tables in locker room
Several players pointed to the two Ping Pong tables now in the middle of the locker room as being good for camaraderie. Wide receiver DJ Moore said they contributed to a team environment. Burns said they had led to players from different units to talking with each other more. “Guys who won’t usually talk are talking now because of Ping Pong,” Burns said.
The best players on the team? Either Christian McCaffrey or kick returner Andre Roberts, Burns said.
“Christian is low-key like the sensei, and I’m like the young grasshopper,” Burns said.
Baker Mayfield update
Rhule said starting quarterback Baker Mayfield was “locked in and in the moment” as he prepares to face his old team Sunday.
“Very competitive guy, very fiery guy,” Rhule said of Mayfield, who was named the starting quarterback over Sam Darnold two weeks ago. Darnold has since gotten hurt, so P.J. Walker will be Mayfield’s backup in Week 1. “But the stories you hear, the stories I certainly heard, are not what I see. I mean he’s a true, true, true professional…. I think he’s a great teammate and great leader. I think our guys are gonna rally around him.”
Mayfield is scheduled to speak to the media Wednesday.
Jackson in FSU gear?
Expect Donte Jackson to show up in Florida State gear on Wednesday at practice. Jackson, the Panther cornerback who went to LSU, lost a bet to Burns when the Tigers had an extra point blocked at the end of regulation and lost to the Seminoles Sunday, 24-23.
Jackson’s mood wasn’t helped when Rhule began the Monday morning team meeting by showing the blocked LSU extra point as evidence that “every play matters.”
Rhule also showed players excerpts from the end of the UNC-Appalachian State game — won by UNC, 63-61, despite 40 points from App State in the fourth quarter — as evidence of the same thing.
This story was originally published September 6, 2022 at 5:47 AM with the headline "For Carolina Panthers rookie OT Ickey Ekwonu, it won’t get much harder than Week 1."
