Beason hits training camp early

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Jon Beason is no longer a rookie, but this part of training camp is all new to him.

Beason was one of the early arrivals yesterday as members of the Carolina Panthers checked into their dorm rooms at Wofford College for the start of training camp.

Beason wasn't around for Day One last year.

He didn't join the team until the second week of training camp because of a contract dispute, eventually missing eight days and 11 practices before signing and joining the team.

Maybe that's why he was so eager to get checked in early yesterday.

"I feel like a rookie, missing eight days, 11 practices," Beason said. "So it's going to be pretty new to me having to stay the full camp this year. I'm excited, happy to be here."

Yesterday was a day the Panthers used to settle in, take physical exams and have meetings. They'll start two-a-day practices this morning on the Wofford practice field. Their first preseason game is scheduled for Aug. 9 against Indianapolis at Bank of America Stadium.

Beason, a 6-0, 237-pound middle linebacker, was the team's first-round draft choice last season, taken with the 25th pick. He became the second-longest holdout in the NFL last year before signing a five-year, $12.5 million deal that included a $3.2 million signing bonus. His agent, Michael Huyghue, eventually relented on a second-year option bonus that the Panthers refused to give.

Beason said yesterday that he's glad those days are behind him.

"It was tough," he said.

"As a player, you just want to play. The business aspect is new for a rookie. You don't know about the contract stuff and what your agent is telling you, so you just have to have confidence in them.

"Then you come in late and they had 30 different defenses already in. I had to stay late and try to get caught up at once."

Beason overcame the late arrival in training camp and was a starter at weak-side linebacker in time for the regular-season opener. He moved to middle linebacker on a full-time basis in the fifth game, after Dan Morgan was lost for the rest of the season with an Achilles injury. And by season's end, he had emerged as the Panthers' most productive defensive player.

He finished the season with a franchise-record 160 tackles, and became the first rookie in franchise history to lead the team in tackles. He had a season-high 17 tackles against Dallas in the next-to-last game, then closed out with 14 tackles at New Orleans in the season finale.
Beason said he expects to be even more productive this season.

"I didn't really become a full-time starter until Week 5, I think," Beason said. "Doing it again shouldn't be as hard, especially with how good our defense is this year. It's going to be hard for guys to key on me when I have other guys around me playing well. And it's different because there's a comfort level. I'm laid back, no jitters, not nervous at all."

He's excited about the linebacker corps. Veterans Na'il Diggs and Thomas Davis, who started at the weak-side and strong-side linebacker spots after Beason moved to the middle, return. And, the team signed free agent Landon Johnson, a former starter in Cincinnati, and drafted Penn State's Dan Connor in the third round.

"That's definitely one of our strong suits," Beason said. "If anybody, God forbid, gets hurt, we can just rotate guys. The second team is just as good as the first team."

Beason is clearly the head of the corps, even if he is just in his second season.

"I think I've earned the right to be a leader," he said. "I think the guys on the defense respect me. So I'm just going to have to live up to last year's expectations and this year's expectations."

(journalnow.com)