CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A big piece of the Carolina Panthers’ offseason plans involved turning over the wide receiver room in the hopes of getting Bryce Young more downfield threats and players who can separate from coverage.
The Panthers traded for Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Diontae Johnson, drafted South Carolina’s Xavier Legette with the 32nd pick and let DJ Chark and Laviska Shenault Jr. leave in free agency. But they also need a couple of the returning receivers to step up, including Jonathan Mingo, last year’s second-round pick.
The Panthers took Mingo at No. 39 with the idea that the former Mississippi standout and Young would have a long, productive career together. That could still happen, although the early returns weren’t encouraging.
GO DEEPER
Taking stock of Panthers' roster after OTAs and minicamp: Who's up? Who's down?
Mingo started 14 games as a rookie and caught 43 passes for 418 yards. But he failed to score a touchdown, and his 50.6 catch percentage ranked as the fifth-worst among all receivers. If Adam Thielen, Johnson and Legette stay healthy, Mingo is unlikely to finish anywhere close to the 85 targets he had in 2023.
Advertisement
But the 23-year-old remains optimistic entering his second season. In an interview with The Athletic during minicamp, Mingo talked about his belief in himself and his route running, the negative energy surrounding the team during its 2-15 season, and his plans to hook up with Young this summer for throwing sessions.
(Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.)
You said you took time after the season to reflect and block out the noise. Was there a lot of noise last year?
I think NFL ball is different from college. We were losing a lot, so we had a lot of negative energy. I’m not really too big on social media. I’m very spiritual, so I don’t really care what the outside people gotta say. I don’t care what nobody thinks. I really just focus on myself, sitting down with myself in the mirror figuring out what I need to work on, things I need to improve on and stuff like that.
GO DEEPER
Panthers minicamp: 13 things we learned from Diontae Johnson to Bryce Young
Sometimes it seems like the media wants to give up on someone after one year, whether talking about Bryce or you. Do you sense that?
Like I said, I don’t care what nobody says. I’ve been betting on myself my whole life. I’ve been through it all. At the end of the day, it’s me versus me. So I’m gonna look myself in the mirror and figure out what I gotta do. I know what I bring to the table, and I know people haven’t seen the best of me yet. So that’s really all I’ve been focusing on this offseason. This offseason’s been going pretty good for me. Just been trying to go out there and prove the game slows down. Everything’s been going smoothly. Everything’s more relaxed. I feel good. I feel like we’re in a good spot going into the season.
When was a time you bet on yourself and won?
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always bet on myself. I always believed in myself going against the odds, even when people were sleeping on you. You’re just like a gambler. Sometimes you might lose, but you’re gonna win.
Advertisement
Did people doubt you at Ole Miss?
Probably did, I don’t know. I came behind A.J. Brown. So you’ve got big expectations. I didn’t have as big a numbers as him, but I ain’t A.J. Brown, though. That’s definitely somebody to look up to, though. I watch his games all the time. I watch him and DK (Metcalf) a lot.
Your route running was questioned last year. Was any of that justified? Is that an area where you think you can improve or was that overblown?
I think overblown. At the end of the day, I know I can run routes. I feel when it comes down to it, I’m a good route runner. I know what I can do when it comes to route running. People might try to say stuff. But when teams come to play us, they watch film, too. So they can see what routes are coming off (receivers’) splits. People don’t know game. They’re on the outside looking in. Just like we can see a defense and know what coverage they’re in. I know I can run routes. You’re not going to win all of ’em, but I’m damn sure gonna win the majority of ’em.
Do you think the way the receiver room has been remade will benefit you?
Yeah, Adam has always been a good role model to us. Everybody brings something different to the table. I used to like (receivers) coach (Shawn) Jefferson a lot last year. I like (new receivers coach) Rob Moore, too. They’re both good coaches, they just teach different. Coach Jefferson had a lot of energy to him. Rob Moore is more laid back, a good coach. Everything he teaches us translates to the game. But at the end of the day, we’re ballplayers. You’re getting paid to play ball, so sometimes you’ve gotta find your own way to make it work.
Hayden Hurst said last year there were too many voices in Bryce’s ear and all the chaos hurt his development. Do you think some of that — Frank Reich gets fired and they’re changing play callers again — hurt your development?
I ain’t gonna really say too much on that. When you start looking at the outside noise and start worrying about other people and trying to blame them, it’ll throw your game off. So I just try to focus on my game and get better. I know Bryce has made a lot of improvements this year. I feel like I made some strides last year. Some games I was getting hot, and some games I would just go cold. It’s the way the chips fall sometimes. But I know I got better as a football player at the end of the season. I gained more knowledge, too.
Was there a game or even a play or two at the end of the season that exemplified your progress?
I feel like I was making progress when we first played the Bucs and the Titans — route running being more comfortable and stuff. I had a lot of good routes last year. Being a receiver, everything doesn’t fall your way sometimes. It’s different from defense. On defense, you just gotta worry about your gap. But being a receiver, there are four things that gotta happen for you to get the ball.
GO DEEPER
Winners and losers of NFL offseason: Are Bills, Cowboys headed in wrong direction?
What are the four things? Protection?
It’s not even (just) protection. You could have good protection, but it might not be the right coverage. You can’t do nothing about that. You’ve got other people (who might) be open too, though. It’s a lot of things. But I don’t blame nobody. I don’t point fingers. I point my finger at myself. I know the things I could have been better at, and I know there are things I’m gonna improve on. I know I made some strides to become a better receiver, and everybody’s gonna see this year.
Advertisement
Was there anything specific you focused on this offseason?
I had the foot deal (that required a Week 18 placement on injured reserve) at the end of the season last year, so I had to sit down for a little minute. I went back to Arizona and rehabbed at EXOS. So really I was just rehabbing and taking care of my body, doing stuff like Pilates. Talking to people, the vets to figure out how they go about their offseason.
How long did your foot bother you?
I was dealing with it going into the Jacksonville game (in Week 17, when he played 53 of 54 offensive snaps). I didn’t want to mess it up because it was kind of the same thing that happened to my left foot. I already had surgery on my left foot twice. So caught it early.
What was the issue?
Kind of like a stress reaction. These (in his left foot) led to stress fractures. So I had surgery on this (left foot) twice. My first one was in college (in 2021), and I had (the other one) on my birthday (April 20, 2022) going into my senior year. They took a little bone out of my hip to repair my pinky toe (area). That’s what the right one could have led to. So when it started bothering me, I knew exactly what it was, got it checked out and caught it early. So the bone and everything healed good.
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Free, daily NFL updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Buy
What are you doing this summer?
I’m gonna throw a seven-on-seven tournament for high school teams (on June 21) back home (in Madison, Miss.) with a couple of guys. We all did seven-on-seven tournaments when I was in high school. So just try to do something for high school teams, probably give them a little cash prize or something. I’m going to go train with Bryce in Cali. Go holler at Adam and train with him some (in Minnesota). He wants me to come train with him, and he wants to be on the lake. I don’t know about the lake part, yet.
(Photo: Jim Dedmon / USA Today)
