Jarrett finally grasping Panthers' tough love

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SPARTANBURG, S.C. – If he wanted to be the immature, unfocused guy that people had come to expect, Dwayne Jarrett(notes) could have just shrugged and pointed fingers.

The Carolina Panthers receiver could have blamed former USC wideout Mike Williams, who Jarrett has long been compared to, for setting such a poor NFL precedent. Or complained that teammate Steve Smith hadn't been interested in nurturing him as a rookie. He could have said the coaching staff hadn't given him ample opportunity, or that fans and the media hadn't been patient enough.

Offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson, right, gives Jarrett instructions during camp.

(Chuck Burton/AP Photo)

But Jarrett knows those would have been excuses – more like lies, really. Instead he sat in a chair Tuesday at training camp and put the last two years of a stalled career right where most people agree it belongs: on himself.

"I don't think I understood what it was going to take," Jarrett said of life in the NFL, managing a subtle grin. "It's not that I didn't want to work hard. I just didn't understand what it took in the NFL – I really didn't get it. Things were happening so fast and I didn't have down the mental part of it. It robbed my aggressiveness."

It seems like an obvious statement: having to study, be detail-oriented and play smart. But for many physically gifted players – the ones whose only application for athletic greatness was showing up – the realization is paramount. Mike Williams never understood it, and only three years after being a highly touted first-round pick, his NFL existence came and went like a breeze. Now two disappointing years into his own NFL career, Jarrett doesn't want to repeat that mistake. And if his recent training camp flourishes are any indication, the 6-foot-4 wideout might finally ready to blossom.

"He's better – the players see it and I see it," Panthers head coach John Fox said. "We haven't played a game in six months, but he's way further ahead right now than he was this time last year."

In the larger picture, that statement means nothing. Until a player translates practice brilliance into a game, nothing he does is real. But this is the first training camp where Jarrett is practicing differently. He's confident, lining up in the right spots and displaying consistent effort. The player who repeatedly irked coaches and teammates by seemingly coasting is now applying himself. And it's worth noting that another player had a similar practice revelation last preseason: running back DeAngelo Williams(notes), who parlayed it into a career season.

That's not saying Jarrett will have the same opportunities as Williams did last season. In the passing game, he's still behind two marquee veterans in Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad(notes). But if Jarrett can carry his practice growth into preseason games, he could further open an already promising offense. And with Smith expected to be sidelined for a few weeks with a shoulder injury, he'll have his opportunities.

"Without a doubt, I think Dwayne is [ready to step up]," Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme(notes) said. "What he's done this camp is a big jump. Certainly from year one to two, two to three, I think Dwayne's the one [who could have an impact]."

Only a year ago, such words would have been preposterous. Jarrett had come off a rookie season that was virtually nonexistent, and there was grumbling amongst veterans that he was lazy and either incapable or unwilling to learn the playbook. That feeling was highlighted a handful of times by Smith, who appeared to chafe over the amount of adulation Jarrett got as a rookie.

On one occasion in Jarrett's first season, Smith went as far as to interrupt one of the rookie's sessions with reporters, saying, "Instead of talking to the media, why don't you go watch some film."

Jarrett smiled, but Smith only glared back and said, "Seriously."

It wasn't an isolated incident. Smith also criticized Jarrett when talking to a reporter at a charity golf event in the summer of 2008, saying the young receiver's "party session" was over and that he needed to start producing. And veterans said Smith needled him repeatedly in practice and meetings.

"Steve knows one way, and that's 100 miles an hour," Delhomme said. "Dwayne coasted a bit his rookie year, and that doesn't sit well with Steve. It doesn't sit well with a lot of the guys on the team. We're not going to wait for you. It's time to go."

Jarrett didn't acquit himself, either. The coaching staff and Delhomme didn't have confidence in him, and that translated into six receptions in seven games as a rookie. By the offseason, he was already being compared to Mike Williams, a monument to failure who lasted only two seasons with the Detroit Lions before flaming out with brief stints in Oakland and Tennessee.

The criticism only intensified when the Panthers signed Muhammad shortly after Jarrett's rookie season ended, fueling talk that the team was already putting the former second-round pick on the back burner. All of this before Jarrett's arrest for DUI in March of 2008, an incident which Jarrett says was his bottoming out.

"The DUI, that was the lowest moment of my career ever," he said. "For people to perceive me or think that way about my character – I'm not a guy that is always in trouble. I disappointed myself. I disappointed my family, even though they supported me 100 percent.

"I didn't even want to come out of the house after that. I was just really depressed."

Ironically, it was the embarrassment of the DUI and Muhammad's acquisition that helped Jarrett make strides in last season. The arrest, combined with the negative media attention, convinced Jarrett that he had to get his priorities in order. And after privately being hurt by Smith's barbs, Jarrett learned from Muhammad that the criticism wasn't personal.

"He had to understand, Steve looks back at his own struggle and what it took for him to become the player he is today," said Muhammad, in his second stint with the organization. "Then he watches [Dwayne] walk into the league and everybody wants to hand it to him, and he doesn't even understand how to learn the playbook. There's a big contrast there.

"Even my own experiences – my first three years in the league, I frickin' ran down on the kickoff team. I don't see him doing [stuff] like that. And then when I was a starter, I still was on the punt [return team]."

That's a perspective Jarrett says he finally understands.

Jarrett expects to hear his number called more often this season.

(Jim McIsaac/Getty)

"For a young guy to come in, and you see that guy's not working as hard as you work in practice, it's like a smack in the face or like you're not respecting the game," Jarrett said. "I completely understand now where Steve was coming from."

He's also seeing the difference that comes with preparation. After managing only 10 catches in his second season, teammates say Jarrett has looked far more comfortable in practice, his weight is where it needs to be and he has begun to seize on his natural talent. Delhomme no longer has to worry whether he's lined up in the right place, and Fox rarely has to jump on him for floating on plays.

Muhammad said the difference has been Jarrett realizing that the NFL is a league in the middle – with the majority of players having similar skill and talent levels. Nuance and hard work are the difference between being great, average or falling out of the league altogether.

"Those small details are what's going to separate him from the guys that don't pay attention to the small details," Muhammad said. "It's the difference between making the team or not making the team or having a 1,000-yard season or a 600-yard season."

Now it's on Jarrett to show in the next few weeks that he can cross that bridge. As much as he's matured mentally, it won't matter if he can't grow statistically. The 20-year-old draft pick is now a 22-year-old veteran heading into his third year. As Delhomme said of all of the team's younger players, it's time to produce.

"It's time for some of these guys to shine," Delhomme said. "This is their deal. This is it. If they don't embrace it, then they're not the kind of player we think they are."

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