Clausen adjusting well with Panthers

Since he was in eighth grade, quarterback Jimmy Clausen has been the front man for Jimmy Clausen, Inc.

Monday afternoon, still sweating after wrapping up another day of Carolina Panthers practice, he appeared content to just be Jimmy Clausen for a moment.

Profiled in Sports Illustrated when he was still in high school ("The Kid with the Golden Arm"), Clausen followed that with a flashy commitment to Notre Dame, one of the country's most celebrated football schools.

He has rarely had a month as quiet as the last one.

Clausen's less a commodity now, and more an entry-level guy learning the pro game.

"It's great," Clausen said of easing into things. "This is what I was born to do is play the game of football. God's obviously gifted me with a special talent. I'm just trying to come out each and every day and just get better at all the little things."

Clausen was deliberately bland in his first interview since minicamp, and if you think that's an accident you haven't been paying attention.

The second-round pick has been waging a PR war all spring, from trying to convince people he was a first-round talent to assuaging fears he was a diva.

There have been no overt signs of discontent. On a breezy day last week, a pass sailed into the arms of a defensive back and his arms went up in apparent dismay, but there has been none of the horror-story stuff that seemed to scare teams off during the draft.

He has looked capable, throwing accurate, catchable passes. He doesn't have the best arm or enough experience to lead at the moment, but they're not asking that of him yet. The Panthers were convinced the talk of Clausen's attitude was rumor, and were happy to add him to the mix of the youngest quarterback room in the league.

Clausen's still lining up third behind Matt Moore and former practice squad QB Hunter Cantwell, a condition some see as temporary.

Of course, the Panthers' unsettled situation at quarterback has many speculating his chance could come quickly. Though Moore is entrenched as the starter, even he is able to joke about the fact that his eight starts makes him the old man.

"Jimmy's coming over all the time, going: 'What's up with this? What's up with this?' I don't know," Moore cracked. "No. it's been good, to have that role. That's how Jake [Delhomme] was to me, and to have that experience, guys are going to come to you with those questions. It's been really good. It's different, but it's been good."

He does benefit from the similarities in style to his offense at Notre Dame. No matter how complicated the Charlie Weis system was, any NFL team probably has as many red zone plays as college teams have total. The fact that Panthers offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson is a former Weis assistant helps, but Clausen's still in the early stages of picking things up here.

"It's like learning Spanish, a whole different language," Clausen said of the adjustment. "Being in the system with coach Weis, coach Davidson coaching with him in New England, it's the same terms and everything. It definitely helps me a lot."

Of course, he's finding out in the pass-heavy practices of the last month that corners and safeties close faster on routes, and that the pass rush may not allow him as much time. Privately, coaches sound encouraged by his progress, though he's still at the stage where he will take safer check-down options rather than risk downfield mistakes.

That's natural, just like his ground-floor status on the depth chart, ahead of only fellow-rookie Tony Pike based on draft round and practice attendance. Asked about that, Clausen shrugged again, went back to the safe place.

"Ah, I'm not one to do the depth chart; that's up to the coaches," he said with a grin. "I just try to come out each and every day to make the team better, and make myself better."

That's enough, for now.