David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer 8y

Kelvin Benjamin, Stephen Hill made presence known in return from ACL injuries

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- If Thursday night is an example of what Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin can do after a year off rehabbing a knee injury, watch out.

Same for Stephen Hill.

In their first practice since suffering season-ending ACL tears during last year's training camp, Benjamin and Hill played in a way that receivers coach Ricky Proehl said "warms my heart."

Benjamin was particularly impressive, looking so good that coach Ron Rivera stopped just short of saying the 2014 first-round draft pick looked in "top form."

"It could be a good harbinger for us in terms of us seeing Kelvin in, I don't want to say top form, but pretty doggone good form," Rivera said after Carolina completed its first practice of camp in front of an estimated 22,455 fans at Wofford's Gibbs Stadium.

Benjamin, who led Carolina wide receivers with 73 catches for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2013, made his presence felt from the beginning. He caught a pass over the middle in traffic for the first completion in team drills.

That led to the loudest cheer of the two-hour session.

Yes, louder than quarterback Cam Newton received when he threw a football into the stands and had to wait for a kid to make up his mind to throw it back.

Benjamin caught several other passes over the middle with defensive backs draped over him. He also made a nice diving catch on an out pattern during drills.

"I thought he looked good," Rivera said. "He really did. His retention as far what we're doing, he handled that really well by the way he ran the routes and attacked the football. There will be a lot of good things for us to see on tape and not just with Kelvin. Stephen went out and did some nice things for us."

Hill caught a deep pass in the end zone from backup quarterback Joe Webb near the end of practice, and then went into a series of hip bumps to celebrate.

He also caught a nice short pass.

"I'm just so proud of those guys," Proehl said. "They've worked so hard. They're like my kids. To see them go out there and perform like they did, that's such a confidence builder for them."

Newton was the NFL MVP last season without Benjamin or Hill. Benjamin established himself as one of the league's top receivers as a rookie, and Proehl said Hill was set to battle for a starting spot last year before his injury.

"I thought it was huge," he said of Benjamin's performance. "For Kelvin, just happy for him. It's a confidence builder. You go out and perform like he did, make catches over the middle, make contested catches with somebody draped on him, it was huge.

"Anytime you get that first catch out of the way, it's huge, especially coming off an injury."

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