It may be boring, but the Carolina Panthers’ slow and steady approach this summer may pay off in the long run.
After sitting 33 players in last week’s preseason opener in New England, head coach Dave Canales and his staff ruled out 38 of their guys prior to tonight’s exhibition against the New York Jets. Among the heap of inactives have been all of the team’s projected starters, something Canales explained to reporters on Saturday.
“Really just looking at the guys, the health of the whole unit,” he said of his thought process after the 15-12 loss to New York. “We’re gonna get more people back. So, again, this week would be another week to evaluate. We’re gonna have more of those guys that would be playing with that starting group. So this could be a good opportunity for that this week.
“But again—it all depends on how practice goes, it all depends on the depth of the guys we have to finish games. Again, that’s really just where my head was at. If we throw a group out there, but we’re missing a bunch of pieces, it’s not really giving us the full look at working together and doing that. I wanna make sure that they’re able to do that together.”
The Panthers have dealt with quite a few setbacks this offseason—including to key pieces such as backup quarterback Andy Dalton, wide receivers Diontae Johnson and Xavier Legette, tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas, left guard Damien Lewis, outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum, cornerback Dane Jackson and safety Xavier Woods.
But what about next weekend’s preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills?
“We’ll evaluate this week and I’ll let you guys know at the end,” he said when asked specifically of quarterback Bryce Young.
So, we’ll see . . .
