The Carolina Panthers held their first regular season practice on Wednesday, shifting to a later afternoon schedule as part of their preparation for the upcoming opener in Jacksonville. Despite efforts to acclimate to the expected hot and humid conditions in Florida—including a joint practice in Houston—the weather in Charlotte has remained unseasonably cool since early training camp.
Head coach Dave Canales addressed the challenge of preparing for extreme heat when local temperatures have stayed mild. “I just think it’s conditioning,” Canales said. “There’s really no way to replicate that unless we just, you know, get blessed with a hot day tomorrow. It’s been amazing. It’s been gorgeous here, and we’ve been in the low to mid 70s, but I think it’s just the tempo that you practice with, making sure we’re getting the work and the conditioning, the strength work in the weight room, all those things. Once your conditioning level is at a point, then you’ve just got to deal with the heat. It’s no different than the cold, you know, you can’t really prepare for, you know, being in different situations.”
Canales recalled his experience during a 2015 playoff trip with Seattle to Minnesota where players faced negative-19 degree wind chills: “We couldn’t make that happen in Seattle; it was in the upper 40s. So you just kind of rely on your execution, you rely on your conditioning, and then you deal with the elements, you deal with it just like any external factor.”
Injury updates were also notable following Wednesday’s session. The Panthers emerged from training camp relatively healthy overall; only four players appeared on this week’s injury report. Of particular note were Nic Scourton and Tommy Tremble—both absent from the list despite previous injuries. Scourton had missed time due to a collapsed lung during Houston practices but was cleared for participation this week. Tremble returned after recovering from back surgery.
“Tommy’s ready to rock, had a really great practice today,” Canales said. “He feels great. He’s said that as much.”
Jersey number changes also drew attention among defensive linemen Tershawn Wharton and rookie Cam Jackson. Wharton switched from No. 92 to No. 99—a number he long admired while playing for Kansas City but could not claim until now.
“When I went to KC, somebody had it already, so I went 98 because that was the year I was born, but 99’s always been my number,” Wharton explained. “Warren Sapp, Aaron Donald, and JJ Watt, those were my guys that I used to look up to.” Jackson moved into Wharton’s old No. 92 after previously wearing No. 55.
Wednesday’s media availability saw an unusual guest: Atlas—a ten-year-old reporter from WBTV—who asked Coach Canales about connecting with young fans.
“It’s about having a dream,” Canales responded enthusiastically. “If your dream’s not big enough that it doesn’t scare you, your dream’s not big enough and I think you’re sitting here right now being able to ask me questions right here in this room this is amazing.”
After learning Atlas’s age and passion for reporting at such an early stage of life, Canales added: “I just remember falling in love with football when I was about 12 years old and I just couldn’t get enough of it and so you know, as you have this opportunity and you keep envisioning yourself doing this for a living, I think that dreams are what pull us through hard times and we’ll do whatever works necessary to get there.”
The Panthers will continue preparations ahead of Sunday’s game against Jacksonville amid expectations of challenging weather conditions.
