The Carolina Panthers held their first practice after a 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, with head coach Dave Canales noting an increase in intensity among players. Although Wednesday was a non-padded day, there were several heated moments during team drills.
“I think when you play a game like that it’s, all the guys are—it means something to them,” Canales said following the session as the team prepared for its upcoming matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. “They were a little bit testy with each other, I don’t mind saying that.”
Canales expressed approval of the competitive atmosphere: “I like seeing that. It matters to them, they care, and that’s the type of focus and energy that we need, the type of passion that it takes to continue to grow our schemes, to continue to play together. It requires that type of accountability with each other.”
Players emphasized moving past Sunday’s defeat and focusing on improvement for future games. Outside linebacker Patrick Jones II reflected on learning from losses: “It’s hard to win every game in the NFL,” he said. “I’ve been a part of great teams, and we still haven’t won every single game in the NFL. Most of the time, you’re going to at least lose one game, and that’s just how it is because it’s just everybody’s good. So it’s just about not taking the loss to heart. It’s about using it as a lesson and learning.”
Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu addressed his recovery from an appendectomy after missing Week 1. He repeatedly told reporters he was “stacking up good days” as he worked toward returning for Sunday’s contest.
“He had a great day today,” Canales commented on Ekwonu’s participation in practice drills. “We got him all the way through Indy (individual drills) got into some team drills, he was limited. We didn’t feel like we could throw him out there for full practice quite yet, but he looked great, he looked strong, he was asking for more.
“We told him tomorrow we’re going to pad up and that’s going to be a great day to keep building on this.”
Receiver Xavier Legette discussed preparations for facing Arizona’s defense—particularly safety Budda Baker—and noted lessons learned from last year’s overtime victory over Arizona.
“We know the key stop on defense is gonna be No. 3,” Legette said Wednesday regarding Baker’s impact.
Legette also highlighted rookie corner Will Johnson’s performance against New Orleans in Week 1: “Base it off the game, the last game that he just played, all things I see from him, he’s real patient at the line. I think he’s a good player.” Legette added that establishing a run-first offense will be important again this week: “Oh now we’re gonna feed (Chuba) to come up with those plays… Then when it’s time for receivers to get it we have to come up with those plays as well.”
During practice Wednesday defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero led tackling drills focused on correcting issues seen against Jacksonville.
“We just go right at it,” Canales explained about addressing fundamentals immediately after identifying weaknesses in previous games. He described Evero’s circuit emphasizing basic tackling techniques: “Coach E had a phenomenal tackling circuit down there… And so there was a good circuit today… Let’s improve this fundamental part of our game so that we can continue to pursue the good football we’re looking for.”
