North Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE — Panthers head coach Dave Canales stated Tuesday he was "open" to playing his starters in Saturday's preseason finale at Buffalo, contingent on their availability for coherent work together. The Panthers are among 13 teams that have not played their starting quarterback in the first two weeks of the preseason.

"We have to look at what does that group look like if we put everybody out there?" Canales said. "Are there enough of those guys to say, man, this is valuable for us to get these reps. Once we start to get into the depth of different positions, that kind of forces our hands sometimes on can we play guys or do we need to play them?"

The offense has recently practiced without tight ends Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble, guard Damien Lewis, and rookie wideout Xavier Legette at times. This makes it less likely for Canales to deploy only part of the group.

The Bills have announced they will not play their starters this week; quarterback Josh Allen has logged eight snaps in the preseason. However, Canales noted that Sean McDermott's decisions did not influence his own.

"It does not; it's really just about the strength and health of our units and if we can get a good look at the guys and get them that game experience, which we all know is so valuable," he explained.

Last Thursday, the Panthers had around 60 snaps against the Jets in nearly-live conditions. Despite quarterbacks being off-limits, Canales emphasized a difference between practice speed and game speed.

"Big difference, tackling to the ground," he said. "So you're going to get an elevated speed... There's just naturally an excitement... but we're not tackling to the ground."

Injuries have impacted defensive planning as well. With Dane Jackson (hamstring) sidelined long-term and Lamar Jackson waived-injured after a knee injury Saturday night, new combinations were tested on Tuesday. Jaycee Horn remains secure on one side while Dicaprio Bootle and D'Shawn Jamison rotated with the first defense.

"What a great opportunity," Canales remarked about evaluating new players such as Chris Wilcox and Quandre Mosely who joined recently due to injuries.

Canales praised Chau Smith-Wade’s performance last week despite primarily working at nickel during offseason training.

"He did fantastic," Canales said about Smith-Wade's ability outside. "He had a little bit of nickel exposure... but that's the guy we drafted... we're counting on him."

As final roster cuts approach next week, Canales hinted at potential moves: "Of course [we] also have first dibs on any player waived next week."

Regarding injuries ahead of regular season kickoff, several players returned to practice including Diontae Johnson who briefly left practice due to a fall but quickly resumed drills.

"This week is so critical," Canales stressed regarding preparation before making tough roster decisions post-game against Buffalo.

With Damien Lewis back fully participating alongside center Austin Corbett and right guard Robert Hunt on offensive line chemistry building: “Well you know they ain't built Rome overnight,” Lewis commented on ongoing progress emphasizing mindset: “Mean tough nasty.”

Rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace continued impressing coaches with interceptions both during games/practices filling in when veteran Shaq Thompson was absent showing promise despite still learning schemes praised by assistant coach Pete Hansen for ball awareness drills enhancing talent across defense:

"I think he's just natural football player first foremost…he's big fast great hands rare combination inside linebacker spot…done fantastic job emphasizing it then talent comes into play."