North Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE – Xavier Legette, the rookie receiver and Carolina Panthers' first-round pick this year, insists he is not nervous ahead of his NFL debut against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Despite the pressure that comes with being a top draft pick and part of the team's future offense, Legette remains calm.

"I just go off my preparation," Legette said Thursday. "I just stay even here. Never try to be too hard, you know…I don't get nervous. I stopped getting (nervous) after my freshman year."

Legette attributes his composure to lessons learned during his college years at South Carolina. He expressed confidence in his readiness for Week 1.

"Coaches been having me in for a whole lot of reps and I've been doing good at it," Legette said. "We got one more practice, just base it off that. If I have three good days back-to-back, I'm going to feel good about Sunday."

Derrick Brown set an NFL record last season with 103 tackles, the most by a defensive lineman in a single season. However, Panthers' defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero wants Brown to focus on increasing his sack total.

"I think this guy could get 8 to 10 sacks this year," Evero said Thursday of Brown, who registered 15 quarterback hits last season but has only 8.0 career sacks over four years.

Teammate Jadeveon Clowney believes Brown can achieve higher sack numbers with some adjustments.

"I was telling him, you just got change up your angles," Clowney revealed Thursday. "You got to work on things you're not good at…change your angles up and rush."

Clowney shared this advice during practice, emphasizing how Brown's performance could benefit the entire defense.

"I was like, man, I need you to play your highest you've ever played this year because I'm beside you…Keep the double (team) off me if he playing just as well as I am or (even) better," Clowney explained.

The new NFL kickoff rules will also be tested as teams adjust their strategies accordingly. Panthers' special teams coordinator Tracy Smith has been managing these changes while integrating new players acquired off waivers last week.

"The guys that are going to be active (for the game) have to play and get ready as fast as they can trying to blend what they did before with what we're doing now," Smith explained Thursday.

Smith acknowledged that there would be a learning curve for all teams under the new rules but noted that it levels the playing field somewhat.

"So it's a learning experience for everybody getting to figure out what they can do through the video of what they did before and what we want to do against the Saints kind of thing and blending that together as best we can," Smith said.

The effectiveness of these adjustments will become clearer when games begin on Sunday.

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