The Carolina Panthers didn’t play their starters in the first two preseason games of 2024.
That’ll change this year.
And that’s not all that’ll be different in the 2025 preseason, either.
Panthers coach Dave Canales plans to play his starters on offense — including third-year quarterback Bryce Young — in the first two games of the preseason. The second-year head coach made this commitment this spring but doubled-down on it Wednesday, two days before the Panthers host the Cleveland Browns in their preseason opener at 7 p.m. Friday in Bank of America Stadium.
The head coach added that ideally the first-team offense would get eight to 12 plays under their proverbial belt — or “one long drive.”
What other news did he make?
Canales confirmed that offensive coordinator Brad Idzik would do some of the play-calling during the team’s three preseason games. This is a departure from his 2024 approach; Canales, heading into his second year of calling the offense last year, handled the play-calling duties in the preseason as well as the regular season last year.
“Really, he’s been calling all of training camp,” Canales said of his second-year offensive coordinator. “In our practices, we’re scripted out that way. And I trust Brad. We’ve been together forever. Two years for myself as a play-caller. So it allows me — when he calls a practice like that — it allows me to be engaged on both sides.
“And some of my mentors challenged me: ‘Make sure the defense can feel you. Make sure special teams can feel you. They need what you have to bring. They need your presence as a reminder of our standards of practice and what you’re looking for.’ And Brad allows me to do that.”
Canales was then asked if he’d consider letting Idzik be the team’s play-caller.
“Preseason, absolutely,” Canales said. “Regular season, could be. I still have a lot to give to our team in terms of being able to have the continuity and building off the first year. But in the preseason, absolutely. (Defensive coordinator) Ejiro Evero will do the same thing with (inside linebackers coach) Pete Hansen and defensive pass game coordinator Jonathan Cooley. These are guys we would love to develop. We’re a developmentally minded organization, and that’s our players. But it’s also our coaching staff.”
Canales made this decision on play-calling after reflecting on his time in Seattle, he said — when the then-receivers coach was given opportunities to call plays in scrimmages and various training camp team periods. He said this helped him immensely when he got his chance to call plays with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as offensive coordinator in 2023.
It seems Canales is taking what he learned his first preseason as a head coach, too, and applying tweaks to his plan — specifically about the Panthers starters getting live reps on Friday. It certainly aligns with some of the feedback Panthers players offered during the regular season in 2024.
Many players — veterans specifically — told reporters after the fact in 2024 that they wished they played in the preseason. Safety Xavier Woods did. So too did linebacker Shaq Thompson, who said it helped with tackling and “getting all the jitters” out prior to Week 1.
And it’s tough to say the players were wrong. The Panthers got off to the worst start in the league in terms of margin — 73-13 through its first two contests — and, according to Pro Football Focus, had two of its bottom-four performances in “defensive grades” in Weeks 1 and 2.
Count quarterback Young among those who would prefer to play Friday.
“I’m super excited,” Young said of playing in the preseason. “I think it’ll be great for us. A lot of familiar faces, but obviously some new pieces. And every year, we’re a new team. So I think it’s just a great opportunity for us — the earliest opportunity we can — to go out there and establish ourselves, get more and more comfortable, get reps. I think it would be great for myself, for all of us, to get our feet wet a little bit in the preseason.”
Young added: “Coach Canales and everyone in the front office, they make those decisions. Whatever it is they ask of me... that’s the chain of command of what we do. But again, I’m excited to be playing.”
“I feel like anytime you can go against somebody else, it’s always good quality reps,” Moehrig said. “Like I said, we’re not going against our offense. So we’re seeing different stuff, different schemes and stuff like that. So I think it’s all quality reps.”
Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski will also play selective starters. The coach told reporters Wednesday that he won’t play veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, but many other starters will get their shine.
Canales stopped short of saying he regretted not playing his starters last year. But he isn’t afraid of listing out all the benefits such as this opportunity portends. After all, the value of playing in the preseason goes beyond the few game reps.
“We got a mix of veteran players, but it’s predominantly a pretty young team,” Canales said. “And I just can’t pass up the opportunities. The reps in the games are valuable, but I think it goes to the night before. ... You start thinking about your plan, taking care of your body, making sure you get your rest. You get up, it’s your nutrition plan, body readiness. It’s your full gameday routines. Those are so valuable.
“We got three opportunities to do that in the preseason, and I want to take advantage of that.”
Other preseason contest notes
Jaycee Horn will miss the Panthers’ preseason opener against the Browns after getting a few stitches in his left thumb area after getting into a car accident Wednesday morning. The Pro Bowl corner is still tracking to play in the team’s second preseason game in Houston.
Don’t expect Derrick Brown to play in the first preseason contest, as Canales told reporters Tuesday, as the Pro Bowl defensive tackle takes it easy as he ramps up to Week 1. His knee is fine — just some issues with the oblique/rib area.
The Panthers released their first unofficial depth chart on Tuesday evening. Here are some takeaways, which could indicate what we’ll see on Friday: The Panthers have Austin Corbett listed ahead of Cade Mays at the center position, Matthew Wright ahead of rookie Ryan Fitzgerald at kicker, Jimmy Horn Jr. as the “seventh” wide receiver and Raheem Blackshear as the top punt/kick returner.
Fans can catch the contest on NFL Network and stream the game on FuboTV.