We're starting to get a picture of what the Carolina Panthers will look like on Thursday , when they kick off their preseason against the New England Patriots.
Here are the top takeaways and observations from Monday's session of training camp:
The Panthers made a pair of signings officials on Monday, beginning with quarterback Jake Luton. Luton, who spent the summer with Carolina last year, is expected to see some preseason action as a result of the quad injury to backup Andy Dalton.
He's being joined by Jesper Horsted, the second addition to the tight end room in as many days. The team also added former Seattle Seahawk Jacob Hollister on Sunday.
On Sunday, rookie wideout Xavier Legette exited practice with a foot injury. Luckily for the Panthers, an MRI revealed no fractures to their 2024 first-rounder—who is considered day-to-day.
He is not, however, likely to play in the preseason opener on Thursday night.
"The MRI revealed no fractures in the foot, which is fantastic news for us really to just find that out. And so, we're just day-to-day with him," head coach Dave Canales told reporters . "I would not expect him to play in this preseason game just on the side of the caution. It wasn't any play in particular, it was just heatin' up on him."
Starting quarterback Bryce Young may also take a seat on Thursday. In fact, he may on the pine for the entirety of exhibition play.
With injuries continuing to pile up during camp, Canales was asked if there's a possibility that Young does not play in the preseason.
"There could be," he replied . "I keep going back and forth with that because there's some value to just allowing him to play with Austin [Corbett]. And then there's also the flip-side of it, which we know. We're counting on those guys and that's another approach, too."
Young was asked about the prospect of sitting later in the morning.
"Yeah, I trust in Coach," he said. "Whatever it is that he says, I'll listen to that. I trust in him and the staff just like in all the stuff we've been doing. So, yeah, whatever he says."
As Canales weighs the pluses and minuses of trotting Young out this preseason, he'll have to consider the development of the new offense. He told reporters that his unit still has work to do.
"Really, it's just functioning," Canales said when asked how a mastered approach would look. "It's the pre-snap mechanics of getting us up to the line, getting us to the right place, in the run game, in the pass game. It's about throwing it to that first open guy within the time that we want. And then, when the pocket breaks apart, extending and making those extra plays.
"He's showing all those things. But I still think, just in terms of getting our group polished, we're not there yet. We still have strides to make as an offense as a whole. I want for all of our groups, particularly our first group, to be able to function so it just looks like a really fine-tuned machine. And we're not quite there right now in that regard. But I love the understanding that we have right now with our concepts."
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers 2024 training camp tracker: Observations and takeaways from Day 9
