The Panthers made a small roster move this week, promoting linebacker Tyrel Dodson from the practice squad after another team tried to poach him. At the same time, Carolina moved on from wide receiver Jimmy Horn, though head coach Dave Canales said he spoke with Horn and doesn’t want him to take the cut as a setback. Canales also said the team hopes to bring Horn back on the practice squad.
Owner Dave Tepper also stepped back into the spotlight for the first time in three years, and his message was clear: he trusts the people running the football operation now. Tepper said he feels more confident in general manager Dan Morgan, head coach Dave Canales and Brandt Tilis, and believes the team is in position to win now and in the future.
“Nothing is easy in the NFL. Seriously, it’s not.
I believe that we have everything here to win this year. And I believe we’ll have everything to win in the future, too,” Tepper said via The Athletic’s Joe Person.
“I do think we’re on the right track and I do think we have very good people here in Dan and Dave and Brandt (Tilis). So I think we have a good management team over on that side of the building.
I trust them. I don’t feel the need to be around as much here because I trust them so much.
And like I said, I’m optimistic. I’m realistic, though, OK?
But I’m optimistic.”
In New Orleans, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough opened up about the run-up to the Saints taking him in the second round, including a strange moment when a delayed flight kept him from meeting with team officials. He said the Saints had been direct with him about their intentions and made it clear they wanted him in the draft.
“I remember (the Saints scouts) trying to get me to come out in the draft,” Shough said, via Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com. “Specifically, the (Saints) scouts were like, ‘You need to come out.
We’re going to draft you. Or we’re going to sign you.’
And they stood by it.”
Shough said the flight situation felt like a test, and he handled it by taking responsibility rather than pointing fingers.
“I remember (Saints officials) asking me about the flight and trying to get me to see whose fault it was,” Shough added on the delayed flight. “It felt like a test.
I didn’t blame anybody. I didn’t blame the airline.
I just took the blame myself.”
He also said he thought Cleveland might take him, but once that possibility faded, New Orleans’ quiet approach told him what was coming. Other teams stayed in contact, while the Saints went silent, and Shough read that as a sign they were waiting for him to slide past the Browns’ two picks in the second round.
“Other teams were very communicative up until the draft, and with the Saints there was this kind of radio silence, like not wanting to necessarily give anything away,” Shough mentioned. “I think they were trying to keep it under wraps a little bit.
A little bit of gamesmanship. Once the Browns didn’t take a quarterback, I had a really good feeling I was going to come here, and we were elated.
It was kind of just like a culmination of that whole process. I know whenever I first got here, there was obviously a lot of talk about my history, playing in college a lot.
I’m sure some people weren’t fans of it, but I think for me it was a blessing to be here, because I knew that they believed in me and I believed in those guys.”
Atlanta’s injury picture remains unsettled, too. Falcons quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix were both ruled out for Week 1, though head coach Kevin Stefanski said the team is still not closing the door on anyone. Penix and Cooper Rush were both set to practice Wednesday, while Tagovailoa was not.
“We are working through it. Tua is not going to practice today but he is getting better. Mike and Cooper will practice,” Stefanski said.
The Falcons also have a big question around Bijan Robinson’s workload after he handled 21 carries and caught eight passes in the season opener. Stefanski said he isn’t sure whether Robinson will keep seeing that kind of volume, but Robinson has already told him he’s ready for it.
“Do I think he’s going to touch it 29 times each game? I don’t know.
I think he wants to. That’s what he’s told me.”
In Other News...
Panthers Defender Sounds Alarm After Carolinas Week 1 Defensive Collapse
The Panthers Week 1 loss to the Bears left plenty to sort through, but Jaelan Phillips didnt try to soften any of it. After Carolina was lit up for 59 points, the edge rusher called the defensive showing embarrassing and ugly, a blunt assessment from a player who still managed to make his presence felt with a sack and several pressures.
Phillips words land with some weight because the Panthers know this cant just be written off as an early-season stumble. A performance like that puts the defense on notice, and it also turns the focus quickly to how Carolina responds in the days ahead. The urgency is real now, with Phillips treating the opener as the kind of wake-up call that can shape the rest of the season if the unit takes it seriously. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Now Face A Falcons QB Problem Nobody Can Read
The Panthers early-week prep for their Week 2 trip to Atlanta has taken on an unusual layer of uncertainty, because the Falcons still have not named a starting quarterback. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said all four quarterbacks remain in the mix as the team sorts through health and readiness in practice, which leaves Carolina without the usual clarity that comes when an opponents offensive identity is set by midweek.
For a Panthers defense trying to build a plan, the uncertainty matters because each possible quarterback brings a different feel to the matchup, and Atlanta is keeping its approach flexible for now. Stefanski said the decision will be driven by the information available during the week, so Carolina is left preparing for a moving target while waiting for the Falcons to settle the most important position on the field. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Canales Sent Bryce Young Message Panthers Fans Can't Ignore
The 59-37 loss to Chicago was ugly enough on the scoreboard, and the Panthers defense gave up plenty to chew on afterward. Still, one of the most notable parts of the afternoon was Dave Canales sticking with Bryce Young and letting him keep throwing throughout the game, a choice that said plenty about where the head coach believes his quarterback stands right now.
For Panthers fans, it matters because this was not a manager waiting for the next mistake to make a move. Canales kept Young in the offense and kept asking him to lead, a sign of confidence after the earlier benching in favor of another quarterback. In a season already full of questions, that kind of trust can shape what comes next just as much as any result on the field. [Read more 🡒]