After a two-day pause following Friday’s Fan Fest, the Carolina Panthers were back on the practice field Monday morning, and the session brought a little bit of everything: roster movement, encouraging chemistry work, and a clearer picture of how the team plans to handle Thursday night’s Hall of Fame Game.
The day started with a pair of returns. Before practice, the Panthers activated defensive lineman Bobby Brown III from the non-football injury list after a hamstring injury he suffered while working out before camp kept him out of the first stretch of summer work.
Brown is trying to bounce back from a 2025 season that didn’t quite match expectations in his first year of a three-year, $21 million deal with Carolina, a year in which he started five of his 17 regular-season games. Starting right guard Robert Hunt also got back on the field after dealing with back tightness.
On the field, wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan again made his presence felt. He capped the workout with a one-handed grab that fit the tone of his day. Head coach Dave Canales was asked about the connection between McMillan and quarterback Bryce Young as the two continue building into their second season together, and he pointed to repetition and opportunity.
"It's just about time on task, it's about opportunities," Canales replied. "And I really love that Bryce has been giving him opportunities down the field. Just really trying to stretch it-some of the vertical concepts that we have.
"T-Mac does a great job of holding the defender off, playing it at the high point. He feels strong, he looks great.
So I love seeing those plays. Those are game-changing plays."
Canales also had plenty to say about Young, who is heading into his fourth pro season. The coach said the quarterback keeps flashing the kind of special moments that stand out every day, while also showing growth in how he’s operating the offense.
"Yeah, I'm just really excited. The special plays still show up every day," he stated of Young. "Moving off the spot, pushing up in the pocket, layering balls, all the accuracy.
"The part that I've really been impressed with this camp is just the chemistry with our receivers, time on task with Jalen Coker, T-Mac, Xavier Legette, JT [Ja'Tavion] Sanders and the tight end group that have been around for a while.
"And now, it just seems like he's playing so much faster. It seems he's eliminating things before the snap. On his drop, he's starting to eliminate and evaluate things and throwing really anticipatory throws."
The Panthers’ next public look will come Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, where they open the 2026 preseason against the Arizona Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game. As expected, the starters won’t be taking that stage.
Canales said Kenny Pickett will start at quarterback for Carolina, though he didn’t commit to how long the backup will stay in the game.
"For how long? I'm not sure," Canales said of Pickett's projected start.
"But we have a good number of guys that'll be helping out early in the game-just because we don't wanna overload any one particular group on our team. We do have practices leading into the game and we do have practices coming out of it."
Barring another addition at quarterback, Pickett is expected to be followed by undrafted rookie Haynes King at some point in the opener.
In Other News...
Luke Kuechly Just Reignited A Debate Panthers Fans Know Too Well
Luke Kuechlys Hall of Fame case is no longer up for debate, but his place in the broader NFL pantheon still is. As he prepares to be inducted alongside Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald, Roger Craig and Adam Vinatieri, the former Panthers linebacker remains the kind of player whose rsum speaks loudly enough on its own, with 1,090 tackles, 18 interceptions, seven Pro Bowls and an AP Defensive Player of the Year award.
So it caught plenty of attention when CBS Sports left Kuechly off its list of the 100 greatest NFL players, a snub that reopened an old conversation for Carolina fans about how the league remembers its best. The slight was even broader than one Panther star, too, since neither Cam Newton nor Julius Peppers made the cut, leaving the franchise without a single representative on the list. [Read more 🡒]
Bryce Young Just Got Pulled Back Into A Panthers QB Debate
Bryce Young has settled back into the middle of Carolinas long-term quarterback conversation, even if the current expectation is that he remains the Panthers starter well beyond his option year in 2027. The broader question is less about the moment and more about what the franchise would do if the position drifts off track again, because the Panthers have lived through enough instability under center to know how quickly a plan can change.
One name worth watching from that angle is Baker Mayfield, whose situation with the Buccaneers could become relevant if the Panthers ever find themselves looking again. A reunion would be a long shot and would only come into focus under a specific set of conditions, but it is the kind of speculation that hangs around a team still trying to lock down its quarterback future for good. [Read more 🡒]
Dave Canales Just Sent An Early Panthers Quarterback Message
Dave Canales has already given the Panthers first preseason quarterback assignment, and it comes with a little bit of everything that usually defines August football: evaluation, opportunity and a lot of uncertainty. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett will start the Hall of Fame Game against the Cardinals, giving Carolina an early look at a player who will be under the microscope as the team opens camp competition and starts sorting out the depth chart behind Bryce Young.
Young and the rest of the starters are not expected to take part, including rookie offensive tackle Monroe Freeling, so this will be more about reps than results. Once Pickett is done, rookie Haynes King is expected to handle the next snaps, which leaves the Panthers with a first preseason game that says plenty about how they plan to divide the workload, even if it does not yet say much about how the quarterback picture will look when the real games arrive. [Read more 🡒]