A door has swung open for Xavier Legette, and Dave Canales isn’t hiding how the Panthers plan to use it.
With rookie Chris Brazzell II now on injured reserve and done for the year, the Carolina coach made it clear Friday night at Bank of America Stadium that Legette’s role is suddenly a major talking point as training camp rolls on. Canales called it “business as usual for X,” then laid out the team’s view of the third-year receiver.
“We have big plans for him, he’s got big plans for himself and he’s been working hard at it. And again, had a great offseason and carried it right into training camp.
"You saw-he made a couple plays. The timing is there.
Bryce [Young] knows him. He understands what we're trying to get done and he's working his butt off.
And so, I'm really proud of where he's at and can't wait to see where we go from here."
Legette had been in line to battle Brazzell for the third spot in the Panthers’ passing-game hierarchy, sitting behind 2025 AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan and the newly-extended Jalen Coker. That competition changed fast after Brazzell went down at Wednesday’s practice and is scheduled to have season-ending surgery on the lateral collateral ligament in his left knee.
For Legette, that leaves the path wide open. It also puts a sharper spotlight on a player whose first two NFL seasons were uneven, with plenty of trouble handling the basics and a reduced role late in 2025. He finished that year with a career-low 31.2-percent snap share in Carolina’s Week 18 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Now, after the work he put in over the offseason and the strong start he’s shown in camp, Legette is staring at the kind of opportunity that can define a season.
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As Carolina gets ready for its first preseason game, that stance says plenty about how the team wants to handle the position right now. The staff is balancing depth, health and evaluation at a spot that always draws extra attention, and while Trasks workout suggested the Panthers were at least doing their homework, the current setup makes clear they are not rushing into another move. [Read more 🡒]