Panthers coach Dave Canales details critical week of evaluations

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales speaks on the start of a very important few days of practice leading up to the preseason finale.

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In a blink of an eye, the 2024 preseason is reaching its end. This Saturday, the Carolina Panthers will play their final game of the preseason slate taking on the Buffalo Bills on the road. This will be the last opportunity for several guys on the roster to make an impression on the coaching staff and front office before cuts have to be made.

Following Tuesday's practice, head coach Dave Canales met with the media, discussing the importance of this week.

Opening statement

“This week is so critical, so important for us to ramp the guys up ready for game play. Really, this is the last week to attack it in terms of a volume standpoint. We come back after this game and we’ve got a bunch of tough decisions to make. We get tighter on our roster and that’s a chance to keep sharp on our football, keep the conditioning we’ve developed but really this is the week to establish you guys are ready to play.”

Possibility of playing starters vs. Bills

“I’m open to playing our guys this week. The same thing I told you after the game is true though. We have to look at what does that group look like if we put everybody out there? Are there enough of those guys to say this is valuable for us to get these reps? Once we start to get into the depth of different positions that kind of forces our hand sometimes on can we play guys? Today was a hard practice. Tomorrow is going to be another hard one. For me, I have to make sure we get through these two days, collect that information, and then I make the decision.”

Throwing the ball more downfield

“I would love to come out and rip 50-yard touchdowns from day one. That’s my heart and soul. Quickest way to win a game is straight-line, A to B, throw it to that guy, touchdown. Sometimes the games work out that way. Our defensive scheme is fantastic. They play their leverages well. They know how to use their help on these plays. We got guys who understand the scheme, it’s challenging. They’ve made it really hard. We’ve gotten some. We got one today, we got a couple balls pushed down the field and some near misses. Those near misses are the ones that are time on task, that’s me to you factor, learning this player. How does he maintain his speed down the field? Does he have another gear? Or does he top out and I got to give him a high ball to high point it? It’s just learning the chemistry of throwing to different guys.”

Trevin Wallace continuing to impress

“He’s just a natural football player, first and foremost. And while he still has a ways to go learning the scheme and doing all that, when he’s comfortable he’s big, he’s fast, and he’s got great hands and that’s such a rare combination at the inside linebacker spot. We really have three fantastic linebackers in terms of catching the ball with Shaq (Thompson), with Josey (Jewell) and Trevin.”

How important this final preseason game is for guys fighting to make the roster

“It’s huge. These opportunities, we hold them with the highest regard as a coaching staff, certainly the players do too. We go into all these games with a gameplan, we treat these games serious because as we know this is an opportunity for these guys for their careers whether it’s here or somewhere else. We have to regard every practice the same way. Today and tomorrow, these are full padded practices and we’re playing ball not outside of tackling each other to the ground. We use all of it to evaluate. But the games, to be able to refocus when you’re tired, to refocus after a great play, to refocus after a poor play, that tells us so much about the resilience and character of these players. I want the decisions to be hard. I don’t want them to be so crystal clear.”

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