Quick Hits: Two Starters Shut Down for a Day, Debut of Pads + More

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales spoke with the media following Tuesday's practice.

Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Tuesday morning marked the first padded practice for the Carolina Panthers in training camp and it didn't take long for some pushing and shoving to occur. A couple of scrums took place, but for the most part, it was a productive day, especially for Bryce Young and the offense. Below are some highlights from Dave Canales' press conference.

Rashaad Penny retiring

“It was a really cool opportunity for me to see if we could get him to that kind of look. I know Rashaad at his best. He came up and just felt like he wasn’t himself and I had to respect that going forward. I don’t understand what that’s like to have a feel, a vision, and wanting your body to do exactly what you tell it to do and it just not responding the right way. I was glad to be a part of this process with him just because I’ve known him for so long and I wish Rashaad the best.”

Why LB Shaq Thompson and OT Taylor Moton didn’t practice

“Shaq and Taylor, we shut them down for a day just to kind of give them a little recovery and take care of their bodies, see if we can get them back for our Clemson practice.”

What has caught his eye about rookie LB Trevin Wallace

“Big, strong, and fast. He can really fly. When he’s flying around you know he’s starting to get the defense, he’s starting to get comfortable with the calls, where he’s supposed to be, alignment and all that stuff. As you guys’ wheels are turning you can see them overthinking sometimes processing is still kind of teetering in that mode. We’re really looking for him to settle in so we can see him big and fast every play.”

Receivers winning some battles after Jaycee Horn had a good day

“Iron sharpens iron. We make us. That’s kind of the saying we have around the building. The point isn’t just to come out and beat the guy across from you. If you bring your best, and your opponent brings their best then our whole play elevates. That’s the mentality that we want.It doesn’t come about by just beating a guy.”

If today felt like a holiday with it being a padded practice

“I mean, it’s fantastic but hopefully we had three really good days before this of flying around. I try not to make any one thing different than the other ones. It’s the same thing with games. If you were to tell me that preseason one isn’t the most important game for a lot of the guys on our roster…this is their opportunity. This is their shot. And I try to approach every game that way, every practice that way. Not all of a sudden, hey, we got to turn up now! We got to really go now! That’s just the wrong mentality. It shouldn’t matter about the opponent. It shouldn’t matter about the time of year, this is the only one we have. Can we capture it? Can we go for it? We happened to have pads on today. We got some new information about how to handle the physicality and not take it personal. That’s a great, teachable moment right there but I try to push them hard every morning. I try to get up in the morning and tell them this is such a great day. We got a little bit shorter practice, we’re going full speed, take advantage. Find your opportunities to make it a game rep. If we extend the practice by 20 minutes, then let’s go 20 minutes longer and let’s go just as hard. If we can have that type of mental fortitude and that mentality, then every moment becomes critical. Every moment becomes important.”

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