Dave Canales open to playing Carolina Panthers starters in Buffalo, but there’s a catch

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Training camp is complete, but the competition is still very much ongoing on Cedar Street.

On Tuesday, the Carolina Panthers staged a back-and-forth battle of a practice outside of Bank of America Stadium. The offense and defense traded highlight plays with the league’s cut-down deadline exactly a week away on Aug. 27.

But before those cuts can be made next week, the Panthers still have one more milestone to cross off their summer list. The squad will head up to Buffalo this weekend to face the Bills on Saturday in the preseason finale.

The Bills have already publicly stated they’ll rest their starters. But Panthers head coach Dave Canales, who has rested his starters in each of the first two preseason games, isn’t ready to rule anyone out just yet.

“I’m open to playing our guys this week,” Canales said. “The same thing I told you after the game (on Saturday) is true, though: We have to look at what that group looks like if we put everybody out there. Are there enough of those guys to say, ‘Man this is valuable for us to get these reps?’ Once we start to get into the depth of different positions, that kind of forces (us to ask): ‘Can we play guys? Or do we need to play them?’ Today was a hard practice. Tomorrow’s going to be another hard one. So for me, I have to make sure we get through these two days, collect information and make the decisions as we go forward.”

Canales has overseen a squad with several notable injuries this summer. Those ailments have caused notable players — even those who haven’t been sidelined in practice — to miss the exhibition matchups.

In theory, there is more risk to playing QB Bryce Young in the preseason if he is working behind a makeshift offensive line. However, on Tuesday, the entire first-team group protected him during team drills, as left guard Damien Lewis (shoulder/personal) returned to the trenches.

While Buffalo is set to protect its top stars, the Bills’ decision won’t impact Canales’ choices on who will play on Saturday.

Said Canales: “It’s really just about the strength and health of our units and if we can get a good look at our guys and get them that game experience, which we all know is so valuable.”

Panthers practice: Younger defenders stand out with splash players

The Panthers’ team drills offered up highlights on both sides of the ball.

On defense, a pair of youngsters came up with picks against the offense. Backup QB Andy Dalton was intercepted by rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace, the team’s third-round pick, on a pass over the middle to wideout Terrace Marshall Jr. in 7-on-7 drills.

Wallace — hiding in plain sight — jumped up to snatch the ball out of the air on a relatively quick throw by Dalton.

“He’s really athletic,” Young said about Wallace after practice. “Made some plays throughout camp. Made some plays today. He does a really good job. Instinctual guy. And how quickly he can decipher stuff and make plays, (plus) that athleticism, it really pops on the film. So I’m really excited for him. He works hard. Good guy, good dude in the locker room, so it’s been great to watch him develop.”

Later, defensive lineman Shy Tuttle — during 11-on-11 drills — had a trademark batted ball at the line. The pass from Young ricocheted, and cornerback Jaycee Horn made an acrobatic diving catch to haul in the interception.

Fellow cornerback Dicaprio Bootle also had a nice play in 11-on-11 coverage. Young threw a deep ball to wideout Jonathan Mingo that was noticeably fluttering in the air ahead of its target. Bootle caught up to Mingo and nearly snatched the ball out of the air for an interception.

Bootle and D’Shawn Jamison are expected to see significant playing time Saturday with Dane Jackson (hamstring) sidelined and Lamar Jackson — also injured — on waivers.

Offense strikes back: Young finds his targets

The offense had its own moments as well. Young connected with wideout Adam Thielen on a crossing route for a decent gain before safety Nick Scott popped the wideout to the ground. Scott immediately realized his mistake and apologized to Thielen for the hit. Both were fine following the collision.

Practice ended on an offensive highlight with Young connecting with Marshall for a near-30-yard touchdown completion. Marshall battled against a defensive back down to the end zone and gave the defender a bit of a push off — nothing egregious — to gain a bit of separation as the ball floated to him. Marshall leaned back to haul in the deep ball from Young for the touchdown. Following the play, the secondary pleaded with the referees that it was an offensive pass interference but the refs didn’t give into those pleas.

Following practice, Canales said the offense has been installed for roughly two weeks. The group is now working on the fine-tuning the operation of the plays from multiple formations within their concepts.

“It’s been a challenge for them,” Canales said, when asked how the young guys are grasping his offense. “We’re throwing all the words at them throughout this camp. And really the installs of new things probably stopped about two weeks ago. But now what we go into is reformation-ing, doing it out of a different personnel, a different presentation. Same thing for the defense. Can we get tighter and tighter on holding what we’re doing, so we’re not giving any tells. It’s all the minutiae that on Sundays makes a difference for holding your cards and setting things up. So that’s the part we wanted them to feel in the last two weeks.”

Quick hits

▪ WR Diontae Johnson (groin) returned to team drills on Tuesday. OLB Cam Gill (hand) and G Chandler Zavala (hamstring) both took part in drills as well. Notable players on the sideline were OLB K’Lavon Chaisson (undisclosed), C Cade Mays (shoulder), OT Badara Traore (knee) and S Xavier Woods (groin).

▪ RB Jonathon Brooks (knee) remains on the active/non-football injury (NFI) list. OT Yosh Nijman (leg), OLB Amare Barno (knee) and OLB D.J. Wonnum (quad) are still on the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) list.

▪ Former Panthers general manager Bill Polian and former Pro Bowl linebacker Thomas Davis were at practice as special guests.

▪ Returning rookies WR Sam Pinckney (No. 12), RB Jaden Shirden (No. 35) and CB Willie Drew (No. 34) were on the field on Tuesday. The trio was re-signed on Monday after early camp departures. New defensive backs Quandre Mosley (No. 39) and Chris Wilcox (No. 31) were also active in drills. They’ll all be pretty active on Saturday against the Bills.

▪ When The Observer asked Lewis to name an offensive lineman who had stood out to him on the second- or third-team offense, he responded that Zavala, last year’s fourth-round pick, was a player to look out for this season.

▪ Follow Observer reporters Mike Kaye (@mike_e_kaye) and Alex Zietlow (@alexzietlow05), and columnist Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler), on X, formerly known as Twitter, for the Panthers’ latest news and highlights.