The Panthers pushed through their hottest practice of training camp on Monday, working in full pads under a heat index that reached 117 as they prepared for a busy week against the Jaguars. Dave Canales wanted the session to stay physical, and he got it: the team ran a live period in the middle of practice while the medical staff kept water and cooling breaks moving all afternoon.
That is why Aj Dillon’s name has hovered around this team lately, because the Panthers are searching for the right mix of load and recovery before they head into Jacksonville. They practiced in Charlotte after playing Saturday in Buffalo and taking Sunday off, then returned to a session Canales said they needed. He said the starters will get a pretty good load of work on Wednesday against the Jaguars and that the plan is to play them again in Friday’s preseason game in Jacksonville.
Canales did not hide the reason for the grind. He said the Panthers wanted the work because they are going to Jacksonville this week, and he pointed out that what they face there could resemble the weather they see in Charlotte later in the season. The message was simple: the team needs to know how to play its style of football when the conditions are miserable, not just when practice feels easy.
The day’s most vivid football moment came from Jamoni Young, who leaked out of the defense and broke free down the sideline during the live scrimmage. Tetairoa McMillan moved down the sideline with him, and the play drew the kind of reaction that reminded everyone this was more than a conditioning exercise. It was a physical test, and it was meant to feel that way.
There is still a catch in the plan. The Panthers can say they want a heavy week, but the actual workload on Wednesday and Friday will depend on how the players come out of Monday and Tuesday, especially after a practice that already pressed the limits of what heat and pads can do together. The team also hosted the 11U PAL Panthers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Activities League for a youth football joint practice Monday, with the group going through dynamic stretching, warmups and then its own work on the Bank of America Stadium game field as part of the NFL’s Play Football initiative. That gave the afternoon a second layer, but the main event remained the same: the Panthers chose strain over comfort, and the next two days will show how much of that choice they can carry into Jacksonville.
