CHARLOTTE—The rain drifted away from the Carolina Panthers' practice field on Tuesday, after a five-minute deluge, and provided that post-storm window when everything is quiet and muggy. It meant Bryce Young's voice cut through crisp and clear.

Quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends were going through a red zone drill, and there had been a few too many miscommunications. So Young, becoming a grizzled veteran at the ripe age of 24, provided a bit of encouragement.

"I heard him get a little bit passionate," joked coach Dave Canales after the Panthers first practice of OTAs (organized team activities). "We got a little bit of a monsoon for a second there in practice, and once the rain had passed, he was like,'Hey, let's lock back in. We got to come up with these balls.'

"I think he said it in a little more colorful language than that."

Regardless the content, the point was made for everyone across the board. Step it up.

Canales' biggest directive for Young this offseason has been to take more ownership of the offense, make it completely his. Tuesday was a result of that happening.

"Just total command of the system and knowing what he's looking for," said Canales. "The timing of things, and the more that he owns it, the more he's looking for specific things out of the tight ends, wideouts, and backs as the concepts come alive."

Robert Hunt, for his part, is a poet when it comes to weaving certain language into everyday conversation. He's making a concerted effort to eliminate it from his vocabulary though, after discovering his two-year-old son has started mimicking him.

"My son wanted to watch Moana in the car, and he says, 'Moana, mom.' And she's like, 'I'm trying, son.' 'Moana, mom.' 'I'm trying.'"

To which the toddler responded with his dad's favorite word.

"I still don't believe he said it to this day, so I don't believe it," he joked, before admitting, "I'm trying, I'm trying my best (to stop), I'm trying my best."

While he may be watching his words in his own life, Hunt loves seeing the fire from his quarterback.

"That's great," said Hunt, who didn't hear the quarterback's directives in the moment, but loved hearing the story later. "I mean, he's taking it seriously, and I think that's to set the tone, so that's good."

Added Canales, "I just love it. I love the fact that he's taking ownership, and the guys see that and rally around that, and something that they all appreciate."

Intensity level at good spot for first day

When the Panthers took the field for their first OTA of this offseason, Canales gave the group the same instructions he always does this time of year: mimic the intensity of a game as much as possible, toeing right up to the line of what you can do while still remembering this is an offseason practice in May.

"The biggest challenge—which I'm really proud of the group—is to capture the intensity and the speed of play that we need, but also taking care of each other, and that's what I saw today.

"I saw guys making great decisions, at the line of scrimmage, on the ball around the pocket, obviously, this time of year we don't want people around the quarterback, and so there were some good rushes and guys peeled off.

"And then in the back half, in the secondary and the linebackers making some plays on the ball where I said, 'Hey, look, if you have a clear path to the ball, you can make that play. Let's just stay away from those collisions and a lot of the things that we're not looking for at this time of year."

That intensity was particularly evident during a team drill. Young loaded up to send one deep for rookie receiver Chris Brazzell II. Defensive back Corey Thornton was on him the entire way, prompting shouts of "super strapped" from the defensive sideline while the ball was still in the air.

But Thornton drew a flag, instead. The defense descended, fighting the call, Jaycee Horn threw the flag back at the official, and Brazzell ran off laughing. Thornton, for his part, vehemently denied the penalty, but did so with a sneaky grin and quick subject change to how excited he is to be back on the field.

It's only May; there's a long road ahead. But the first day set the bar for the energy level all summer long.

"I thought the guys captured it," said Canales, "and we were able to get some quality football done today."

Now that Canales has handed over play-calling duties to Brad Idzik, he gets to float between units during practice and see that intensity up close. He'll grab a bag and hop into drills as he moves from unit to unit, letting guys use him as a practice partner.

"Just any way I can help in a drill, I'll pop in there any way I can."

The guys do draw their line at "intense" drills when they're going against the head coach, though.

"I think they're very respectful of that," smiled Canales.

Brooks making exciting progress

Add this to the list of things for which we have to remind ourselves to temper excitement, since it's May, but also can't help but get really, really excited about: running back Jonathon Brooks had a very solid first day of OTAs.

Despite going into what is technically his third year, this was his first OTA practice in the league. As a rookie, Brooks was recovering from an ACL tear suffered in college. Then, he missed the entire 2025 offseason (and season) with a second ACL tear suffered in November of 2024.

So when he nabbed a screen on Tuesday and scooted up the sideline, reminding everyone on the field of his speed, it drew an immediate reaction. And when he took a handoff from Young and cut one way, then the other, shaking a couple of would-be tacklers to break into the open field, shouts of excitement followed.

And when he took an outside pitch, curled around into open space, and then angled back just so he could seek out contact, laughing the whole way, it was hard not to imagine what could be.

"It brings me a lot of joy to be able to see him out there," said Canales. "Didn't see any hesitation, just a lot of speed and decisiveness, and how he ran the ball today.

"Got him in the perimeter on a screen and made some good yards on one of our screens today. And not just me, but I think his teammates would say the same thing."

His teammates did say the same thing, such as Hunt, who got to block for Brooks on a few plays.

"It's really special, man," nodded Hunt. "He, unfortunately, got the bad end of the stick.

"But to see him out there working, man, I've seen him work all last year because I was over there with him working because I was injured. To see him just put in all the work, man, and be able to come out today and be able to play, it's good.

"He got a long way to go just like all of us do, and hopefully he can make it to where we're trying to make it to, and we'll see what he can do. I'm excited for him."

Freeling will have chances to compete

Tuesday was the first chance for Monroe Freeling to throw his hat in the ring for a starting tackle job. The first-round offensive lineman primarily worked with the second-team, behind Rasheed Walker, at left tackle.

Walker was a free agent pickup for Carolina this offseason and has slid in seamlessly with the offense, according to Canales.

"Rasheed, an experienced player, has familiarity with our system," noted Canales.

"Maybe the words might be a little slightly different from Matt LaFleur's system in Green Bay, but a lot of carryover, a lot of great communication, having another veteran player like Damien Lewis playing next to him right there. He's done a great job so far. And again, we're going to let these guys compete."

That means the Georgia product, Freeling, will also get some of those chances this summer.

"Monroe's going to have a chance to compete," Canales reiterated.

"Right now, with just the way that we're doing things, Rasheed's out there with the first group. Monroe's got a couple of reps with the first group as well, but I can't wait to see that play out as we go into camp."

When Freeling did get reps with the first group on Tuesday, it was at right tackle, providing veteran Taylor Moton a spell. Those reps lined up Freeling next to another veteran, Hunt.

"I like Monroe. I played with him a little bit today, actually, for the first time. He's quiet right now, but he seems with it," noted Hunt. "He seems like a smart kid.

"He's a big, physical, good-looking guy. He got a good physique on him. I'm excited to see what he can do. He looked the part for sure."

The offensive line room, led by Hunt and Moton, is known for its overflowing, exuberant personalities. It's the same kind of vibe Freeling showcased after being drafted. The veterans are working to bring that out of him more now, as he is thrown into the fire, but they are committed.

"He's a little quiet right now," laughed Hunt. "I'm trying to see where—he's been a little quiet, so we'll see where he fits in soon when we start hanging out a little more."

Injury updates

A few injury updates of note.

Defensive lineman Bobby Brown III was working with the rehab group today, thanks to what Canales referred to as a calf injury.

"So, Bobby got a calf a couple of weeks ago, and he's doing great," said Canales. "He's in return to play. He's really close to being back out there. We've got to be smart with that stuff. These aren't things that we want to linger."

Receiver Tetairoa McMillan wasn't on the field as he nurses a foot soreness. Coaches aren't concerned, but are taking advantage of the slow time on the calendar with the reigning rookie of the year.

"Similar thing for TMac, he had some foot soreness. It wasn't anything alarming, but again, at this point, we don't want things to kind of build up to turn into some type of a nagging, chronic type of deal," explained Canales.

"So we just decided to keep them, kind of back them off, and make sure it's the right time to get them back in because we know once they start competing out there, you forget what's happening in your body and you're just going and competing and we want those guys to feel fully healthy and fully ready to go and hopefully we can get them back out here in the next week or two."

Linebacker Trevin Wallace was participating, but in a non-contact jersey, which Canales called a precaution more than anything.

"Trevin is doing great. He had a procedure after the season," Canales shared, referring to the shoulder procedure the linebacker had done earlier this year.

"He's fully strong. All those things we want to be smart about, and just the red jersey creates an awareness as the linemen are coming to block at the second level. Let's just make sure to be smart.

"Trevin knows as well just to kind of fit his area, be in position, but also be smart, and so it's just another level of protection."

Finally, offensive lineman Stone Forsythe was absent as well, albeit for a much happier reason.

"They just had a baby this weekend, got a picture," Canales said. "We got a healthy baby, so congrats to them. He shot me a text and a picture and so really fired up for him and his family."