CHARLOTTE — Panthers head coach Dave Canales had seen the time wide receiver Xavier Legette was putting in this offseason.
So the touchdown catch to close practice was just confirmation of what he was already expecting.
"Really good to see him back out there playing like himself," Canales said. "Playing fast, just knowing where to be."
That's been the key for Legette, and the Panthers this offseason, because by his own admission, he wasn't as sharp as he needed to be last year. From penalties to stepping out of bounds to walking back to the line of scrimmage against the Cardinals while the team was in hurry-up mode last year, there were too many unforced errors last year.
And he's the first one to acknowledge that.
"I learned a lot," Legette said Wednesday. "Stuff like that can get you benched and sidelined and stuff like that, so I just can't do stuff like that."
In a way, it has, since Jalen Coker has surpassed him as the secondary target to reigning offensive rookie of the year Tetairoa McMillan. But the Panthers work so often out of three-receiver sets (about two-thirds of the time), there are still plenty of chances for Legette to contribute.
And based on this training camp, that could be the case.
Legette's touchdown Wednesday was among a handful of highlights, including sideline grabs and using his size to create space, where he looks more polished this year.
"I just honed into the details, man," he said. "And everything that I was dealing with last year that I put on tape that was bad."
Legette admitted he might have gotten "too loose" last season, but that's not the case now.
"I just had to take a step back, you know what I'm saying?" He said. "For me, I just kind of felt like I was probably a little too loose, so I just had to take a step back and just focus on the main thing.
"Like the stuff that I was doing, I never did stuff like that before. So I just had to take a step back. The mishaps that I was doing on the field. I never had done nothing like that, like lining up outsides and stuff like that."
But Canales has seen that throughout the offseason, so the touchdown to end practice wasn't necessarily a surprise. On that one, he "saw a window flash," and Legette boxed out and came down with the ball for the score.
"He's doing a phenomenal job; he's the guy that we're counting on,"
Legette said part of that trust-building came from off-season throwing sessions with quarterback Bryce Young, a couple in California and one in Arizona.
"We just spent that time together, and I'm talking to him a little more, going up to him and asking him things like, 'How do you feel about this?'" Legette said. "'Do we like this? Am I in the right spot?'
"So we're getting it right."
Legette referred to three or four workouts a day, but his approach has been tireless.
That includes closing each workout with sideline catches from the Jugs machine or live passing, because the spatial awareness is another area that might have been loose in the past.
Canales said Legette also "attacked" his offseason work to better protect himself against soft-tissue injuries, which have cropped up, another indication of a more mature approach.
And with the availability, the ability is shining through. With his size and speed, he can create matchup problems,
"He looks explosive," Canales said. "He's the same focused guy that I've known for going on three years now, so the intensity and the focus is still there. He's very comfortable in what we're doing.
"And then what I've seen him do is just make great plays on the boundary, back of the end zone, just some of those spatial plays where he can go attack the ball, find a way to get his feet down, and he's really attacked that part of his game, and that's something that I've seen him really improve on."
Take a look at some of the best photos from Panthers training camp practice on Wednesday, August 12.
Robert Hunt is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Robert Rochell is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
DeVonta Smith is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
JJ Jansen is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Claudin Cherelus is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Tre'von Moehrig and Cam Miller are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Ja'Tyre Carter is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
DeCarlos Nicholson and Ja'Tyre Carter are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Brady Christensen is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Nick Samac is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Brycen Tremayne is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Trevin Wallace is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Tetairoa McMillan is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Taylor Moton and Damien Lewis are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
AJ Dillon is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Aaron Hall is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
CB Chau Smith-Wade and S Demani Richardson are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Nick Scott and CB Chau Smith-Wade are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Xavier Legette is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
OLB Thomas Incoom is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
DT Kyon Barrs, S Lathan Ransom, WR Ja'seem Reed and RB Trevor Etienne are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Tetairoa McMillan and CB Mike Jackson are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR David Moore and CB Chau Smith-Wade are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
LB Devin Lloyd is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
LB Devin Lloyd and G Chandler Zavala are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Chau Smith-Wade and CB Mike Jackson are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
C Sam Hecht and Jeremiah Moon are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
TE Ja'Tavion Sanders is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Mike Jackson is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Xavier Legette and Chuba Hubbard are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Trevor Etienne is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
QB Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Xavier Legette and CB Corey Thornton are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
DeCarlos Nicholson and Roc Taylor are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
RB Miles Davis is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Jalen Coker and Bryce Young are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
DE Elijah Garcia is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
DE Jared Harrison-Hunte is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
John Metchie III and WR Tetairoa McMillan are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
T Rasheed Walker, QB Bryce Young, RB Chuba Hubbard and WR John Metchie III are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
TE Ja'Tavion Sanders is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Tetairoa McMillan is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Ja'seem Reed is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR David Moore is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
RB Chuba Hubbard is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR David Moore is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Ja'seem Reed is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Tetairoa McMillan is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
CB Devonta Smith is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
WR Jimmy Horn Jr. is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Joe Gilbert and Albert Reese IV are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
CB Mike Jackson, Dave Canales and CB Jaycee Horn are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
CB Mike Jackson, Dave Canales and CB Jaycee Horn are seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Dave Canales is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Parker Petersen is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp on Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Center in Charlotte, NC.
Xavier Legette is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
Tommy Tremble is seen during Carolina Panthers Training Camp Wednesday, Aug 12, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.
