CHARLOTTE — The Panthers' offense was handed a tough situation to start the final move-the-ball drill.
Third-and-11, from the plus-40-yard line with the directive to score.
"Some really amazing timing throws by Bryce Young in that last drive," coach Dave Canales bragged of his quarterback after practice. "And it wasn't clean. I mean, the rush group was really getting after the offensive line a little bit."
But all offseason, Young and his receivers have worked on timing, making plays in tight windows in such a way that beats good defense. Time and time again, that chemistry showed up on the final drive.
"A good mixture of the runs, some play actions, and then making some critical plays," added Canales.
Young and the offense converted on the first play of the drill to move downfield, but were facing another third-and-long just outside the red zone. Kenny Pickett had already found second-year tight end Mitchell Evans earlier in the day on a bang-bang play. So, with the rush pushing Young out of the pocket and to the left, the starting QB showed his trust in the tight end as well.
Evans rewarded the trust, streaking across the middle of the field and using his 6-5, 258-pound frame to create space for the big catch.
"That was a great catch by Mitch," remarked Canales. "It's something we wanted to see, and really it's just a matter of opportunity. And it was tight coverage; Bryce trusted him and gave him the ball. Mitch played big to the ball and made the play."
The Panthers have always wanted to fold tight ends into this offense as much as possible, but opportunity and availability have made that difficult at times. Last season, the tight end group as a unit posted 78 receptions for 638 yards and five touchdowns. That's a number, based on the first preseason game and training camp thus far, that should grow this year.
Evans feels confident that will happen, even if it's not through him.
"I definitely think our group now is confident and striving in the right direction to reach those goals," Evans shared earlier this week. "But we're always just also doing the task at hand, whatever we're told to do.
"So whatever job it is — sometimes we're tasked that week with, all right, we know it's going to be a run-heavy game and we take pride in that. So whatever we're asked to do, whatever we're tasked with, whether that's catching the ball, run blocking, whatever it is, we're always stepping into the occasion and excited to do that.
"Obviously we strive and like to have those goals and accomplish them, but I think as a room we tallied great success last year. So, yeah, you know, I think whatever it has to do, we're going to excel at it."
View some of Monday's best snaps from training camp practice.
Lathan Ransom and Bam Martin-Scott are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Xavier Legette is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Jalen Coker is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
C Luke Fortner and C Sam Hecht are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
OLB Jaelan Phillips and AC Carter are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
CB Jaycee Horn and CB Will Lee III are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
CB Mike Jackson is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
WR John Metchie III is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
WR Tetairoa McMillan is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Kenny Pickett, QB Bryce Young and Kyle Trask are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
TE Feleipe Franks is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
OLB Jaelan Phillips, RB Jonathon Brooks and RB Trevor Etienne are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
AJ Dillon is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Xavier Legette is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
CB Jaycee Horn is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
T Rasheed Walker, Monroe Freeling, QB Bryce Young and RB Chuba Hubbard are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
S Nick Scott is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
WR John Metchie III is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
LB Devin Lloyd and Mayur Chaudhari are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
LB Devin Lloyd is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
OLB Jaelan Phillips is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Bryce Young is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Mike Bercovici, Kenny Pickett, Will Harriger and Bryce Young are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
WR Jalen Coker and WR David Moore are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Kyle Trask and RB Miles Davis are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
CB Cam Miller is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
WR David Moore is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
RB Jonathon Brooks is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
S Tre'von Moehrig is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
LB Mapalo Mwansa, LB Bam Martin-Scott, LB Claudin Cherelus, OLB Trevis Gipson, G Robert Hunt, QB Bryce Young and RB AJ Dillon are seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
Jalen Coker is seen during Carolina Panthers Training camp on Monday, Aug. 10, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.
