CHARLOTTE — From January 1st till May 8th, Monroe Freeling didn't get to spend much time on a football field. There were pockets of days, such as the NFL combine and Pro Days, where he was able to get on the grass, but it wasn't the same.
Rookie minicamp was a short reprieve, and voluntary offseason workouts stretched the muscles. But the past two weeks of OTAs, that's when Freeling has felt most like himself again.
"I can't tell you how happy I am to actually play football again," smiled the offensive lineman after the final OTA practice of the Panthers' offseason. "A lot less X's and O's as much as just actually going out there and playing ball and getting better, and definitely it was knocking some rust off, I'd say the first couple of days just from not really playing football since January 1st was definitely a little bit of a swing.
"I think the last couple of days I've been able to get back in the groove of things and feel like I'm actually myself again, playing football out there. So it's been really good for me."
While the past couple of days have helped the Panthers' first-rounder make strides, he is the first to admit there is still a long ways to go before the season.
"I think I'm doing better," he said with a nod, self-aware of how he's performed thus far and what can be better. "I'm starting to gain more confidence, more of the controllables, the new things, like let's say the snap count, like that's new to me. We didn't run off that in college. And I think most of the plays are pretty similar, but it's just kind of different language.
"And so, now that I kind of, I've gotten more comfortable with my controllables, I can actually go out there and play football kind of free."
To be fair, everyone is swimming a little during their first OTAs (or their 10th, depending on new settings or coaches), and hearing that Nic Scourton was bragging on his progress, Freeling laughed, "If he would have said that the first couple of days of OTAs, I would have told him he's lying. But these last couple of days I've definitely been able to focus more."
Having been in that same position just a year ago, Scourton is measuring every rep against Freeling, given the learning-curve jump to the league. The rookie is still coming out on top.
"Man, I think Freeling's going to be a really good piece for us. You don't get drafted in the first round on accident," said Scourton. "He's young. I was going through the same growing pains as him last year in OTAs. He's just trying to find his way to go through these new techniques that these coaches are teaching him, go through the playbook."
Freeling has been finding his way on both ends of the line. He has primarily been working at left tackle, behind Rasheed Walker, with a clear directive from coaches to both men that it is an open competition. For now, though, offensive coordinator Brad Idzik hopes his first-round rookie is gleaning all he can from every veteran around him, and isn't declaring any player—including rookies like Freeling—a starter just yet.
"We'll kind of let that fall as it comes," said Idzik during the first week of OTAs. "I think the guys are doing a great job of pouring into the details of learning our words and our communication. Having Luke Fortner here, having Rasheed Walker, vets that we signed to push the envelope there in the competition, it's been good for everybody, so I'll never put the cart before the horse.
"We never really want to label anyone a rookie as far as, go back to last year, and you have TMac (Tetairoa McMillan) come in and take hold of this offense. They're going to show you their ability to be comfortable in what we're trying to accomplish."
And while Freeling might be more comfortable at left tackle, where he played for most of his college career at Georgia, he's also been getting reps at right tackle when veteran Taylor Moton needs a spell.
"I think cross-training for all our guys is invaluable," preached Idzik. "Not only does it give us, well, last year I think we had like 12 units play, so we have a lot of different mixtures as you go throughout the season.
"A lot of uncontrolled variables pop up where you've got to play guys at different spots, and cross-training them just makes it a lot easier on our coaches to feel comfortable about having a slide guy—a guy from the left to the right or vice versa."
Freeling did play some right tackle as well his sophomore year of college, and is prepared to go wherever he's asked.
"I'm really just a jack of all trades. Whatever they need me, I'll be," promised Freeling. "So if they tell me to go right, I'm going right, I'm not going to have any complaint. I'm going to do my best to be my best right tackle. If they told me to go left, I'm going to do exactly the same thing. So, whenever they need me to be, I'm going to be."
Still, the Panthers aren't shy about admitting the need for a plan at left tackle. Incumbent starter Ikem Ekwonu is moving around well but still recovering from a ruptured patellar tendon suffered during the playoffs.
"In regard to Ickey, I can't commend him enough," praised Idzik. "Right when the season ended, this man's been in the building. He's been engaged in who we are as a culture; he's always present, so this is not a guy who is going through a rehab process on his own and is disconnected from the team. This guy loves the Carolina Panthers, and he loves what we're about, and he's a big part of that O-line room.
"So, really just proud of Ickey and how he's attacked this thing and the mentality he's had, and I know everybody else in that O-line feels it."
The initial plan to supplement Ekwonu's recovery time, Yosh Nijman, decided to retire ahead of free agency. Thus, the signing of Walker in free agency. That filled the immediate need, meaning the Freeling selection was more a luxury than a demand. Still, it raises understandable questions as to what the position looks like this season.
Idzik is content to answer those closer to game time.
"In regards to the competition," continued Idzik, "these guys are, they're all chomping at the bit, and we're really excited about just, truly being honest about, 'Hey, you guys are all competing for starting spots. There's a lot of movement that can happen between now and week one, and we're going to let the production kind of prove who needs to be out there for us.'"
Wherever the competition goes in 2026, though, the Panthers are confident in their future with Monroe Freeling.
"The talent is there, the feet, the hands, I mean, he wins," said Scourton. "So I think Freeling is going to be a really good piece, and I hope we're here together for a little minute."
