CHARLOTTE — The Panthers defense wasn't at full strength, and they could have been excused if their thoughts were somewhere else.

But they still turned in an impressive day of practice, and closed it out with style.

From a Chau Smith-Wade interception that went the distance earlier in the day, to rookie cornerback Will Lee III picking off Bryce Young to end practice with a celebratory punt (more on that later on Panthers.com), it was quite a day for the secondary in particular, and the defense in general.

During a live two-minute segment at the end of practice, the defense went 3-0, shutting down each of the three quarterbacks.

"What a great competitive day," Panthers head coach Dave Canales began. "Finished off with a little two-minute drill right there, had three groups go. Defense went 3-0, some nice drives, knocking on the door, but defense was able to hold it down."

That came with an important caveat.

The reason Canales went on to praise the pass rush he was getting from down-the-depth-chart guys, including the just-signed Cam Gill, Trevis Gipson, and Thomas Incoom, was because of the guy who was missing.

Canales confirmed that starting outside linebacker Nic Scourton suffered a torn ACL during yesterday's practice. He was placed on injured reserve before practice Friday morning.

"Just a, a horrible loss for us," Canales said. "Just as a guy, as a leader, as a young guy to be able to be a leader because of how he represents himself. a

"But all the guys are supporting him. We have guys who have been through this, and they've all just said, we got him, and we'll be following along with him."

Scourton's injury on the first day put a dark cloud over the proceedings, but immediately the team began lifting him up. Practically every player on the roster went over to hug him before he was carted off the field Thursday, and the support has continued.

"Just an outpouring of love and care for their guy," Canales said. "Especially when a guy like Nic comes in as a rookie and works the way he works and adapts great habits, study habits, work habits on the field, everything that we dream about in terms of the front office, the types of guys that we want here. Nic embodies that and makes plays on Sundays.

"But just his impact on his teammates, the bond that they're creating in that rush room, in the outside linebacker room with (position coach) AC Carter, it was special. And then, of course, it was the other positions too, and guys that came out and know how hard he's been working and how excited he was for this season. I was really, really happy to allow that moment, that opportunity in practice where we could go on to the next drill or we can take this time right here to, to go and make sure we send him some love, as we know he's got a road coming back."

From the looks of Friday's practice, they responded the way you'd hope.

A few important injury absences

Canales noted that right guard Robert Hunt was held out Friday after he experienced some back tightness following Thursday's practice. Cornerback Mike Jackson was also held out for the same reason, and Canales said both would get tests later to make sure they're on top of the situation.

Jackson wasn't on the practice field Friday, but Hunt was there and walking laps slowly around the field for most of the session.

"Just making sure there's nothing in there," Canales said. "These types of things pop up early in camp. We're used to this, and league-wide, this is a common thing.

"It's kind of a chain. If your back starts to tighten up, all the rest of your soft tissue, your hamstrings, quad, hip flexor, everything else starts to tighten up. So it's imperative we get all of that settled down before we throw them back out there to do things."

With Hunt out, Chandler Zavala worked with the ones at right guard. Cornerback is a little more complicated since Jaycee Horn remains on the active/NFI list, so without Jackson, a group of young guys including Lee, Corey Thornton, and Smith-Wade were with the first group.

Xavier Legette's transitional offseason on display Friday

If not for an impressive interception by Lee on the last play of the day, Xavier Legette would have notched the play of the day. The third-year receiver got the passing game going early with an in-stride catch on a deep ball from Young during an early team period.

The receiver continued his stand-out day with a sideline tap from Young on the right side of the field and a heads-up play on the opposite side during a two-minute drill, quickly pulling in the catch and getting out of bounds.

Whether long passes or short check-downs, Legette made himself available throughout practice on Friday, a reliable target for Young in every situation.

"A really beautiful two-minute drive at the end where (Bryce) was, he hit Xavier a couple of times," recapped Canales after practice. "He hit TMac a few times, dumped it down to (Jalen) Coker, was really matriculating the ball down the field with a lot of trust and confidence and anticipation."

Coaches challenged Legette heading into this offseason, asking their former first-round pick to commit to the work necessary to become bigger, faster, stronger heading into this year. When he returned for training camp, the Panthers saw a receiver ready to make an impact.

"Really proud of Xavier, the way he's attacked this offseason," bragged general manager Dan Morgan on Wednesday. "He's in great shape right now. Just really excited where he's headed. He's in a great headspace. He's looking forward to going out there competing, and I'm looking forward to seeing him out there competing as well."

On Friday, that competition came to life, with a Legette performance that highlighted the day.

Offensive line stuff happening

In addition to Hunt's absence, it was a notable day for the interior offensive line.

Center Luke Fortner got into a brief scuffle during a team drill, and ended up without a helmet. Linebacker Devin Lloyd displayed some peacemaking skills, hugging tackle Rasheed Walker up to get him out of the scrum.

There were also some snaps in team drills for Brady, who signed last week, and did a few individual drills on Thursday.

Christensen's coming back from a torn Achilles suffered last year against the Bills in midseason. He's a valuable addition because he can and has started all five positions.

Panthers' confidence growing in Mitchell Evans

This time a year ago, Mitchell Evans' head was swimming. He was in his first NFL training camp, put on the front line as the Panthers experimented with their tight end unit. That meant having to face the first-team pass rushers, a task the young Evans realized quickly he wasn't ready for.

"As we came out of the season, we had our exit meetings and as I was asking Mitch, when did it kind of click for you," recalled Dave Canales on Friday. "He said, 'It was really coming out of training camp.'

"His biggest concern was, 'How am I going to block Patrick Jones II, DJ Wonnum, and these guys are 6'5, they go about 265 pounds?' And kind of just his main concern for, 'I need to have my technique right so I can block these guys.' And he comes out of camp with confidence to be able to do it."

That experience, while feeling a little like baptism by fire, accelerated Evans' learning curve. By the time camp ended last season, the Notre Dame product felt prepared.

"That led into a season where we were able to count on him to do some things," continued Canales.

Evans pulled in 19 receptions for 171 yards and two touchdowns last season.

Coming into this training camp, the now second-year receiver has made an effort to marry his blocking ability with his pass-catching ability.

"A lot of confidence right now with Mitch," said Canales. "He looks really smooth. He looks like he's been working on his route craft and watching him in routes on air, watching him in our 7-on-7 periods, he's really moving with a lot of confidence, and you can also see the understanding of the concepts.

"When a guy looks comfortable, he knows what's happening."