CHARLOTTE — Dave Canales has to coach the entire football team, and his background is all on offense.

But he was still lighting up when he discussed what he called a "dominant" day from his defense on Friday.

"Defense, great response today, a dominant practice for the defense," he began. "Some turnovers, some beautiful hits, guys squaring the offensive guys up, showing each other the type of physical play that they're expecting from each other, which I love.

"I could go on and on, but it was just a lot of physical play. That's what we need, and the offense needs to be able to be prepared for that kind of physical nature of the game. So, I love the finish of the practice."

He rattled through a laundry list of plays made, and there were plenty. From Jaycee Horn picking off Bryce Young and throwing the ball back to him (Bryce booted it away on the fly), to Chau Smith-Wade closing practice with an interception in the end zone, it was a day of big plays.

He mentioned Trevin Wallace putting a shot on Chuba Hubbard in team run, the physical nature of Tre'von Moehrig, and the pass rush of Patrick Jones II. But it wasn't just the ones, it was reserves from rookie Lathan Ransom making plays, to Jacoby Windmon getting his hands on passes, to Thomas Incoom having some solid rushes.

That's good for those guys, but it also points to an offense needing to tighten some things up. That's the balance a head coach has to strike. He said the way they score practices (one point for winning an individual play, three points for a touchdown) skews toward the offense, and he's trying to create a constant state of attention to detail.

"I'm just looking for the response, and it's the consistency, right?" Canales said. "What happens is in games, you could be having a dominant day, but you give up one go-ball for a touchdown and it's a big swing in momentum, a big shift. So it's that consistency of play that we're looking for, but I thought they upheld that. I thought they continued to play the run game. And challenge the run game and then challenged the pass game, came up with some turnovers.

"Then what I've been noticing the guys are doing is the defense is getting together before every team drill. They're kind of coming together, talking, challenging each other, then they go out there and call it up again, you know, and so it's just, I love that refocus. That's what it's going to take during games. I expect them to kind of have that chemistry to come together in between drives. Let's go out and do it again. How many times can we just do right longer? Can we finish halves? Can we finish games that way? So I love the mentality of it right now."

Offensive leaders have their own message

Canales said that Young called the offense up after what he termed a slow start to practice, and Hubbard came back at the end of practice to challenge his teammates.

That's the kind of ownership he wants to see from his roster, as he works to build a player-driven culture here.

"It hasn't been necessary, really up until today," Canales said when asked about Young's move. "I think as we started, we accumulated three great days of practice, had a reset, had a player day off, and you kind of come out and the guys are kind of easing their way into practice. And so the challenge from Chuba at the end of practice was, guys, we can't afford to come out and feel our way through this thing. We have to be ready to go when that first horn blows for two hours we're working and to have those habits.

And Bryce, I think just sensed it. He hadn't had to up until this point, but I think he could sense just not enough urgency, so we went through that first rack, came back out and took 10 or 15 seconds to kind of tell the guys, let's go, it's time to go. So, I love that."

Canales plans to play starters in the preseason this year

Canales also confirmed that he intended to play most of his starters in the first two preseason games and then see where they were before the third. They'll also have joint practices with their opponents (the Browns next week, then at Houston) before the Houston game.

He didn't play starters until the third preseason game last year, and wanted to change that pattern.

"We have a mix of veteran players, but it's predominantly a pretty young team," he said. "And I just can't pass up the opportunities. The reps in game are valuable, but I think that it goes to the night before, when guys know they're going to go out there, they've got to make a decision to play football. And so it starts the night before with the prep. You start thinking about your plan, taking care of your body, making sure you get your rest. You get up, it's your nutrition plan in the morning, body readiness, your full game day routines. Those are so valuable.

"We have three opportunities to do that in this preseason, and I just really want to take advantage of that. Plus it's a bunch of new guys playing together on defense and a couple of new guys on the offensive side. We have a little more continuity there, but I just love the thought of them going through that plan, having a first-15 type of thought process, and taking advantage of the preparation."

He called last year's plan "experimenting with an approach," but reverted back to the way he saw Pete Carroll do it in Seattle, and getting his regulars work in the first two games.

Injury updates on Nic Scourton and DJ Johnson

The Panthers were a little short at outside linebacker, as Nic Scourton was sidelined with what Canales termed a "mild hamstring," and DJ Johnson left practice with "a hip thing" that they're going to get checked out this afternoon.

As they went down the depth chart, that created opportunities for others, and Incoom made the most of them, with an active day. He started last year on the practice squad, and after he was elevated to the 53 in October, became one of their better special teams players.

"I think Thomas has just taken to the coaching points of becoming a rusher," Canales said. "He's very physical by nature. He helped us on special teams, he's a dynamic player there, but I think that (outside linebackers coach) AC Carter's been working with him on having just a couple of tools. It's like a pitcher; you've got your fastball and there's some sort of off-speed pitch that's coming in. And with Thomas with his speed, he could help us, he could be really, dynamic presence that way. And then I just love how physical he's playing the run game as well."

While veteran wideout Hunter Renfrow (hamstring) remained sidelined, cornerback Mike Jackson (toe) returned to practice after a few days off.

Robert Hunt constantly pushing himself

This just in: Pro Bowl guard Robert Hunt is good at football.

But Canales said he's been impressed with the way last year's premier free agent addition continues to push himself.

"Robert is amazing, the size, the talent, the quickness, the flexibility," Canales said. "He's a really intelligent guy, and he'll be the first one to come up here and tell you there are technique things that he wants to work on. And being really specific with this hand placement, keeping his weight back. He's such a big dominant force, he can get away with kind of just mauling guys and covering them up, but if you play with technique and you have all that power and athleticism, that's when you really take the next steps.

"And I just love the thought of regardless of where our players are at, there's always more out there for you. There's always a learning curve. We're constantly growing as coaches, as players. We're constantly looking for that. So I love the fact that he's challenging himself."

James Mitchell stands out as ball finds him

The first time James Mitchell pulled in an impressive catch in coverage during practice on Friday, it seemed run-of-the-mill; one of many in a long team period. When it happened again, there was a murmur as reporters started asking aloud, "Now where did he play last year?" (It was the Lions).

By the third time—when Mitchell cut across the field, splitting the defense to nab the Andy Dalton pass in stride—it was clear, Friday was a very good day for tight end James Mitchell.

"He just keeps doing right," bragged Canales of the fourth-year pass catcher.

Mitchell spent his career thus far with the Detroit Lions. From 2022-2024, he appeared in 30 games and started one, pulling in 13 receptions for 141 yards and a touchdown. He spent most of 2024 on the practice squad, appearing in one game. But the accumulated time in the league has given him the experience to help the Panthers' offense in camp, especially as snaps filter down with Tommy Tremble continuing to recover from back surgery.

"(It's) trust factor," continued Canales of Mitchell. "So the level of trust just continues to increase when he's in there with Andy or Bryce, whoever it is, so if you're doing right and the coverage says the ball goes there, he's making his plays.

"He had a couple opps (opportunities) early on in camp, couldn't quite come up with them, but he's been doing a solid job in the run game and the pass game."

Canales a fan of digital down and distance technology

The NFL's new use of digital spotting for down-and-distance debuted last night at the Hall of Fame Game (don't worry, the chain gang will still be around as a backup).

And Canales said he liked the way it allowed him more time to think about what needed to happen next, in terms of the difference between a first down play call and a fourth-and-inches.

"I think it could be really valuable for me as the head coach," he said. "I think that getting that information quickly does help the flow of the game."