CHARLOTTE — When Panthers head coach Dave Canales was asked about Xavier Legette's 39-yard touchdown during Fan Fest practice, he mentioned seeing a few defenders taking bad angles.

But mostly, he saw Legette running free across the middle of the field, and that's a good thing for a lot of reasons.

The fans certainly appreciated it and were ready to celebrate with him.

"I saw guys just take bad angles on a reception," Canales said. "And he's big and fast, and he kind of saw he had daylight and was able to get into the end zone. But I think it was a little bit of over-pursuit by the defense, and that's why these scrimmages are so important for guys. In a practice, you may not get the full finish that you're expecting that you might see in a game, so you've got to work on those angles and use your help, so that's one of the things I know that we can kind of look at and improve.

"But I love seeing Xavier with the ball in his hands running full speed, that means coaches are doing their job."

Legette didn't score a touchdown in the final seven games of the regular season last year, so it was also an opportunity for fans to see him saddle up Dolla Bill for the first time in a minute, and the crowd of 45,690 (tickets distributed) was into it.

Later in the first half of the scrimmage, there was a mild scare, as he went down at the end of a Bryce Young deep ball, which was broken up by Mike Jackson.

Veteran wideout Adam Thielen had a good look at the play and admitted it worried him at first.

"Yeah, I had kind of a pretty close view of that one, so it didn't look very good from my view, so I was a little worried about it," Thielen said. "But, glad to see that he was out there, bounced up quickly, and jogged off. It's kind of one of those things as a player, usually you're like, 'I didn't feel good,' and then you get up and, 'OK, I'm good.'

"So, glad that everything is good there, and I think for the most part, the team is healthy after a great day's work."

Fans provide a realistic feel to practice

Over 45,000 fans poured into Bank of America Stadium Saturday night, braving an early rain that cleared into a pleasant evening for a first glimpse of the 2025 Carolina Panthers. They arrived early, settling into their seats a good three hours before "kickoff" and staying well past the final whistle, enjoying a fireworks and laser show, and begging for Robert Hunt's gloves, or a signature from Legette.

"That was a lot of fun right there, just great energy," Canales said. "So much love for the fans that came out. Lots of great energy, the guys needed it; we're deep in the camp, so, all the help we can get to just kind of create those types of practices.

"The guys don't understand the impact they can have on people just by spending a little bit of time, by going to see someone, taking a picture with somebody. You know, connecting with our fan base because they mean a lot to this town so I love moments like that we're really happy to do that."

Fan Fest returned to Charlotte after a year on the road in the Panthers original home stadium in Clemson. With training camp practices closed this year due to construction, Fan Fest was an opportunity to see what the Panthers have been working on this offseason. It was also an opportunity for the players to feel that immediate fan response and feedback to plays.

"I think it's important to have the lights on, the crowd, the energy, kind of just that next step in the atmosphere of being closer to a real game," Thielen said. "I think it's good for us all to look ourselves in the face and say we need to get a little bit better at, you know, this, that or the other. So, great evaluation for us as individuals and I'm sure for the team, and excited to kind of go back to work."

And for rookies, this was also the first chance to suit up in a full uniform and run onto the field with fans in the stands.

"I feel like (the energy is) really when you first walk out and you see all the fans and stuff like that," said rookie receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.

Sam Martin with the big play on the fake punt

New punter Sam Martin has an arm, and some guys around him who can make plays.

Backed up deep in their end in the first half of the scrimmage, Martin threw a nice pass to rookie safety Lathan Ransom, who was about to take it to the house.

But that's when rookie receiver Jimmy Horn saved the day. He had an initial chance to chase down Ransom, got turned around, but had the recovery speed to force Ransom out at the 2-yard line.

An 80-yard gain to Ransom was an explosive play, regardless, and evidence of the Ohio State rookie's special teams ability. He blocked two punts for Ohio State in 2022.

The Panthers need guys to step up into many roles on special teams, and that's an area Ramson could make an immediate impact.

The 35-year-old Martin is 2-of-2 passing in his career, for 27 yards (both in 2014, one for a first down). The Panthers had a legendary passing punter in Johnny Hekker for the last three years, but he only completed one pass in three seasons.

And for Horn (who caught a pair of touchdowns from Andy during his offensive work), it was a chance to add to his repertoire.

Asked if he preferred scoring touchdowns or preventing them, he said, "Saving touchdowns."

"I'm back there just vibing, I'm thinking I'm about to get me a punt," Horn said. "And they just had something tricky up their sleeve and I wasn't ready. So I just had to stop them from scoring."

Injury updates, and some planned rest days

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown wasn't in full uniform Saturday night, which isn't surprising considering the content of practice.

He's still working his way back from last year's knee surgery, so going in a live scrimmage probably wasn't in the cards, even before last week's oblique issue popped up. He was still on the sidelines working with teammates.

Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow (hamstring), rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton (hamstring), and outside linebacker DJ Johnson (hip) were also held out. Veteran defensive end A'Shawn Robinson and cornerback Jaycee Horn had what Canales referred to as a pre-planned rest day. Horn went through individuals but didn't participate in team drills.

Odds and ends from the scrimmage

— Dalton had a couple of touchdowns to Jimmy Horn, but was effective getting downfield, hitting David Moore for a 35-yard gain early. Moore had four catches on the night, a solid showing from the dependable veteran.

— It was less good for rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald, who missed two field goals, including one off the upright (on actual goalposts, not like the skinny ones in practice).

"Missed a couple, so we're just learning more about the guys that we have," Canales said. "It was good to see him with the whole environment, and even right there, that situation was down 3, you know, to tie it up to go to overtime, so a little extra added pressure for that situation."

— Ransom put a hard shot on wide receiver T.J. Luther that would have likely resulted in a call that Canales described: "You will be getting mail from the league office."

But he also called it "an educational process: for Ransom, who bounced back to make a clean hit later in the scrimmage.

— Third quarterback Jack Plummer had a mixed bag of a night. He got the reserves into position for that late field goal, and also had a touchdown to Dominique Dafney, but was picked off by rookie linebacker Bam Martin-Scott.