CHARLOTTE — Panthers head coach Dave Canales loved the physicality he saw, but he definitely wants to see a little more restraint from Xavier Legette.
The second-year wide receiver was ejected in the first quarter after a fight with Browns cornerback Rayshawn Mitchell which saw both players thrown out of the 30-10 Browns win in the preseason opener.
While downfield blocking on a Chuba Hubbard run, Legette got tangled up with Mitchell and left the scrap without his helmet — since Jenkins yanked it off him.
"I was right in front of it," Canales said. "We ask our receivers to finish the play with hands on. He had his hands on the guy the whole time through the echo of the whistle. The guy swung and chopped his arms down, and Xavier just kind of held on to his jersey. Then they started exchanging punches. You can't do that, neither side, both guys got ejected, rightly so. We can't have that as a part of our game.
"It's a physical game; can't handle that, tempers are going to get hot, but as soon as you throw a punch, all of a sudden we're at a disadvantage. So we want to see better from X for sure."
Legette was gone from the locker room by the time Canales was finished talking, but posted an apology to social media, saying it wouldn't happen again.
Canales said he hadn't had a chance to talk to Legette yet, but emphasized that he wanted to see a more disciplined style.
The Panthers were called for six penalties for 60 yards (compared to six for 34 yards for the Browns).
"So really proud of the play style, but you know, part of our play style is playing smart," he said. "I didn't feel like we did that. I felt like there was sloppiness, and some of the drives, and we're looking at first-and-15, we're looking at some situations like that, so we've got to take a look at it and make sure that we're continuing to coach the technique better in some of those situations."
Check out some of the best shots from the Panthers first preseason game agains the Browns.
