Panthers quarterback Bryce Young won’t have to wait long for his first taste of game action this year.
Head coach Dave Canales said at training camp on Friday that Young will play in each of the team’s first two preseason games. Canales said that will also be the case for other Panthers starters.
“It’s predominantly a pretty young team and I just can’t pass up the opportunity — The reps in game are valuable, but I think it goes to the night before when guys know they’re gonna go out there,” Canales said, via DaShawn Brown of WSOC. “When guys know they’re going to go out there, they have to make a decision to play football.”
The Panthers host the Browns next Friday and they will be in Houston on August 16.
Receiver Hunter Renfrow’s comeback took a brief pause on Wednesday.
Renfrow did not practice due to a hamstring issue, Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters in his press conference after the session. However, Canales noted that Renfrow said he could have played in a game if it were necessary.
Renfrow signed with the Panthers in April after not playing in the 2024 season. In 2023, Renfrow caught 25 passes for 255 yards in 17 games for the Raiders.
Cornerback Mike Jackson (toe) and outside linebacker Pat Jones (illness) also did not participate on Wednesday.
The Panthers made a change at wide receiver on Tuesday.
The team announced that they have signed Ja’Seem Reed to their 90-man roster. Wide receiver Dan Chisena was released in a corresponding move.
Reed worked out for the team earlier this week and spent time with the Browns after going undrafted in April. He had 77 catches for 1,052 yards and 12 touchdowns while at the University of San Diego last season.
Chisena caught three passes for 37 yards in six appearances for the Panthers last season. He primarily saw playing time on special teams also seen action for the Vikings and Falcons in that role.
The Panthers are getting a pair of players back from the non-football injury list on Monday.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown and punter Sam Martin both went on the list at the start of training camp, but the team announced that they have been activated ahead of Monday’s practice.
Brown signed a three-year deal with the Panthers as a free agent this offseason. He had 44 tackles while starting 16 games for the Rams last season.
Martin spent the last three seasons with the Bills and also signed with the Panthers this offseason.
Wide receiver Dan Chisena and tight end Tommy Tremble remain on the team’s physically unable to perform list.
Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow’s comeback bid with the Panthers is off to a good start.
Renfrow caught 103 passes for the Raiders in 2021, but missed seven games the next season and only had 25 catches in 17 games for Vegas in 2023. He did not play at all after being released in March 2024 and revealed after joining the Panthers this offseason that he lost significant weight while dealing with what was ultimately diagnosed as ulcerative colitis.
Renfrow’s work in the spring drew positive reviews around the team and head coach Dave Canales said on Saturday that his early training camp work has prompted memories of the wideout’s best days on the football field.
“I mean, it’s just the Hunter Renfrow I remember,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “So he looks healthy, and I think everyone who’s watched football over the last four or five years remembers what he looks like. And he’s really playing at top form right now. I’m really excited to have him here and to have his family, which is right down the road here after this practice to be able to just connect with him. And it’s a great story that’s unfolding right in front of our eyes, so it’s really exciting to see him playing out there.”
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young ended the 2024 season on an upswing and adding a sure-handed target in Renfrow as well as first-round wideout Tetairoa McMillan in the draft gives him a chance to continue building with a deeper supporting cast. That could help set the stage for another great story for a team that has been looking for a winner for nearly a decade.
