Should Panthers starters play in ‘vanilla’ preseason? It’s on the players’ minds, too

The question that seems to be on the mind of every Carolina Panthers fan might not be answered until the regular season comes — but it’ll be debated into oblivion until then:

Should the Panthers play their starters in the preseason?

Turns out, that same question is on the minds of players and coaches, too.

The Panthers elected to keep 30-plus players out during their first week of the preseason against the Patriots. That allotment included Bryce Young, the quarterback Carolina has banked so much of its future on and who is learning his second offensive scheme in as many years as he’s been in the league.

Young said Thursday that he’s “not sure” if he’ll get the nod to start at 7 p.m. Saturday, when the New York Jets visit Bank of America Stadium for the team’s second preseason game. That said, after the Panthers’ joint practice with the Jets, Young added that joint practices offer a lot of advantages that preseason games don’t.

“I think you get those prolonged periods of getting ones-on-ones, long periods of people trying stuff,” Young said. “You get different looks. Obviously the preseason for everyone is really vanilla. We weren’t working on things that were super complex today (during joint practice). But we had different calls in. ... It’s a good opportunity for us to kind of bring (that) stuff that maybe you wouldn’t show in a preseason just because it’s a practice environment.

“Those prolonged reps of ones on ones, twos on twos, stuff like that — you get different situations, scenarios that you’re not always going to be able to replicate in every preseason game.”

Young’s not alone in seeing the value of a joint practice. Jaycee Horn, the Panthers’ top cornerback, said he enjoyed Thursday’s joint practice — going against a different set of receivers, playing against guys you don’t know as well and thus “can’t take shortcuts because you pretty much know what’s coming after going against the same guy everyday.”

The 2021 first-round pick went as far as to say he enjoys the reps in a joint practice more than a preseason game.

“I like joint practices more because we get more reps, and it’s more tailored to us,” Horn said. “Like 7-on-7, it was a lot third downs, a lot of man-to-man, whereas in a game, you’re going to get a different mix of calls, where you might not be able to work on your technique as much. So I like the joint practices, getting to go up against other guys. It’s always fun.”

Dave Canales weighing the risks and rewards of preseason

The question — to play your starters or to not play your starters — has solid footing on both sides of the debate.

One side claims that nothing can replace game reps, and that certain basic aspects of the contest — churning through operational tweaks in an inconsequential setting, building chemistry among units, playing in front of crowds (albeit more sparse than a real game) — are invaluable, especially for a team like the Panthers that went a league-worst 2-15 a season ago. The Super Bowl-winning Kansas City Chiefs played generational talent Patrick Mahomes in their preseason opener. Josh Allen played an entire quarter with when the Buffalo Bills kicked off their preseason. CJ Stroud, who too is entering his second year as a QB after a blissful first one, threw four passes and scored a touchdown in last week’s preseason game.

The other side claims that the limited time to play the starters — a quarter at the maximum, let’s say — isn’t enough to build a rhythm and thus won’t yield enough benefit to outweigh the constant risks of football, such as injury. It’s also an important time for guys fighting for 53-man roster spots to shine, and that the first-team guys get plenty of situational reps in intra- and inter-squad practices. Other coaches have taken to this method: Jalen Hurts, for instance, suited up but didn’t play in the Philadelphia Eagles’ preseason opener. Many vets, including the Jets’ Aaron Rodgers, have already announced that they won’t play in their respective preseasons.

As Panthers head coach Dave Canales and defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero have discussed a bunch this offseason, there’s an important balance to strike: Getting game-like reps out of starters while minimizing risk. And the Panthers are already dealing with the injury bug: Projected starting cornerback Dane Jackson sustained what Canales called a “significant” hamstring injury Wednesday and is expected to be sidelined for roughly six weeks. Safety Xavier Woods injured his groin Sunday and could be out a while as well. Chuba Hubbard and Chandler Zavala didn’t finish practice Thursday with injuries. This only adds to a pretty bulky list — which includes Diontae Johnson (groin), Sam Franklin (foot) K’Lavon Chaisson (undisclosed), Cade Mays (shoulder), Jonathon Brooks (knee) and others.

A trend in the NFL

Not playing guys is a recent trend across the NFL. According to reporting from FOX’s Greg Auman, the Panthers weren’t alone in having double-digit players sit out of their NFL preseason opener. The Dolphins sat out 40 players last week — topping a list that included the Lions (31 players), Ravens (28), Falcons (26), Giants (26), Eagles (23), Texans (18), Patriots (16) and Steelers (14).

Robert Saleh, the head coach of the New York Jets and longtime friend and former colleague of Canales, said that determining whether starters should play isn’t a hard-and-fast rule.

The debate, it turns out, isn’t just among fans — and isn’t just among Carolina Panthers fans. It’s an ongoing conversation inside team facilities across the league.

“Back in the day when there were four preseason games, you played a quarter, then you played a second quarter, then you brought your guys out in the third,” Saleh said. “That’s not the case anymore. And so now it’s a matter of looking yourself in the mirror as a coaching staff: ‘Are you just trying to check boxes to say, you know, I’ve played my guys for a series?’ Or is it actually about performing our best in Week 1. So you’re just going through that evaluation practice.

“Like I said, we got another inter-squad scrimmage next week against the Giants; we’re getting a lot of reps, a lot of quality reps. Just looking at the overall body of work in training camp and (figuring out) whether or not our guys need that extra work. We’ll make that decision when it comes to it.”