Xavier Legette’s 1st day of NFL training camp for Carolina Panthers got one bad review

Carolina Panthers rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette had one very harsh critic Wednesday after his training camp practice:

Himself.

Rather than starting with the usual platitudes in his first press conference of camp — the “just happy to be here” and “I think we did some good things out there” kind of stuff — Legette didn’t mince words. He ripped his own performance.

“Camp has started pretty slow for me,” he said.

And: “I feel like it wasn’t my best.”

And: “I wasn’t really (showing) attention to detail today.”

And: “I didn’t leave everything out there on the field.”

This criticism was unusual.

And, likely, a good thing.

Too often last season the Panthers offense swarmed with false platitudes. It was “Oh, we’re almost there,” followed by a shutout.

Then: “Oh, but really, we’re almost there!” Followed by another shutout.

Those were the results of the final two games of the 2023 regular season, in fact. Eight straight quarters of zeroes. Two straight embarrassing shutouts. And a 2-15 overall record. And a roster overhaul and a new coach and all the things such a performance entails.

One of the most significant changes as the team tries not to set quarterback Bryce Young up for failure for a second consecutive year: Drafting Legette out of South Carolina with the final pick of the first round.

Legette is supposed to give Young another big target immediately, and he’s got a huge chance to be a factor immediately on a team that added several other playmakers due to its desperate need for more points.

“Massive receiver, explosive ability,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales said of Legette Wednesday. “He can make things happen on short passes. He can stretch the field and go get it. My expectations for Xavier — I’m wide open. I’m wide open to how quickly he can really assimilate himself into this offense and pick it up… I don’t have any specific numbers or anything like that… I’m open to whatever that looks like.”

Others weren’t nearly as critical of the first-round draft pick’s first day of camp as Legette himself was. Fellow South Carolina Gamecock Jaycee Horn, for instance, is Carolina’s best cornerback when healthy and had to guard Legette once on a deep pattern.

“He ran an out route on me,” Horn said of Legette, “and they got me for a PI (pass interference). I was arguing with the ref because he’s so strong, man, when he puts his body on you — pushes you or pulls you — you really feel it. So I was holding on for dear life at one point and the ref got me for the PI.”

Holding on for dear life? Now that’s what you want to hear from a cornerback about your wide receiver’s ability.

Legette said one reason he was angry with himself Wednesday was because he didn’t catch any passes in the 11-on-11 team drills, but of course a pass-interference call can also be a big gainer in the NFL.

A video posted on social media not long ago showed Legette sprinting on a treadmill. It was a competition, he said Wednesday, with fellow NFL wide receiver and former Gamecock Deebo Samuel. They were competing to see who could hit the fastest speed on the treadmill, and Legette said he won.

“I hit 19.5 (mph), he hit 19,” Legette said.

If you can keep pace with Samuel, a dynamic dual threat for San Francisco, you’re doing something right. South Carolina fans know how good Legette can be after they saw him star last season for the Gamecocks. There was more good news about Legette, too, on Wednesday. He said he was “100%” after a hamstring issue had caused him some earlier problems this offseason.

But none of that mattered to Legette Wednesday. He said he needed to be “getting open a little better than I was,” and it’s true that his separation — a problem for Panthers’ receivers throughout 2023 — seemed only OK on the first day. He’s going to get open, though, Horn said, in part due to his strength.

“When he puts his body on you and gives you a little nudge,” Horn said, “like, you really feel it…. I don’t know how much he weighed, but he (is) probably 225-plus. He feels strong. So he’s definitely gonna be a tough cover for a lot of corners.”

Horn made a good guess. The Panthers list Legette at 6-foot-3 and 227 pounds. He looks like he can play. He seems willing to learn. Now he just has to make sure he pleases his inner critic.