Panthers’ first-team offense on wrong end of ‘lopsided’ day vs. Texans

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — As poorly as the Carolina Panthers’ offense looked during Wednesday’s joint practice with the Houston Texans, Bryce Young took some solace in the fact that the performance came in a practice setting.

Better still: The Panthers’ starters won’t have to endure another thrashing by the Texans’ pass rush in Friday’s preseason finale. Panthers coach Dave Canales and Houston coach DeMeco Ryans decided Tuesday night that they would give their starters the bulk of the work Wednesday and hold them out Friday.

That’s just as well for the Panthers, particularly Young, who was sacked seven times and intercepted twice by a Houston defense that was the NFL’s best in 2025. Plays were blown dead Wednesday before the Texans could take Young down. That wouldn’t have been the case had the fourth-year quarterback played Friday.

“It sucks to have a day where you don’t feel like you produced very well,” Young said. “But it’s a great learning opportunity. That’s what these training camp practices are for.”

Canales didn’t try to sugarcoat things, saying it was a “lopsided” outing by the first-team offense against the Texans’ starting defense. It was an especially rough day for rookie offensive tackle Monroe Freeling, who allowed at least four of the sacks and looked helpless against the edge-rushing duo of Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, who combined for 27 sacks last season.

“In two words, Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson. That’s four words, actually. Those guys are fantastic players,” Canales said. “That’s exactly what we need to see. Monroe needs it. Rasheed (Walker) needs it. When we dropped back today, we couldn’t really do much other than Bryce extending and getting a couple of plays going. The rush was phenomenal.”

A look at six other things we learned Wednesday.

Freeling will have more days like this

When the Panthers drafted Freeling 19th overall, it was viewed as a developmental pick. While Freeling has great length and athleticism, he started only 17 games at Georgia. Freeling has shown good footwork throughout camp and his future remains bright. But he’s not ready to take on the league’s best pass rushers.

With starting tackles Taylor Moton (blood clot) and Ikem Ekwonu (knee surgery) sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Panthers don’t have any choice but to stick with Freeling at right tackle. They gave him some help with chip blocks Wednesday, but probably not as much as they would have in a game.

Young, who also had a fumble, has been impressed with Freeling’s competitiveness in his first camp and chalked up the rookie’s struggles to who lined up opposite him. “He was matched up against Will today a lot. There’s a reason (Anderson) is who he is,” Young said. “He still hasn’t played a snap of regular-season ball. For him to get work like he’s been able to get … it’s only going to make him better.”

Frustrated Young forced a throw

Young was pressured on all three of his turnovers, including the first of two interceptions by Pro Bowl safety Calen Bullock. With the pocket collapsing, Young retreated and threw off his back foot for Tetairoa McMillan down the middle of the field. The ball was badly overthrown, making for an easy pick for Bullock.

“Bad decision, one of those that you want back,” Young said. “(Tried to) force a play downfield when there’s not one there.”

Canales said he talked with Young between series as the offense was unraveling.

“Days can get frustrating like that. And he and I kind of talked about it two periods in, with a little bit of football left to go in the practice,” Canales said. “Just said, ‘Hey look, there’ll be days like this. We can make adjustments. We can use chip help. We can run the ball. We can throw quickly to manufacture.’ We’ll wait for those right moments because he’s so opportunistic.”

Brooks’ receiving ability getting overlooked

One of the storylines at the start of camp was the health of running back Jonathon Brooks in his return from a second ACL surgery. While Chuba Hubbard strained his hamstring, Brooks stayed healthy and scored his first touchdown as a pro last week at Jacksonville.

Brooks showed off another element to his game Wednesday by catching a long-ish pass down the sideline on an off-platform throw by Young, who said Brooks has “super soft hands” and a knack for getting open on scramble plays.

“He’s done a great job for us in camp. We’re excited. He’s been working so hard,” Young said. “The world hasn’t been able to see a lot of things that he can do and hasn’t seen the work he’s put in. But we love what he brings.”

Defense was just OK

On the Panthers’ defensive field, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud had a turnover-free day and led a pair of scoring drives. The Panthers never sacked Stroud.

“We had an average day,” said defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who had a pressure on Stroud. “We want to be a dominant line of scrimmage. CJ’s a good quarterback. He’s gonna find his dinks and dunks, getting the ball out quickly. For us, it’s about going in here, watching tape, being honest with ourselves and getting back to work.”

Physical camp, but no fights

In something of a shocker, despite a couple of big hits — one by the Panthers’ Feleipe Franks on kickoff coverage — and pushing matches, nothing escalated into a fight. It looked like one might break out after the final play, when a couple of Houston defenders were on top of receiver Jimmy Horn after his touchdown catch. But players pulled teammates off the pile, bringing a close to what Canales said was the most physical camp in his three seasons.

“This is the first time I’ve had to ask them to back off some of the collisions,” he said. “The physical part up front, we’re always gonna need that. But it was the space collisions, we were getting pretty crazy for a while there before we got into the Jacksonville joint (practice) week. … Nobody was complaining. I wanted guys to be smarter about certain situations.”

Added Brown: “We had some good hits, side shots, some fights. You’ve gotta love it. It’s like coach having a whole group of grown men that get upset. Sometimes you just go after it.”

Waller gradually working way in

The Panthers have been easing Darren Waller in slowly since signing the 33-year-old tight end on Aug. 17. He took his first reps in a team drill Wednesday, lining up in the slot and catching a pass from Young on an in-breaking route.

Waller’s addition has created a crowded tight end room and prompted speculation that Ja’Tavion Sanders could be released or traded. Canales said he had “no information” when asked about a report out of Green Bay that the Panthers have been shopping Sanders.

Tommy Tremble said the team’s other tight ends have welcomed Waller, who had back-to-back 1,100-yard receiving seasons in 2019 and ’20.

“He’s a good vet to have in the room. He’s a good dude. Everyone here really likes him, and he’s a great football player, too,” Tremble said. “If you’re a selfish player at tight end, you’re cooked. Our job’s way too hard to be thinking like that. So we’re glad to have him on the team. We’re excited for him. I’m excited for him to make even more plays.”