shot at him out of a JUGS machine<\/a>\u00a0by a member of the equipment staff. It doesn\u2019t matter that Hubbard hasn\u2019t practiced in a couple of weeks because of a hamstring strain. His post-practice routine remains the same.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s grown throughout the years,\u201d Hubbard said. \u201cI remember when we first started, it was probably, like, me, Tommy (Tremble), Terrace Marshall, maybe, like, one or two other people at times. \u2026 As time went on, more guys just want to get more work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Work has never been a problem for Hubbard, who is that rare player who tries to lead both vocally and by example. Hubbard doesn\u2019t like to miss time. But after he returned too quickly from a calf injury last season, the Panthers are holding him back this summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel pretty good. I think the coaches and training staff are just trying to take care of me,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously, last year I kind of came back a little bit early, and it kind of lingered on for a little bit. So I think it\u2019s just them protecting me from myself a little bit. I would have been out (practicing) the next day if I could\u2019ve. But I feel good. I feel healthy. Just looking forward to Week 1.\u201d<\/p>\n
Getting a healthy Hubbard to the starting line is one of the most important issues facing the Panthers as they wrap up their preseason work with a joint practice with the Houston Texans on Wednesday before hosting the Texans two nights later in the exhibition finale. Provided Hubbard is good to go, Panthers coach Dave Canales said the plan is to have Hubbard and Jonathon Brooks share carries Week 1 against the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
A look at four other items on the Panthers\u2019 to-do list during the final week of training camp:<\/p>\n
Sort out the last few WR spots<\/p>\n
Xavier Legette still had a boot on his right foot Monday, five days after getting rolled up on during the practice with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Legette will get the boot off Thursday, but he will miss the Texans game with an eye on being 100 percent for the Sept. 13 opener.<\/p>\n
As long as Legette doesn\u2019t have any setbacks, the Panthers\u2019 top three receivers are set with him, Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker. Brycen Tremayne is WR4 because of his blocking and special teams abilities. But there are still roster spots up for grabs beyond those first four.<\/p>\n
Jimmy Horn Jr. and John Metchie III had big games against the Jaguars, and Ja\u2019seem Reed caught touchdown passes in the first two preseason games. Casey Washington continues to make plays, as Canales noted. David Moore has been with Canales at all three of his NFL coaching stops, although Canales didn\u2019t mention Moore on Monday when discussing the competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like we have about seven guys that I\u2019d love to keep. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019re gonna be able to keep seven,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s been years where we were able to keep seven for a while. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s possible. Those guys are competing. They\u2019re pushing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Get a handful of important veterans more work<\/p>\n
The first-team offense looked better against Jacksonville than it did the previous week at Buffalo. That wasn\u2019t a coincidence: Having guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis back in the lineup certainly helped.<\/p>\n
Hunt (back) and Lewis (calf) were among several veterans who missed significant time during camp, along with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Derrick Brown (knee) and nose tackle Bobby Brown (hamstring). Canales indicated he would rest most starters Friday if they get enough work during Wednesday\u2019s joint practice.<\/p>\n
But he said it\u2019s important the four aforementioned players keep building their stamina heading into the season. \u201cThose are four guys that really need this week. They need Wednesday,\u201d he said. \u201cThey need the following week and those couple of practices that we\u2019ll get to get them up to speed from a conditioning standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Figure out whether and when Darren Waller fits<\/p>\n
Waller put on pads Monday, a week after the 33-year-old tight end signed a one-year deal. Waller saw a few reps during team drills but wasn\u2019t targeted. He\u2019ll practice Wednesday, but he won\u2019t play Friday as the team continues a slow ramp-up for a player who tore his quad at the Miami Dolphins\u2019 camp in 2025 after ending a one-year retirement.<\/p>\n
It was the first of three injuries last year for Waller, who caught 24 passes in nine games, including five in a Week 5 loss to Carolina. Canales said the Panthers will have to lean on Waller\u2019s tape from last year in evaluating him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHard to get an evaluation. We spent the first part of last week just running him and pushing him and making sure he was practice-ready,\u201d Canales said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want to rush that part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waller brings a size-speed element to a versatile tight end room. In our first roster projection<\/a> that came out before the Jaguars exhibition game, we had Ja\u2019Tavion Sanders missing the cut. But the fact that Sanders, the leading pass catcher among Carolina tight ends the past two seasons, was in sweats by the second half at Jacksonville seems like a good sign for the former Texas standout.<\/p>\nBecause Waller is a vested veteran, he wouldn\u2019t have to pass through waivers if the Panthers cut him. It\u2019s possible they do that, then try to stash him on the practice squad until he is ready or they have a need at the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a good room. We love those guys and trust \u2019em. So (Waller) comes into a room to see if he can help us in some way,\u201d Canales said. \u201cBut the guys are doing a great job of showing what they can do as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Decide on an LB2<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been a lot of talk this month about the inside linebacker battle between Trevin Wallace and Claudin Cherelus for the spot alongside Devin Lloyd. Given the amount of three-safety sets Ejiro Evero uses and Tre\u2019von Moehrig\u2019s prowess as an inside-the-box safety, the topic probably has gotten too much attention.<\/p>\n
But no one has claimed the LB2 job yet, so Wallace and Cherelus will get a few more chances to separate from the other. Wallace, who started 20 games his first two seasons, is a better blitzer, but Cherelus is arguably stronger against the run. Both have had their struggles in coverage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe could use them both. And we\u2019re gonna need them,\u201d Canales said. \u201cThe nature of the position is a violent spot, and both of the guys can help us on special teams as well. So we\u2019ll have to make that decision as we get closer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE, N.C. \u2014 About a half-hour after practice ended Monday, media members were still waiting for Chuba Hubbard.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":982741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236],"class_list":["post-982740","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-carolina-panthers","tag-carolina","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-carolinapanthers","tag-football","tag-nfl","tag-panthers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117155793688075433","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=982740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/982740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/982741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=982740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=982740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=982740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}