After Sam Franklin-Bucs fiery moment, Dave Canales had simple message for Panthers captain
This past weekend of college football was one of rivalry fire and flag-planting bravado and full-fledged brawls.
In the NFL on Sunday, at least in Bank of America Stadium, there was plenty of postgame tension, too.
Carolina Panthers captain Sam Franklin, after his team’s 26-23 overtime loss, was caught on video screaming into the stadium’s tunnel to the field — near but not heading toward the opposing locker room — and appeared to be confronting a member of the Tampa Bay Bucs team. What the defensive back said, in part, as he was getting held back by a Panthers employee: “Tell 33 I’m gonna see his a--!”
Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Sunday evening that he hadn’t heard of the incident. Monday, however, the head coach said he and Franklin met and established that, in simplest terms, “he shouldn’t do that.”
“He’ll be the first to tell you that he shouldn’t do that, that it was a mistake,” Canales said. “And we talked about, you know, wanting to have passion, wanting to have edge and knowing how to toe that edge and then come back to us: celebrate with us, talk to our teammates, keep the energy going on our side.
“We don’t have to give the opponent anything, and that’s one of those things, too.”
Franklin, one of the biggest personalities in the Panthers locker room, was not made available to media Monday morning. It is unclear what his issue is with outside linebacker Jose Ramirez. However a few of his teammates in the defensive backfield addressed what they knew about the incident.
One of those guys was Jaycee Horn, the Panthers’ top defensive back who’s made a football career off balancing his healthy fire with his time-and-place intuition.
“I don’t know what was said to him, or what their conversation was, so I can’t speak too much on it,” Horn said. “I just know it’s tough when you’re competing at a high level and tempers flare, but you do have to control your emotions. And you don’t want to get fined or anything crazy like that for just losing your head. So, yeah, I’m sure Sam will get that under control and keep playing good ball for us.”
Xavier Woods, when asked, said that coach addressed the situation. But then the NFL safety, who’s seen a lot since being drafted in 2017, added with a smile: “Nothing’s gonna happen. You got a lot of paid security to take care of that. But coach addressed that. But I’d rather that than the opposite.”
Updates on Ja’Tavion Sanders, Jalen Coker
Canales was cautiously optimistic when asked about the expected status of tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and receiver Jalen Coker this weekend on the road against the Eagles. The two rookie pass-catchers missed Sunday’s game with injuries. Coker was out with a quadriceps injury — his second-straight missed game — while Sanders missed time with a neck injury he suffered against the Chiefs.
Canales’ words, specifically, when asked if they’ll play this week:
“That’s the hope, yes. And so they both have a couple of big days, today and tomorrow, to evaluate where they’re at. And the hope is to get them back up this week.”
This news got a bit more important after the Panthers suffered a bit more attrition at the pass-catching position. Tight end Stephen Sullivan suffered what Canales called “a pretty significant knee injury” Sunday after getting called up from the practice squad.
Quick hits
▪ Eddy Piñeiro is no longer the NFL’s all-time most accurate kicker after missing twice Sunday. He now sits third with an 88.525% field goal percentage, according to pro-football-reference.com — right behind Harrison Butker (89.212%) and Justin Tucker (89.032%).
▪ Strange how a string of good performances can make questions disappear. On Monday, Canales confirmed that second-year quarterback Bryce Young will be the starter on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles this weekend — a formality given the way Young has played the past two weeks. That included Sunday’s contest against the Bucs. His stat-line: 26 of 46 for 298 yards and one touchdown. He also added 17 yards on the ground and one score.
