Panthers notebook: Xavier Legette expected to miss Carolina’s home finale
Carolina Panthers rookie wide receiver Xavier Legette is expected to miss the team’s home finale against the Arizona Cardinals this weekend after suffering a groin injury against the Cowboys.
When asked about Legette’s injured status on Monday, head coach Dave Canales said that Legette is “week-to-week” and “should be” out against the Cardinals — though there are necessary tests and checkpoints the receiver will go through this week.
“I think we’re still doing all the work up on that for him right now,” Canales said. “We’ll give you a better picture of that in the next couple of days. But, right now, we see him as week-to-week, and I’d love for him to have a chance to finish strong with us.”
What he said when explicitly asked about Legette being out this weekend: “He should be. I would think so. But again, we gotta put him through the wringer, and we gotta see what the strength is and see if we can get him back to form.”
The rookie receiver, a favorite among fans for his easy-going personality and his on-field potential, suffered his injury in the first half of Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys, finishing with two catches on three targets for seven yards.
On the season, he has 41 catches for 439 yards and four touchdowns. He’s been a bright spot who at times has made a few rookie errors, including the drop in the final minute against the Eagles that would’ve put the Panthers up late over a Super Bowl contender on the road.
Legette is being evaluated for a groin injury but has also said his offseason will involve addressing his right wrist. The rookie said he reaggravated a 2021 injury against the Saints and has occasionally shown signs of discomfort during games with it — even with it being taped up tightly. He told reporters last week that it’s an injury with his ligaments and that he’ll likely have surgery to repair his wrist in the offseason.
Legette played the X spot the past few weeks. It’s unclear who will fill that role now — the first option, so to speak, in Canales’ offense. Jalen Coker had a great return to action against the Cowboys, which featured the first 100-yard game of his career. Veteran David Moore has been a consistent target. And Adam Thielen, the veteran who has mostly played in the slot this year, is playing well, too.
Here’s the rest of Monday’s notebook:
Defensive lineman honest about Panthers run defense struggles
Veteran defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson was honest when he was asked about his defense’s struggles against the run on Monday. He called it an issue of chemistry against the Cowboys — and went into more detail thereafter.
“We haven’t had our right fits, and chemistry has been off a little bit on our run fits and where we fill in, and knowing how we play, and rolling off each other — I feel that’s been a little iffy,” Robinson said. “But you know, (expletive) happens. And you can’t do nothing but be better than what you put out there. And that wasn’t us.
“We haven’t been playing great, but we’ve been doing a lot better. And that looked really terrible this Sunday.”
The Panthers, after all, gave up 5.3 yards per carry against Dallas and rank among the worst run defenses in the league. Putting numbers to it: The Panthers defense is last in opponent rush play percentage (51.65%), last in opponent yards per rush (5.0) and opponent rush yards per game (173). They are 29th out of 32 teams in opponent rush touchdowns a game, too, allowing 1.4.
Robinson said that losing one of the best run-stoppers in the NFL in Derrick Brown and one of the team’s leaders in Shaq Thompson never helps. But that isn’t an excuse for the defense’s struggles against the run.
“I always put it on myself and on the front that we gotta be better and dominate,” Robinson continued. “It’s more than that when it comes to stopping the run, but it just sucks when you can’t help your team out all year long, and when you see the hole that’s happening on the team.”
Canales said he believes in the team’s 3-4 scheme and expounded on what the team needs to do to finish 2024 strong.
“All we have is to play our schemes and play them well,” Canales said. “And try to improve that. And that’s where we have to go. We can do different things, and we’ve made different calls to try to combat it. And it’s about execution. But this is the only place to go. So we’re playing the Cardinals, here’s how they like to run the ball. What’s our plan to attack that?”
Quick hits
▪ It’s true Canales said he “wrestled” with the lack of balance in his playcalling — a product of getting down early after some untimely turnovers — which made the game more difficult on the offensive line. The Panthers, after all, only ran three designed run plays in the first half. Still, tackle Taylor Moton was honest about the offensive line’s uncharacteristic pass-protection performance against the Cowboys. What he said: ”It wasn’t my best game, personally, so it was just one of those things, where you gotta learn and grow from it. ... Got beat inside a few times, didn’t like that, got my hands on the outside once. Obviously Micah (Parsons) is a great player but it’s no excuse.”
▪ Coker set a record for most receiving yards by an undrafted rookie in Panthers history against the Cowboys. He now has 21 receptions on 32 targets for 373 yards and two touchdowns — that 373 total is more than the record of 296 previously held by Corey “Philly” Brown in 2014. Canales reacted to the feat on Monday: “I’m proud of Jalen. I’m proud of what he’s made of the opportunities he’s gotten. And he continues to show up in big ways. Somebody we can certainly count on. He’s a rookie, there’s lots of things that we’re working on as well through this process, and that’s for you, Jalen. But it is really cool for Rob Moore, who spends a lot of time with him, and the veteran guys who spend a lot of time pouring into these young receivers — Adam (Thielen) and David Moore. But to see Jalen, to see Xavier have success when they do, it’s certainly encouraging. And I’m glad he’s here.”
▪ The Panthers don’t employ him anymore, but there is more to be said about the Diontae Johnson drama in Baltimore. The Ravens announced Monday that they “have mutually agreed with Diontae Johnson to excuse him from team activities this week.” Johnson was suspended for last week’s game after refusing to go in when asked in their Week 13 loss to the Eagles.
▪ Jammie Robinson, the Panthers’ fifth-round draft pick in 2023, was waived last week. And on Monday, the Cardinals plucked the safety off the waiver wire. Robinson is set to face his old team this weekend.
This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 4:31 PM.
