Panthers to host Browns for joint practice, Canales plans to play starters in preseason
The Carolina Panthers will host a joint training camp practice for the third consecutive summer.
The franchise, entering its 31st season, will host the Cleveland Browns in Charlotte for a single joint-practice session ahead of Week 1 of the preseason, head coach Dave Canales told The Observer at the NFL’s annual meeting on Monday.
Joint practices typically take place before teams face each other in the preseason, so while it’s not official, the plans for Carolina and Cleveland could also likely lead to an exhibition matchup in August. The Panthers will host two home preseason games this summer.
Canales, who plans to play the Panthers’ starters during this upcoming preseason, has a relationship with Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski. Both head coaches wanted to create a competitive simulation without risking heavy exhibition workloads for their top performers.
“We were just both curious about getting this joint practice going into preseason (Week 1),” Canales told The Observer. “And we got excited about the format of what that could look like. We feel like at that point in camp, you’re starting to build some good capacity to be able to handle a little bit more volume, a little higher speed, and getting the competitive element. Particularly because we both plan on playing our guys in the preseason.
“And so we said, ‘If we’re not going to play them the whole game, why don’t we practice a couple days before and get a little bit more work out of it, knowing the rest of the group is going to finish out that game?’ And so we were kind of just on the same wavelength of what that Week 1, that preseason Week 1, joint practice could look like.”
Canales and Stefanski connected as previous quality control coaches for longtime NFL offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. Canales worked with Bevell in multiple roles from 2011 to 2017 in Seattle with the Seahawks, while Stefanski came the ranks in Minnesota with Bevell and the Vikings.
“We always had some fun conversations about pass drawings, concepts, schemes,” Canales said. “I always watch his crossover film just because there are some similarities stylistically, and from the approach, of how we’ve been affected by Darrell. So we just kind of built our relationship from there.”
During Canales’ first preseason with the Panthers, Carolina hosted the New York Jets in Charlotte. The one session led to heavy competition, as well as some bravado from both sides.
The Panthers leaned heavily into that joint practice because they didn’t plan to play their starters against the Jets. Carolina only used its starters in the third preseason game against Buffalo Bills last year.
Then-second-year QB Bryce Young only played 12 total preseason snaps last year. He was eventually benched following a pair of poor performances to begin the season.
So, if Canales is taking a more aggressive approach to the preseason, the joint practice with Cleveland will serve as a palette cleanser of sorts within the dog days of camp.
Carolina will also face notable tests like All-Pro pass rusher Myles Garrett on their home tuft in practice.
“The obvious part is you get see some really good pass rushers, and a good offensive team as well, with some skill positions as well,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said about the joint practice. “I think it’ll be a really good test, just to — it goes back to the competition, too — (I’m) very excited to do joint practices and it’s an opportunity for our guys to compete and see what we have.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 12:41 PM.
