Xavier Legette apologizes on social media as fight gets him tossed from Panthers game
Before the first quarter of the Carolina Panthers’ first preseason game had concluded, there was a fight.
And two disqualifications.
And an apology.
Xavier Legette, the Panthers’ 2024 first-round pick and one of the team’s most charismatic characters, got into a fight on the second drive of Carolina’s preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns in Bank of America Stadium on Friday night.
The starting receiver and former South Carolina Gamecocks star got entangled with Browns cornerback Rayshawn Jenkins after a Panthers incompletion. The two seemed to hold a block a little too long before tempers flared — Jenkins appeared to grab Legette’s facemask, and Legette responded by throwing four punches before trying to take Jenkins to the ground.
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Jenkins then ripped Legette’s helmet off, and then cooler heads on both teams broke up the fight.
Legette and Jenkins were immediately flagged for unsportsmanlike contact and then ejected from the game.
The 6-foot-1, 221-pound Panthers receiver took to social media to apologize in the middle of the second quarter.
“Panthers nation,” Legette wrote on X. “I apologize. It won’t happen again. I appreciate you all.”
Head coach Dave Canales told reporters postgame what happened from his vantage point.
“I was right in front of it,” Canales said. “We ask our receivers to finish the play with hands on. And that’s what he was (doing). He had his hands on the guy through the echo of the whistle. The guy swung on and chopped his arms down. And Xavier just kind of held on to his jersey. Then they started exchanging punches.
“You can’t do that. Neither side. Both guys got ejected, rightly so. We can’t have that as part of our game. It’s a physical game. ... Tempers are going to get hot, but as soon as you throw a punch, we’re at a disadvantage. So we want to see better from X(avier), for sure.”
The fight happened with the game still scoreless but was a few plays before Bryce Young threw a touchdown pass to second-year receiver Jalen Coker, who effectively replaced Legette in the lineup.
The scuffle wasn’t an expected one considering that the Panthers and Browns had a relatively calm joint practice Wednesday, one without a major brawl. The only skirmish Wednesday was sparked by some trash-talking between Chuba Hubbard and Jenkins — yes, same Jenkins — and peaked when Jenkins threw a football at Hubbard’s helmet.
The Panthers lost Friday’s contest, 30-10, and most of their offensive starters sat out the second half.
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM.
