Panthers CB Jaycee Horn and LT Ikem Ekwonu got into a scuffle during practice at training camp this week. Carolina HC Dave Canales called it a “competitive moment” and enjoys that they are playing physical football.
“We were in a competitive moment,” Canales said, via David Newton of ESPN. “Tempers flared. We tried to push the guys to the edge. They went a little bit over. But at the same time, that’s the edginess you have to play with when we have these opportunities. We have to play a physical style of football. Sometimes, it goes a little too far.”
Canales mentioned that players were sore following Saturday’s 20-3 preseason loss to the Texans, pointing out that things will be similar during the regular season.
“Every week it’s super physical in this league,” Canales said. “You’re not fully healthy by Wednesday. … You have to make a decision to go, and they did that.”
Canales recalled that QB Bryce Young and RB Chuba Hubbard led their offense through gassers after committing repeated pre-snap penalties in practice.
“That was all player-led,” Canales said. “They had been talking to each other and holding each other accountable to the pre-snap stuff I’ve been harping on. I’m not a big fan of the gassers. We don’t need to do that kind of stuff and add more volume to the high intensity that I’m expecting in all phases. For the guys, it meant something to them. That was their way of trying to adjust today.”
Saints QB Tyler Shough told reporters that he feels he can lead the team to victory and that he showed enough in the preseason to earn the starting job.
“I think, for me, what I put on tape, continually through the call-out periods, throughout the games, just, kind of, had a steady growth on the operation,” Shough said, via Pro Football Talk. “I felt like it has been enough. I am fully capable to go out there and lead the charge. Obviously, I don’t make those decisions. The whole team [and] the whole offense has continually gotten better. For me, I feel really comfortable going in from week to week, and I am just excited to go in and get to work on Arizona and see what we are going to do.”
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