There were no shortage of disappointments on offense for the Panthers last season and running back Miles Sanders was on the list.
Sanders signed with the team as a free agent last March and the hope was that he’d bring the kind of production that resulted in 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground for the Eagles in 2022. Sanders only managed 432 yards and one score for the Panthers, however, and the way things played out “left a real bad taste in my mouth.”
Removing that bad taste is Sanders’ motivation because he says he’s heading into this year with “something to prove.”
“I don’t think nobody did me wrong,” Sanders said, via the team’s website. “I just didn’t like how last year went. That’s all. I’m not blaming nobody but myself. I’m just ready to play. I’m ready to have a better season.”
Chuba Hubbard is back after leading the team in rushing yards last season and the Panthers will be getting second-round pick Jonathon Brooks in the mix at some point, so Sanders will have to prove himself if he’s going to see a lot of the field in 2024.
With their numbers at the position low, the Panthers have added another tight end.
Carolina announced on Monday that the club signed Jesper Horsted.
Horsted, 27, initially entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Princeton in 2019 with the Bears. He appeared in 13 games for the franchise from 2019-2021 before spending the last two seasons with the Raiders.
Horsted played a combined 28 games for Las Vegas in 2022 and 2023, mainly playing special teams.
He has 14 career receptions for 131 yards with three touchdowns. While he spent some time with the Saints this summer, New Orleans released him late last week.
Carolina is dealing with several injuries at tight end. The team also signed Jacob Hollister on Sunday.
In a corresponding move to add Horsted, Carolina has waived receiver Tayvion Robinson.
The Panthers have received some more positive news on rookie receiver Xavier Legette.
In his Monday press conference, head coach Dave Canales told reporters that Legette is considered day-to-day with his foot injury.
“The MRI revealed no fractures in the foot, which is fantastic news for us, really, to just find that out,” Canales said. “So, we’re day-to-day with him. I would not expect him to play in this preseason game, just on the side of caution.”
The No. 32 overall pick of this year’s draft, Legette exited Sunday’s practice early with the foot issue.
“It wasn’t any play in particular. It was just kind of heating up on him,” Canales said. “So, at that point, we just try to get ahead of it. And I think we did a good job of our training staff identifying that and making sure we took the necessary precautions to make sure he’s out there.”
While Legette won’t play in this week’s preseason matchup with the Patriots, it sounds like Canales would like Legette to get some August game reps at some point.
“I would love for X to be out there, at some point just to play NFL football, but we have a good group of receivers that are fighting for these spots on our roster,” Canales said. “So, I just love that room getting those opportunities, being able to see different guys rotate in with the ones and all that.”
Carolina will host the Jets on Aug. 17 and travel to play the Bills on Aug. 24.
Quarterback Jake Luton is back with the Panthers.
The Panthers signed Luton on Monday because they needed a healthy quarterback with Andy Dalton dealing with a quad injury. They placed edge rusher Kemoko Turay on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
Luton spent time with the Panthers last summer and was on their practice squad until he was signed by the Saints in late September. He returned to the practice squad in Carolina after being released by the Saints in October.
His only regular season appearances came in three starts for the Jaguars during the 2020 season. Luton completed 54.5 percent of his passes while throwing two touchdowns and six interceptions in three Jacksonville losses.
The Panthers signed veteran tight end Jacob Hollister on Sunday, the team announced.
Hollister, 30, did not play last season. The Raiders placed him on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury before waiving him with an injury settlement.
Hollister played games for both the Vikings and Raiders in 2022.
He entered the NFL in 2017 as an undrafted rookie with the Patriots. He also has played for the Seahawks, Bills and Jaguars.
In his career, Hollister has 83 receptions for 707 yards and seven touchdowns.
Injuries have left the Panthers thin at tight end, with the team practicing with only three the past three practices. So, Hollister’s signing was much needed.
In a corresponding move, the Panthers waived/injured wide receiver Devin Carter.
The Panthers are waiting for word on how much time first-round pick Xavier Legette might miss with a lower leg injury, but they have a better idea of when second-round pick Jonathon Brooks might be able to play.
Brooks tore his ACL while playing at Texas last year and the running back remains on the non-football injury list. On Saturday, head coach Dave Canales said that Brooks will not play in the preseason but the team hopes he will be available to play around Week Three or Four of the regular season.
“It’s something we expected,’' Canales said, via David Newton of ESPN.com. “Coming into the spring, we knew just the timeline and progression of where he was at. We knew we would not have him for the preseason. Even if he was kind of ready, there’s a confidence thing that we want to ramp him up little by little so he feels ready to go.”
The Panthers will have to activate Brooks before the cut to 53 players in order for him to be able to play before Week Five, so their decision on that front will be telling about whether things are progressing as hoped.
Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette left practice with a lower leg injury on Sunday and head coach Dave Canales said that the first-round pick would be evaluated by medical personnel to determine the extent of the injury.
Some results of that evaluation are reportedly in. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that X-rays of Legette’s leg were negative.
Rapoport adds that the rookie will also have an MRI before any final determinations of his status are made.
Legette missed time in the spring with a hamstring injury, but the current issue is not related to that one. The Panthers will be hoping that any tweak will not keep the wideout out of action for long.
Panthers first-round draft pick Xavier Legette had to leave practice early today.
Legette, a wide receiver out of South Carolina, injured his lower leg, head coach Dave Canales said.
“It’s something in his lower leg,” Canales said. “I don’t want to get into any details. We’re just going to evaluate him this afternoon as a precaution, and then we’ll go from there — I’ll have more information.”
Canales said today’s injury was not related to the hamstring injury that caused Legette to miss time during Organized Team Activities.
The Panthers traded up for Legette and hope he can develop a rapport with quarterback Bryce Young, and that the two of them become a productive pairing in Canales’ offense.
Andre Johnson was the last of seven inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. He was the first Texan.
The former receiver waited three years to earn a bust in Canton.
“I am truly honored to be your first National Football League Hall of Famer,” Johnson said to the Texans. “This accomplishment is not just about me. It is for us.
“Many, many people have had a role in my career, and today, we are going into the Hall of Fame.”
Johnson spent 12 of his 14 seasons in Houston after the Texans drafted him third overall. He caught 1,012 passes for 13,597 yards and 64 touchdowns with the Texans and played one season with the Colts and one with the Panthers to finish with 1,062 catches, 14,185 yards and 70 touchdowns.
It got him to Canton ahead of Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne, who also were finalists for the Class of 2024.
Texans fans chanted “An-dre!” throughout his speech as the current Texans team sat among the crowd.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think that I would be in Canton, looking at a bronze statue of me that will be placed in a gallery with some of the greatest people to ever play the game,” Johnson said. “I didn’t even think about it.
“To the other 377 men who wear this gold jacket, I’m humbled, honored and happy as hell to join you in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Julius Peppers didn’t need long to earn induction of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He didn’t need long to finish his induction speech either.
Peppers, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, took just long enough to thank more than two dozen people, many of them in the Panthers organization where he spent 10 seasons. The second overall pick in 2002 played 17 seasons and made 159.5 sacks.
He used a story he heard from Tyler Perry throughout his speech, referring to the root people, the branch people and the leaf people in our lives.
“Some people come into our lives for a season,” Peppers said. “They get easily influenced and probably don’t last through the tough times. When the wind blows, they fall away. Those are the leaf people. Some people come into our lives for support, and they’re a little stronger than the leaves, but if you put too much pressure and weight on them, eventually they break. Those are branch people. Then, sometimes you meet people that are solid, that you can depend on no matter what, to help you build a stable foundation that allows you to grow. They provide strength, and they hold you through the storms. Those are the root people.”
Peppers become the 90th player to earn first-ballot induction after becoming one of only 29 players in history to be on two All-Decade teams. He was the best of the best edge rushers in the 2000s and 2010s.
Peppers spent his first eight seasons with Carolina before playing for the Bears (2010-13) and then the Packers (2014-16). He finished his career with a two-season reunion with the Panthers.
He made 11 sacks in 2017 at the age of 37, one of only five players in NFL history with a double-digit sack season at 37 or older.
Five years after his retirement, Peppers is enshrined with the best of the best, and NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan was one of those who came to Canton to celebrate Peppers’ induction.
Peppers said he wouldn’t be where he is without all the “root people” in his life, and encouraged everyone to be a “root person” for others.
“Everyone can’t be a Pro Football Hall of Famer,” Peppers said. “But everyone can be a Hall of Famer in life. . . . Whatever it is you do, do it with respect, passion, resilience, dedication and gratitude. That alone will make you a Hall of Fame person. And you, too, can have the legacy that lives on forever.”