No ‘kumbaya’ at Carolina Panthers camp: As fights ramp up, when is a line crossed?
After another chippy practice, on another boiling day in Charlotte, three leaders for the Carolina Panthers stood and talked just off the practice field for nearly 20 minutes.
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Those three: quarterback Bryce Young, cornerback Mike Jackson and veteran safety Nick Scott.
They were discussing what transpired Monday — another physical, chippy padded session that resulted in a stop-the-play, stop-the-music fight that involved a whole bunch of characters. It appeared like Young and Jackson were chirping at each other after a play in 11-on-11s before center Luke Fortner stepped in the middle and tackled Jackson to the ground.
This was not the first of such occurrences this year. One happened in July and led to Jackson chucking a tight end’s helmet high into the air. Another happened a few days ago.
And so Monday, there Young, Jackson and Scott stood — off to the side, cordially working out the questions that this physical team is still working out:
Where is the line?
And how do we make sure we approach it, but not cross it?
“I feel like day-in, day-out, we bring it, and that’s what you want,” Scott told reporters after practice Monday. “You’d rather have guys talking about, ‘Hey, was that too much?’ rather than, ‘We gotta turn it up a notch.’
“This is the least of our worries. We’re having a lot of fun. Guys are progressing. We’re getting physical. We’re right where we want to be.”
He added that when you got the right guys on your team, spill-over — or a minor brawl here and there — is going to happen.
“That’s how much people care,” Scott continued. “If practice was all kumbaya, all day, I’d be a little worried. We’re trying to do something that hasn’t been done here in a long time. And when the stakes are as high as that, the blood pressure raises. And if you can simulate camp feeling as serious as it does day-in and day-out for guys that are going to be out there, that’s best-case scenario.”
Scott answered questions on this topic for the bulk of his 15-minute media availability Monday. This isn’t the first time he and other leaders on offense and defense have had such discussions, adding that he takes pride that this is “a player-led team.”
The veteran safety even at one point smiled and said that he didn’t want this to turn into a big thing — that these are results of playing a physical game, are products of having such hard hitters on your team like Lathan Ransom and Tre’Von Moehrig.
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Still, he had plenty to say on it.
“I just look at it like making it as realistic as possible,” Scott said. “I was just talking with Bryce about how I determine whether I’m really going to take a shot on somebody or not. And void of a defenseless receiver, if I feel like I have an opportunity to really lay into somebody — and I could do it in a game — I’m going to do it here in practice, with the exception of wrapping up and bringing him down.”
He added: “But anytime we get squared up, face-to-face, that’s gonna be a thud. And everybody understands that.”
Scott said he is not concerned about where the team is at from a physicality standpoint.
“I think this team is a really physical team,” Scott said. “It takes a lot of pride in that. I’m not overly worried about the direction that practice is headed. We just gotta make sure that we keep doing what we’re doing, and checking in, and we’re keeping guys as safe as possible.”
Head coach Dave Canales had plenty to say on it, too. This was the third time in camp he’s discussed finding the competitor line, and he kept to his typical coach’s refrain.
But he added something else, too, poking fun at the offense.
“We had a nice break after that period (with the fight), so we just talked and hit it again afterward as a team,” Canales said. He added, “I don’t want you guys backing off. I love this. And offense, you don’t get to complain about getting hit. It’s football. It goes both ways, and guys gotta understand that. Our sport is physical. But we can do it the right way.”
There are layers to such a consideration, too, of course. The play that such a skirmish transpired was on a rep in which Jonathon Brooks was in; Brooks, of course, is participating in his first training camp after suffering back-to-back ACL tears that kept the running mostly sidelined after being picked in the second round of the 2024 draft.
For Scott, however, it’s a question of playing fair but tough, and then checking in with your teammates afterward.
“Jonathon is out here, with pads on, he’s been doing a great job running downhill,” Scott said, shrugging. “I spoke with him after that. And anytime there is spill-over after a play, especially if I’m involved, I always try to go check in. Like, ‘Hey man, where you at with that? You feel like that was cheap?’
“His answer was, ‘Nah, man, it’s football.’ … I’m not worried about it. I feel like it’s turning into something bigger than it is. This is not the sitcom of the Panthers, like we’re hitting too hard. We’re having fun. Camp is going really well. We’re a physical, physical team. And that’s what we love about this team.”
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This story was originally published August 10, 2026 at 2:43 PM.
