If the Carolina Panthers’ season started now, who could — and couldn’t — play?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Wide receiver Xavier Legette will be in a walking boot for much of the week. Running back Chuba Hubbard said he could and would play this weekend, if it were Week 1. And new tight end Darren Waller continues to be eased slowly back into action.
Read more What’s in store for Crystal Hill’s first board meeting back as CMS superintendent
Those were among the updates that Panthers coach Dave Canales provided Monday after Carolina had a full-pads practice back in Charlotte after spending much of the previous week in Jacksonville.
The Panthers are gearing up for their fourth and final preseason game Friday, at home against the Houston Texans. Before that, they will have a joint practice Wednesday against the Texans in Charlotte.
From what Canales said Monday, the Carolina starters will be full-go in that joint practice but likely won’t play at all in the fourth preseason contest.
“We have a really intense practice plan with the Texans on Wednesday,” Canales said. “So depending on how we come out of that, if we get the volume that we’re looking for, the odds are they (the starters) won’t play…. We’re going to kind of make that decision after the practice.”
Much of the Panthers’ preparation is now focused on Week 1, when the team hosts Chicago in the regular-season opener Sept. 13. With that in mind, Carolina is being careful with a number of its players. Here are injury updates as of Monday on:
Xavier Legette. Currently the Panthers’ No. 3 receiver, Legette is in a walking boot and will wear it at least through Thursday, Canales said.
“His foot is still sore,” the coach said, “and we’re going to have him in a boot until Thursday. We’ll take that off and then we’ll ramp him up over the weekend to get him ready for practice (next week).”
If Legette couldn’t play in Week 1 against Chicago for some reason, it’s likely that David Moore or Brycen Tremayne would assume the No. 3 role.
Chuba Hubbard. The assumed No. 1 running back entering training camp after Rico Dowdle’s free-agent departure, Hubbard has recently been sidelined with a mild hamstring injury. Jonathon Brooks has been taking the reps as the No. 1 back for the past couple of weeks and scored his first NFL TD of any type Friday.
“He’s expected to be ready for Week 1,” Canales said of Hubbard. “I think he hit over 20 miles an hour the other day (in return-to-play drills). But that’s in a controlled setting. And right now, we didn’t want to put him back out there. He’s not ready for someone to pull on his jersey for him to pull through that. But he’s ahead of schedule.”
Read more How a financial donation will fund thousands of NC teacher classroom projects
Said Hubbard after practice: “To be honest, I feel pretty good. I think the coaches and obviously the training staff are just trying to take care of me…. I think it’s just they’re kind of protecting me from myself a little bit. I would have been out there the next day if I could have.”
Canales said if Hubbard was ready to play against the Bears that a committee approach would be used at running back, with Brooks and Hubbard sometimes alternating plays on the same series.
“We’ll definitely roll it out just the way we have been, where you’ll have a lead back for the series,” the coach said. “The other guy comes in on third down, so they can be in there for the protection — and also we run the ball on third down.”
Darren Waller. The veteran tight end, signed only last week, practiced Monday but isn’t expected to play in Friday’s exhibition.
“We sprinkled him in,” Canales said. “… He looked good running. He’s in great shape.” Canales said Waller was trying to learn the playbook and offensive terminology, however, and that’s why he “probably” wouldn’t play Friday.
Devin Lloyd. The Panthers’ new inside linebacker — recently ranked a team-high No. 27 on the NFL’s annual Top 100 player list — had a rest day Monday.
“Devin was really sore coming out of the practice (vs. Jacksonville last week),” Canales said. “He really had a fantastic day. We were going to play him, but coming out of that didn’t feel like we wanted to. And then today he got some more intensive treatment on his knee. He’s doing great. We don’t foresee this being something that’s going to hinder him long-term.”
Haynes King. The Panthers’ rookie third-string quarterback hasn’t played since he scored on a 5-yard scramble on the final play to win the Hall of Fame exhibition game Aug. 6. And King won’t play this week, either, meaning the quarterback position will likely be Kenny Pickett for the first half and Kyle Trask sometime in the second half against Houston.
“He’s trending in the same direction as Chuba,” Canales said of King. “He’s getting his long speed and all that stuff up, but he’s not in a place where we can cut him loose to play football right now.”
Read more 5 bakeries stand out as the best in Charlotte. Which is your favorite?
This story was originally published August 24, 2026 at 2:16 PM.
