Panthers coach Dave Canales responds to internal criticism about practice effort

This week has seen the first real stirrings of drama for Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales since he took the job a season and a half ago.

Yes, there was the potential mutiny after Bryce Young utterly bombed Weeks 1-2 last year, but Canales moved quickly and did what he had to do by benching Young. While there have been some brutal losses along the way, it's been relatively smooth sailing as far as internal controversy goes since then.

That might be all over coming out of Carolina's devastating loss to the now 2-8 New Orleans Saints on Sunday - a game that the Panthers absolutely had to win - one that exposed both Canales and Young in a bad way.

Afterwards, a few players let it be known that they thought some folks around the building did not practice the way that they should have following Carolina's upset win over the Green Bay Packers the previous week.

Left tackle Ickey Ekwonu said the team wasn't locked into the small details - and rookie edge rusher Nic Scourton said some guys got "big-headed" and forgot how the NFL works.

We don't know who Scourton was talking about, but in both cases their comments are a poor reflection on Canales and how he prepared his team last week. Now, Canales is letting it be known that he'd rather those comments stay in-house.

Dave Canales says in the future, he'd like to see players keep comments/complaints about practice effort and attitude in-house.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 12, 2025

Canales has admitted maybe taking the Monday off after the Packers in was a bad idea - but one day of practice wasn't going to fix the ongoing problems with a near-total lack of offensive production after the opening script. If not for Rico Dowdle's surprise explosive production, this would easily be the worst offense in the NFL right now.

It's also a serious concern that Carolina's highest-paid skill player, cornerback Jaycee Horn - had the worst game of his career at such a pivotal moment - and has had a disappointing season in general after signing his massive extension.

The fact that this is the first time we're hearing Canales say something like this is a credit to the culture he's building - especially given all the bad losses the Panthers have suffered during his time with the team.

However, if those kinds of losses continue we're only going to hear more and more from players who are frustrated with the way the team is being run.

Things aren't going to get any easier from here until the end of the season, either. The Panthers have the most difficult strength of schedule remaining in the league.

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