Dave Canales spent Tuesday’s press conference on the two things a short week leaves the least time for: finding out who can play, and getting the Panthers’ heads right after their worst loss of the season. Carolina is 3-3 and still leads the NFC South, but it lost 43-13 at home to Tampa Bay on Sunday and plays at Green Bay on Thursday night. “A championship opportunity, a historic place, going back to Lambeau Field and an incredible opponent,” the Panthers head coach said. “A Packers team that’s explosive on the offensive side, leading the NFL in turnovers.”
Who can play on Thursday
The Panthers held another walk-through on Tuesday, so their injury report was again a projection. Outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips (hamstring), guards Damien Lewis (knee) and Torricelli Simpkins III (ankle), and cornerback Akayleb Evans (triceps/knee) were listed as not participating. Defensive tackle Bobby Brown III (hand) moved up to full participation after missing Monday, receiver Jalen Coker (shoulder) was full after being limited, and Bryce Young (knee) was full again.
Canales said Lewis and Evans are day-to-day, and that Wednesday decides it. “Day-to-day truly just means like a lot of testing tomorrow, because we need to know by tomorrow if guys can move around and do their job well,” he said. Asked whether he had ruled anyone out, he said: “Not right now.” The Panthers release their final report with game statuses on Wednesday.
He said the choice of replacements will depend on the plan as much as the depth chart. “It’s not just about who might be necessarily the most logical next step in,” he said. “It’s like, what does the game plan look like? Does that fit this guy or that guy better?” At cornerback, if Evans cannot go, he described two practice-squad options: Marco Wilson as “a quicker athletic mover” and Corey Thornton as “a big physical corner who’s played safety, who’s played nickel for us.” Carolina is already without right tackle Taylor Moton, who went on injured reserve on Monday with a broken fibula.
“It’s focus. It’s intentionality”
Asked about the tone in the locker room after Sunday, Canales said the loss had sent the team back to basics. “It’s focus. It’s intentionality. It’s understanding that all the little things matter,” he said. “We just got to recapture our process. We got to work on our fundamentals, our identification, our alignments on the defensive side, special teams wise, being in the right spots in the coverage unit, the return, certainly securing the ball. … It’s humbling, and it returns us to a focus about what matters.”
Tampa Bay ran for 258 yards on Sunday, and Canales expects Green Bay to test that. “I’m sure they’re watching the game and they’re seeing 250 yards of run game on the ground, and that’s got to be appealing,” he said. “I expect them to try to run the ball, and we do expect Jordan to heave the ball down the field just like he does.” He called Josh Jacobs, who played his first game of the season in Detroit on Sunday, “a fantastic runner” who “will at times make that first person miss,” so the plan is to “team tackle” him and have everybody run to the ball.
He also boiled the Panthers’ season down to two things. “When we’re stout against the run and we take care of the ball, we’re 3-0 this season,” he said. “It can get really simple. Football gets really simple.”
Last year’s walk-off stays in the past
Carolina won its last game at Lambeau 16-13 on November 2, 2025, when Ryan Fitzgerald kicked a 49-yard field goal on the final play. Canales said the win taught his team that “there’s always a path, and sometimes the path is pretty narrow,” and that it mattered for the young kicker’s standing with his teammates. Asked whether it gives the Panthers a psychological edge, he said: “Subconsciously, yes. I have not talked about it. I don’t plan on talking about it with them. It doesn’t matter. That was a different Panthers team then. This is a different Panthers team in 2026.”
Both teams come in off division losses, Green Bay on a field goal at the gun in Detroit. Canales said he avoids that kind of language with his players but knows it is real. “There’s something that burns inside of you as a competitor,” he said. “I expect the Panthers to respond the way we do, and that creates for a great matchup.”
Bryce Young: “We’re 0-0”
Young, who went 14 of 27 for 163 yards with two interceptions against Tampa Bay, said the priority without full-speed practices is “attention to detail” in walk-throughs, with “a lot of conversations, a lot of notes taken throughout.” He said he is watching the same hours of film as in a normal week, just at different times.
He praised a Packers defense that, he said, plays “even better together” than its individual players. “You don’t see a lot of busts on film. You don’t see a lot of miscommunications despite all the variety of stuff that they bring,” he said. Asked about safety Xavier McKinney, he called him “a really intelligent player” who “does a great job with his eyes” and has “great range.”
Like his coach, Young did not want to lean on last year’s finish. “Grimy win. We found a way,” he said. “That doesn’t entitle us to anything. It’s a new year, new season. … It’s going to be zero-zero when it starts.” He said Moton has been “in great spirits” since his injury. “Obviously it’s the worst part of the game,” Young said. “I’m praying for him.” Of rookie tackle Monroe Freeling, who steps back in at right tackle, he said: “It’s only going to go up from here.”
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