The Panthers will mhost the Browns Friday night in their first of three preseason games. The two teams held a joint practice in Charlotte on Wednesday ahead of the contest.
Last week head coach Dave Canales confirmed that starters on both sides of the ball will see limited playing time, with the exception of Jaycee Horn who has been ruled out after a minor thumb injury sustained in a car accident while heading to the facility Wednesday. Exactly how much playing time the starters will see depends on how the first series goes.
“I think a couple of series,” head Coach Dave Canales said Wednesday. “My hope is if you get a good, long first drive, we’re done there. If it’s a three-and-out on either side, I’d love to give them another shot, you know, somewhere in the—if I had a perfect number, it’d be probably eight to 12, would be like my high hope for the group.”
For Canales Friday’s game is not just about what happens on the field, but what players do leading up to kickoff.
“It starts the night before. It’s the preparation. It’s the morning of. It’s what you eat on game day. It’s the body readiness, kind of working through those nerves before the game and getting yourself into a great head space to be able to perform.”
On the other side of the field the Browns will be without some starters, including wide receivers Jerry Jeudy and Cedric Tillmanm, while fifth round draft pick Shedeur Sanders will get the start at quarterback.
“We’ll rest some starters,” Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski said. “Some players will play, obviously holding out some guys due to injury, as you know. And then we’ll play Shedeur (Sanders) at quarterback. We just signed Snoop (Tyler) Huntley, as you guys saw. We’ll get Snoop back up to speed quickly. He’s been in a couple different offenses since we last saw him, so he’s doing a great job of working at it. But it’s a great opportunity for all of our young players in that football game. “
“Shedeur has gotten reps with all the different centers and has gotten reps with different guys throwing to them during practice,” Stefanski added when asked about how he expects Sanders to perform with limited practice reps with the starters. “I feel real confident that the guys will have a good feel for who’s playing next to them. The left tackle and the left guard may have some batteries that are a little bit different, you know, but I think the guys have worked very hard to just be on the same page.”
Kickoff for Friday’s game is at 7pm.