Panthers sideline Xavier Legette, their first-round receiver, as 'precaution' during OTAs

Xavier Legette, who has started his second week of OTAs with the Panthers, suffered an injury that hits a lot of first-year players. It’s why Carolina coach Dave Canales asked the receiver to sit out Wednesday’s practice.

Legette, officially, tweaked a hamstring. Canales explained that there was a mental component wth what happened to the Panthers first-rounder who was held out as a precaution.

“With rookies, when they come out here, it’s a different level of work,” Canales told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “It’s not that they’ve never practiced this long. But everyone’s fast, everyone is going. And of course, with their wheels turning, there’s a strain on the brain and there’s also a strain on the body.

“For him, he looked a little stoved up yesterday. Just as a precaution, we said we need to pull back a little bit. Want to make sure we’re smart at this at this point in our program and what we’re doing with our sights on training camp and all that.”

Panthers need Legette to be healthy to help their offense

The Panthers didn’t have a first-round pick coming into last month’s NFL Draft. But Carolina traded up for pick No. 32, the last choice in the first round, to select Legette, the former South Carolina star. And he and second-year quarterback Bryce Young immediately started working other to build on-field chemistry.

Young recently said of Legette: “Now being able to be around Xav for a couple days … that combination of size, speed, how explosive he is, the way he comes out of routes. Yeah, it’s definitely something that I gotta get used to. We’re working on getting that timing down, but I’m super excited.”

One or two missed OTAs likely won’t impact Legette in the big picture. But the Panthers do need him to be on the field once training camp starts in late July.

“He’s done a lot of great things, great guy, great attitude,” Young told reporters. “So again, we’re in that process of building.”

The Panthers went heavy on offense early in the draft to give Young, the No. 1 pick of last year, lots of talented options. Carolina ranked last in passing in 2023 and Young was sacked 62 times. It was a miserable time for Young and the Panthers, who only won twice.

Carolina used the draft to help the offense. The Panthers selected former Texas running back Jonathon Brooks in the second round. He also was the first running back picked in the draft. Then the Panthers added Brooks’ Texas teammate, Ja’Tavion Sanders, a tight end.