Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young hands off to running back Jonathon Brooks against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter during a preseason game at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday, Aug. 21, 2026.
Nathan Ray Seebeck
IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Carolina Panthers did the things you’re supposed to do on Friday in a 34-17 exhibition win over Jacksonville, and it’s a good thing they did.
This was almost certainly the starters’ last chance before the regular-season opener Sept. 13 in Charlotte to show that the week before was a fluke. And they couldn’t have had a much better shot at it than Friday night in Jacksonville, when the Jaguars decided not to play their starters on either side of the ball. No Trevor Lawrence. No Travis Hunter.
Still, the Panthers had to execute, and they did. Bryce Young, benefiting from interior offensive line protection he didn’t have a week ago, marched Carolina to a seven-play, 58-yard touchdown drive on his second series. (The first one had been a punt.)
And with that TD, head coach Dave Canales decided he’d seen enough of the starting unit and benched them for the rest of the game. Last week they got nine plays and this week they got 11. Next week against Houston at home they will surely get zero — not playing your starters in the final week of the preseason has become de rigueur.
So, five total drives, and the first four (three against Buffalo, one against Jacksonville) ended up in four punts.
Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (25) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the first quarter during a preseason game at EverBank Stadium on Friday in the Panthers’ 34-17 win. Nathan Ray Seebeck IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The fifth and final drive, though, was a thing of beauty, as Young dissected the Jaguars and put every throw where it needed to be. After two completions to Tetairoa McMillan, Jonathon Brooks finished the drive with his first NFL TD of any type from 1 yard out.
Said Canales afterward: “A good long drive like that — that’s what I’m after … so it was good to get that drive going, make some critical plays there, and for the guys to kind of feel, ‘This is what it’s supposed to feel like.’”
On that high note, Canales shut them down. Following the TD, out came the starters, and the rest of the game was mostly a backup-vs-backup affair.
Carolina won that part of it, too, as a number of the other Panthers had flashy plays. Wide receiver Roc Taylor caught a pass practically off a Jacksonville defender’s helmet. Cornerback Chau Smith-Wade made a diving interception on the sort of ball that defensive backs drop about 80% of the time. Placekicker Ryan Fitzgerald booted a 61-yard field goal, outdoors, which bodes well for his distance kicking this year. And the Panthers have scored in the 30s so rarely over the past few years — regular season, preseason, whatever —that they felt like they were making a big play every couple of minutes.
“I was excited to see it come alive,” Canales said, “and to just see more of the things that we’ve been seeing in camp.”
Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks runs the ball during the first quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on Friday. Melina Myers IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Every preseason game has caveats. Jacksonville — a 13-win team last season — resting its starters for this exhibition was the biggest one Friday night.
But a week ago the Panthers felt like a worrisome bunch, one that got outplayed in an embarrassing 29-14 exhibition loss to Buffalo.
This one felt a lot different. Carolina ran the ball well, protected Young well (with a healthier offensive line) and held Jacksonville to field-goal attempts on defense for most of the night.
Last week was concerning. This one was promising.
The Charlotte Observer
Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974.
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