South Charlotte Today

CLEMSON, SC—It took Dave Canales approximately 15 seconds to address what he felt was the elephant in the room.

"We had a bunch of pre-snap penalties," the coach said, following the Panthers' mock scrimmage during Fan Fest on Thursday night. "We got to address that."

The first and second teams each had four drives during the scripted scrimmage, with Bryce Young leading the starters and rookie Jack Plummer taking over for the injured Andy Dalton to lead the second team. Both units were plagued with a multitude of procedural penalties, from false starts to offsides.

"We got to make sure that we, whether it's the cadence or we going early, whatever the thing is, we got to talk through that," Canales said. "But it was very sloppy."

Granted, this was not even a preseason game. It was a practice that included a mock scrimmage. If anything, it was a pre-pre-season game. The Panthers performed in front of fans at Memorial Stadium, their original 1995 home.

Having fans on hand is partly why Canales believes there were so many flags, especially in the first half.

"That's part of the fans being here and creating that extra energy," Canales said. "A little bit of that game day excitement might have gotten to some guys, so we needed that for sure, just to get a litmus test of where we're at because we'll be playing another game in about a week here."

Since this was still a week before the first preseason game, there is time to address everything that led to and resulted from the pre-snap issues. Running back Chuba Hubbard isn't pressing any panic buttons just yet.

"First scrimmage, second padded practice; obviously, we can't shoot ourselves in the foot, but it's going to happen," Hubbard said. "I'm not too worried about it. We're getting ready for week one."

Still, Dave Canales was hired in part to put together a better-performing offense. Having smooth operations before play can go a long way toward fielding a productive unit. Each setback pre-snap has ripple effects after the snap.

"Protection wise, we got to do better up front just in terms of making sure we're getting our leverage," Canales explained as to why the offense stalled so much in the first half. "Quarterbacks making their plays on the run happens when you have penalties early in downs... That's not what we do... We are efficient on first and second down with our runs and play actions; we have favorable third downs... That formula works... It didn't show up all night but did surface on some drives."

The pre-snap penalties affected what Bryce Young could show under his new offense. Asked about his quarterback's performance, Canales responded contemplatively: "I would say good. I would say good—not great."

During what served as the second half of the scrimmage however, Young found more rhythm. He moved more comfortably in collapsing pockets and utilized run games often for progress downfield. On his last drive's final play, he faked a handoff under pressure and connected with Adam Thielen for an open touchdown.

"I keep preaching finish... That type of finish on [the] last drive... That was great to see," Canales noted.

Partly attributing this success due to Jadeveon Clowney’s absence from defense later on: "We settled in... Pre-snap operation [was] smooth... Plays [were] getting [in] time...[Bryce] took advantage..."

With this final drive as an example of potential efficiency once pre-snap operations are controlled properly; these remain top priorities moving forward per Coach Canales: “I feel conflicted… So good about work done… Speedy play… Cool things executed both sides ball & special teams too… But penalties hurt us…”

Andy Dalton will miss time due injury described by Coach Dave Canales as quad-related without specific timeline provided; meanwhile Jack Plummer assumes temporary responsibilities alongside plans bringing another quarterback into fold while Dalton recovers:

“It’s good seeing Jack out there gaining experience despite initial jitters settling into role eventually.”

Other non-participants include wide receiver Devin Carter outside linebacker K’Lavon Chaisson OLB Cam Gills linebacker Shaq Thompson guard Damien Lewis tight end Tommy Tremble among others attending but not practicing Thursday evening

Nostalgia ran high within Clemson amidst bus ride reminiscing past times Dom Capers senior defensive assistant regaled stories former head coaching days reminiscing walkthroughs Saturdays buses three-hour rides home-game nights shared fond memories journey back Charlotte traffic-packed fan-filled return trips concluded Coach David sharing laughter pleasant recollections

Bus ride details remained confidential though Coach laughed admitting “great night Clemson”

Panthers scheduled practice continues Saturday publicly accessible session returning Charlotte fields upcoming preparation ongoing ahead season commencement anticipated eagerly players staff alike

---