DAVE CANALES: All right, what a gift. Got a nice cool day of practice. Expecting similar conditions in Green Bay this weekend, so we got to get out there and run around and for the guys to feel it.
Went right back to work and excited for this weekend.
Q. Anticipating Bryce being your starter again?
DAVE CANALES: Bryce had a really good day. Going to take to each day and try to push it a little bit more. Had a little bit of a modified mode of practice today, but he handled the load.
Tomorrow we'll push it again and make a decision in the next couple days. He looked good.
Q. What about the other guys on the injury report, Taylor...
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, so Taylor got a good report and is as good a news as we can have. Going to work through him. He may be available Sunday. We have to evaluate him. We were not able to move him around today on the field. We were able to move him around in return to play.
But we'll look at him and try to ramp it up a little bit each day and Friday get a good look to see if he's available.
Q. Princely?
DAVE CANALES: Princely looks like he'll be out right now. Questionable, but at the same time doesn't look like he was able to do much with return to play right now. Again, we'll keep all options open. That's basically what it looks like.
Q. Is Taylor ahead of Cade?
DAVE CANALES: Yes.
Q. Think Cade will miss Sunday?
DAVE CANALES: Probably. And Austin is ready to go.
Q. Nick?
DAVE CANALES: Nick Scott did a little bit today. We'll take him day to day. Hoping he'll be there on Sunday. Right now we're not sure exactly where he is going to be at. We have to test it and make sure he's good to go with that groin.
Q. On that list you anticipate that Cade and Princely are the two most likely to be out on Sunday?
DAVE CANALES: Probably, yes.
Q. Have you given much more conjunction about the rushing...
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, we had a lot of conversations, and we'll roll that out on Sunday. I don't want to give any tips or tells about what we're doing.
Trust both guys to do it, and we've had a lot of conversations.
Q. Dave, the earlier practice, was that a product of the senior -- the leadership council?
DAVE CANALES: It was a part of our conversations, but that was something Jeff Brown and I talked about and really just trying to get -- there is a couple of guys -- we had a modified practice today, so couple of guys we were able to get a little bit more work just in the mode that we were in.
Had we just padded up and gone like a normal day I don't think those guys would've been able to practice. So it gave us a little bit of flexibility to see some guys out there.
Q. Will you do that going forward? It was this a one-week deal?
DAVE CANALES: We'll take it week to week in this mode and see what the results are. If we can get legs back and get some guys healthy I think it could help us.
Q. You said Bryce was in a modified mode today?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah.
Q. Does that mean that he was taking reps with the ones?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, he took all the reps today in practice. Again, we were just smart about what we were asking him to do today just in the different styles of plays and all that.
But he had a good day. We'll keep pushing it a little bit more and see where we are at.
Q. How did Andy Dalton hurt his thumb?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, was early, in the first series of the game. I can tell you he injured his thumb really early in the game. He was a stud. He gutted it out and was able to be out there and allow us to finish the game that way.
Just really blew up on him after the game and we got imaging and did our process over the last couple days. We got to see where he is at going into this weekend and make decisions from there.
Q. Did that affect his play at all do you know?
DAVE CANALES: Could be. I would it imagine. It's on his throwing side thumb, on his right-hand. I just love when guys -- like he knew there was important for the team and want to be out there for the guys to give us the rhythm to give us a chance to win.
So I just applaud Andy for that. He gutted it out and there was a really finding on there.
Q. Was this in any way a reinjury of the thumb injury that occurred in the car accident?
DAVE CANALES: That's not what was explained.
Q. How did Chandler look out there?
DAVE CANALES: He looked great. He had a really good week last week in return to play. His progression was exactly as planned. Was moving with high speeds, changing direction and all that. Looked great out there today.
Q. What you were able to do and what the expectations are when the quarterbacks are kind of uncertain as to their availability?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, we have to consider that. We have to consider who is out there and what they're capable of doing. As we put our game plan together.
You know, the hope is that we can do as much as possible in the same way that we've been functioning, and that goes into the decision to -- for Bryce last week, how much can we ask him to do in this game? Didn't feel like it was time.
This week as we're evaluating him to see what he can do, just making sure that we have our full complement of plays to balance out our attack.
Q. Simple question with I'm sure a complicated answer. What does it take to slow down Micah Parsons?
DAVE CANALES: Got to be aware of where he is. They do a great job moving him around. He'll play on either edge, inside in different ways, either as three technique and stand up as a spinner at times, too.
Just got to be aware of where he is. You have things to consider with your protection and helping on the edges. He's a fantastic player, so having that awareness, knowing when we're attacking and how to attack is really important.
Q. Whose responsibility is that? Quarterback? Offensive line?
DAVE CANALES: It's a combination of the whole group.
Q. Understanding it's very early, but do you have a pretty good feel for Bryce being available based on what you saw today?
DAVE CANALES: I would hope so. He really wants to. Again, we got to be smart and we got to challenge him physically in the next two days to make sure that he can do that.
So that's why we are still calling it day to day. We do have to throw some different types of movements and things at him.
But he's focused. He's ready. He's into it. I know he wants to go. If he can, he will.
Q. If Bryce and Andy can't go, would it be Hendon?
DAVE CANALES: That's a conversation we're having right now.
Q. Able to do the roll outs and a lot of the things, ya'll been moving around in the pocket...
DAVE CANALES: That's all the stuff we have to look at over the next couple days.
Q. Question about Micah Parsons and the offensive line. This seems like a really bad week to have guys on the O-line banged up. What's the thought process in terms of -- seems look you're weighing if he can, then good. If he can't, then... what's the plan in terms of personnel for Green Bay this week?
DAVE CANALES: Just we have all those conversations. Just got to be aware of where he is at and the types and style of plays that you run wherever he's at.
Q. Is it beneficial to have -- I know you don't know, but to have Chandler potentially available and a veteran like Austin to roll in there?
DAVE CANALES: Couldn't be a better time for Chandler to step in here and to be back available for us. His window just opened up. A lot of times you don't want to rush guys back out there, but he looked great today.
We need him, so kind of times up well for us to have that help inside. And to have Austin Corbett in here to be able to step in for Cade, to do that feels like we're going to be able to put our best group out there that we can to give us a chance to win.
Q. With so many names on this injury report, how unusual is it to have guys who are veterans and guys you're familiar with to plug into the spot?
DAVE CANALES: It's a tribute to the guys working themselves to get back, athletic training staff doing a great job, being smart about it, using all the information that we have at our disposal with the analytics, and also just the physical therapy and the things that go into it.
Then the coaches getting these guys prepared and a group that's been working together for a long time. So it does -- I do feel a lot of comfort knowing we have these guys stepping back in who know what to do and how to do it.
Q. Big picture, you guys are 4-4. You're in the graphic that says you're in the playoff hunt. This challenging stretch coming up, what can this do to sort of build not just for this season but for the future as the younger players are in these big games?
DAVE CANALES: Probably anticipating my response. We're worried about the Green Bay Packers this week and trying to focus on that game plan, trying to be all hands on deck there.
I am aware this is the time of year where not just for the Panthers but for a lot of the teams around the league who are dealing with different injury issues and finding those combinations of lineups, offense, defense, and special teams, it affects all of us.
This middle part of the season is really a chance to hone in on your football. We've had a lot of football now under our belt, and so trying to continue to refine those processes. We know who we are. We have that identity. And to set yourself up for a finish, you know.
These are the types of opportunities that I look at going to Green Bay, playing an NFC opponent, really good football team. These are the types of matchups that we need to continue to push our football forward and find out a lot of information about who we are right now.
Q. What about Trevin Wallace?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, yeah, Trevin did not practice today. He's day to day right now. He's got a possibility of going this weekend as well. Had really good exams coming out of the game. Wasn't able to finish the game but has had really good exams each day. Looking stronger and stronger.
Going to try to get him out there in a mode whether tomorrow or Friday so he can be available for us if possible.
Q. In terms of guy that wears the green dot, how much thought and process goes into that? How important is it for the coaching staff to pick the right player that's that guy, your quarterback on defense?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, it's really important to have the confidence in a guy giving the information. There is more than just the play call that comes in from the coordinators, playcaller, myself and Ejiro.
You want to know that as you're giving the call in, based on the situation, is it first, second down, is it third down, what are the sticks? What could be coming based on the personnel they put in?
There is some information that gets passed along that we like them to get to the rest of the group on top of calling that play, and so there is a level of comfort there knowing we have guys who have done that for us.
Q. Is that spot essentially not for everyone? You got to find a guy that can take what guy, right?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, can be a challenge. Can be a challenge for guys to get all the rest of the information. At a minimum let's get the call in and make sure everybody knows what they're doing.
On top of that, it's also the energy with which it's communicated. I'm excited about this call. I'm excited about this defensive call, excited about this pass or this run. You know, there is a delivery that does give a vote of confidence to the group as you're up there standing in front of them.
Q. Dave, when the schedule came out we talked to you about having the really late bye week. Curious, as the season has gone along how has that affected your planning in maybe a positive way or negative way? And with all these injuries, not having that opportunity coming up, how much do you have to keep that in the distance?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, there is pros and cons to that. So we're on a pretty regimented schedule. We play Sunday at 1:00. That's we do. Your body gets used to that, the preparation through the week. What your Friday, Saturday Sunday looks like is pretty uniform.
So there is a consistency there that I really enjoy, that I like.
With that, with the late bye week, it's also important as we have our quarterly leadership council meetings, let's regroup. Where are we right now? Let's take our next step. We have to make sure we build in those things because the gift of a bye week is for the staff at least, we get to do self-scout, dive deep into what we're doing, what's working, and what we might need to modify.
So we've taken advantage of that and kind of had the foresight to plan that out quarterly so we can dye back in and see what those things are. Who are the guys that are performing for us, what are the concepts that are performing well for us, and take a dive into that.
I know there is pros and cons to that. We'll be looking forward to that when it comes. Right now we have to just modify little things, make tweaks, make sure we're physically strong on Sundays as we continue to go week after week.
I look at the teams, and I think I've mentioned it before, you look at the best teams in the league who play primetime games, and the challenge that it is to play on Monday, to play Thursday, and then you're playing Sunday night and you're going across the country or maybe starting the season off in Brazil or Mexico City sometimes.
So there is challenges to it that come with those teams as well. And I'm just really impressed to see some of those teams be able to weather a lot of that changing of the regiment and the scheduling. I know what a challenge that could be. I've seen teams do that with a lot of success, too.
Q. To follow up with Cade and Princely and Brady, of those guys, who is maybe potentially an IR candidate?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, Brady's was significant Achilles injury. He had surgery today, so waiting to hear back to see how that went. So that's definitely one of the candidates.
The rest of them are all on the table as far as who we might need available. You know, as we look at our roster and the different numbers we have at positions, that's where we may have to make decisions in some other areas where we might be plus one to try it create enough space to have a strong group in all phases.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports