There will be football played on Thursday night, but don’t expect to see most of Carolina’s key players.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters on Monday that backup quarterback Kenny Pickett will start the Hall of Fame Game against the Cardinals, though he’s not exactly sure how much playing time Pickett will get.
“But we have a good number of guys that will be helping out early in the game — just because we don’t want to overload any one particular group on our team,” Canales said in his press conference. “We do have practices leading into the game and we have practices coming out of it. So, I felt that with the number of guys being out there, being able to take a couple of series will really help the whole group. And, we just need the football.
“So, I’m excited about it. And Kenny’s excited about it, as well as the rest of the group, and they’ve been talking about it.”
As one would expect for the Hall of Fame Game, no starters are expected to play — including rookie offensive tackle Monroe Freeling.
“Yeah, no starters,” Canales said. “There are some competition battles for starting positions where guys will have an opportunity to play a little bit. But some of the guys we’re expecting to be out there right off the bat, I think we won’t play those guys in this game.”
At quarterback, rookie Haynes King is slated to take the reps after Pickett departs, with starter Bryce Young not in line to play.
The Panthers will face the Cardinals on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
