The Carolina Panthers kicked off the final week of the preseason with Monday’s practice and later this week will host the Houston Texans for a joint practice ahead of Friday’s preseason finale. After that, roster cuts will have to be announced on Sunday with Week 1’s matchup against the Chicago Bears right around the corner.

These next few days are going to move fast and there’s a lot of big decisions that general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales will have to make between now and then.

In the meantime, Canales provided some major updates in involving injury and availability factors with multiple starters that will play a key role looking ahead to Week 1.

Devin Lloyd’s absence shouldn’t be a concern, plus update on the LB2 battle

The biggest notable absence during Monday’s practice was linebacker Devin Lloyd, who did not participate. Lloyd was one of the top defensive starters who sat out Friday’s preseason game as well, and it turns out he was dealing with a slight issue coming out of Friday’s joint practice.

“Devin was just a vet rest,” Canales said. “He was really sore coming out of the practice, really had a fantastic day, and we were going to play him (on Friday). But, coming out of that we really didn’t feel like we wanted to. Today he got some more intensive treatment on his knee. He’s doing great. We don’t foresee this being something that’s going to hinder him long-term.”

Lloyd is someone the Panthers are going to rely on heavily this season, and they expect him to have a massive impact on this defense so that’s great news on that front.

Something to watch throughout this week is the linebacker battle between Trevin Wallace and Claudin Cherelus to see who will start alongside Lloyd. That competition remains open with Canales saying it’s still “head-to-head”, one thing to watch is Carolina could look to bring in another option via trade or the waiver wire before Week 1 if neither player manages to stand out this week.

Chuba Hubbard still on track for Week 1 return, plus how the RB rotation will work

Chuba Hubbard has been out for quite some time during training camp with a hamstring injury. It was always expected that Hubbard would be shut down throughout camp and be ready for a return in Week 1, and that still remains the case.

“He’s expected to be ready for Week 1,” Canales said of Hubbard. “I think he hit over 20 miles per hour the other day. But, that’s in a controlled setting. Right now, we didn’t want to put him back out there. He’s not ready for someone to pull on his jersey and for him to pull through that. But he’s ahead of schedule.”

In the meantime, the Panthers have been relying on Jonathon Brooks to lead the backfield. Brooks got his first preseason action against the Buffalo Bills and then scored his first NFL touchdown last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Canales addressed how the split at running back between Hubbard and Brooks will look going into Week 1.

“We’ll definitely roll it out like we have been where you’ll have a lead back for the series and the other guy comes in on third-down,” Canales said. “Those are good opportunities to keep a guy in the game… But whoever the lead guy for those base downs is, they’ll get the bulk of that rhythm.”

Xavier Legette progressing despite concerning sight on Friday

Xavier Legette suffered an unfortunate injury after getting rolled up on during the joint practice that will hold back the strong progress he made early in training camp. It was a concerning sight to see the wide receiver walking out during Friday’s game with a boot on, but Canales offered a more encouraging evaluation of the injury.

“Xavier, his foot’s still sore,” Canales shared. “He’s in a boot, we’re going to have him in a boot until Thursday. Take that off. Then we’ll ramp him up over the weekend to get him ready for that practice that we have on the bye week before the Chicago week.”

Having Legette out there in Week 1 is going to be significant for the Panthers’ offense alongside Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker. Bryce Young and company will need him available for that opener. The good news is he’s progressing, but he will not participate in this week’s joint practice or the preseason finale.

Darren Waller takes the field in pads for the first time

Darren Waller finally took the field for the first in pads on Monday. Waller had been limited to individual work last week after joining the team late in training camp but is finally starting to ramp up this week.

“We sprinkled him in, got him a couple of team reps. He looked really good,” Canales explained. “We weren’t able to get him a target in the course of the team period, but he looked good running. He’s in great shape.”

Carolina plans to get Waller out there for the joint practice later this week, but he will not play in the preseason game. That doesn’t leave many reps, but the Panthers are banking on his resume and what he brings to the table when it comes to evaluating the tight end room ahead of roster cuts.

“We have to lean on his recent history playing,” Canales added of Waller. “Hard to get the evaluation. We spent the first part of last week really just running him, and pushing him, and making sure he was practice-ready… But again, it’s a good room. We love those guys and trust them. He comes into a room to see if he can help us in some way, but the guys are doing a great job of showing what they can do.”

Taylor Moton facing another month out after dealing with blood clots

Right tackle Taylor Moton is looking at roughly another month on the sideline, after dealing with blood clots in his lungs that was discovered earlier in the offseason that forced him to be sidelined indefinitely.

“I don’t have any specific timelines on T-Mo. We are kind of at the mercy of the treatment and recovery for him,” Canales explained. “We just have to make sure that we’re following that course. If you ask T-MO, he’s running around. He looks great, he’s pushing some sleds, he’s doing everything. But, it’s just a matter of the medical condition just doesn’t allow you to put him into a contact type of situation right away. So, we’re going to have to play that by ear.”

In the meantime, first-round rookie Monroe Freeling has been taking snaps at right tackle and is in position to start the season there with Rasheed Walker at left tackle. When Moton returns, it will create an interesting situation regarding who gets moved out of the starting lineup.

Offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu is still rehabbing from a torn patellar tendon with no firm timetable for his return. But, at some point during the regular season, Ekwonu could join that mix as well, creating healthy competition at tackle with multiple options available.