Panthers Preseason Thoughts: Ugly, But Ugly for a Reason?

The Panthers "played" in a game on Saturday, and I use that term loosely. Here are some thoughts from this pointless preseason contest. And as an aside: why in the world do they play three of these things?

A lot of starters sat out, including both starting guards. This team needs another off-ball linebacker. Devin Lloyd is more than solid, but they need someone else who isn't currently on the roster.

Mike Jackson looked bad, but I don't think there's any real cause for concern yet.

On the pass rush, both Jaelan Phillips and Princely Umanmielen looked very good.

Bryce's play, on the other hand, was blah. And this team's lack of speed at receiver is beyond concerning.

Was the offensive ugliness a byproduct of play-calling duties shifting to Brad Idzik? And finally, why doesn't Dave Canales take this a little more seriously? I know it's the preseason, but his last two teams have stumbled out of the gate, and it looked like there was no real game plan in place. I'd expect Friday to look a lot different.