Panthers coach Dave Canales anticipates competitive advantage with light NFL travel schedule
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Coach Dave Canales anticipates the Carolina Panthers will remain fresher throughout the 2026 campaign.
Scheduled to travel an NFL-low 8,740 air miles, the Panthers are hoping to avoid many pitfalls of travel and enjoy more time for recovery and rest.
"Recovery, minimizing the time you're spending on planes," Canales said during Monday's teleconference. "Flying does do a little bit of something to your body.
"It certainly can be an advantage to be able to get a little bit back in the tank, get to your hotel sooner, settle in, go through your meetings, go through your body care and prep that happens the day before a game."
The Panthers (8-9), who captured the NFC South title last season, will travel about 30,000 fewer miles than the international-driven San Francisco 49ers.
"Being in Charlotte, we're kind of central to the Northeast, the South, the East Coast, the Midwest, everything just kind of feels within range, that these are shorter trips," Canales said. "So we'll try to take advantage of that."
Panthers coach Dave Canales preps for joint practices
The Panthers open the 2026 NFL schedule by facing the Arizona Cardinals during the Aug. 6 Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. To close out the preseason, Canales said he anticipated facing the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans in back-to-back joint practices next August
It would be a reunion for the Panthers and Texans, who staged joint practices last summer. Turning the events into a home-and-home series, the Texans are scheduled to hold workouts at the practice fields behind Bank of America Stadium.
The teams will play in a preseason game Aug. 28 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers travel to Jacksonville for practices and a game on Aug. 21.