CHARLOTTE – It felt a bit like getting the band back together on Monday, as the Panthers returned three key members to the field.

Rookie receiver Xavier Legette, tight end Tommy Tremble and linebacker Shaq Thompson all suited up for practice. The trio didn't participate in team drills, but were able to take part in individual work and unit drills for the first time in more than a week.

"He looked good," defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said of his staring linebacker, Thompson. "He's picked up where he left off at. The one thing you don't have to worry about with Shaq, whether he's rehabbing or out there playing, is that he's going to be working his butt off. And so, he didn't look, I didn't see anything rushed (in his rehab) or anything like that."

Their return was just in time, as the Panthers gear up to welcome the New York Jets on Thursday for a joint practice. In anticipation of what should be an intense day of work, Dave Canales and crew kept things light on Monday, aided by cool temps, better winds and a humming energy that permeated throughout the 90-minute practice that was half pads, half shells.

Wednesday will look much the same, before the Jets come to town, something that Evero has been looking forward to since they were here last training camp.

"We get to see a different offense, see different people, just going against Aaron Rodgers too, just that level of communication and having to disguise everything and really be on point on of what we're doing because any weakness, anything that's not right, he's going to point it out. So, that was great, great work and very invaluable for us," Evero said of the 2023 joint practice.

Evero's group finished the season in the top four of total defense, and returned the entire staff, half the starters, and signed the other half from free agents that have played in the system before. Rodgers though brings almost two decades worth of experience, complete with Super Bowl wins, four MVP's and four first team All-Pros.

Evero recalls one moment last year in the joint practice when Rodgers shredded his unit before the ball was even snapped, becoming one of the best teaching moments of the season.

"There's one specific play that happened down in the red zone where we were trying to show split safety and our linebackers were aligned as a post safety look and (Rodgers) just walked up to the line of scrimmage as they broke the huddle and he's like, 'All right, that safety's coming down. All right, they're rotating over here, the front's going to be here.'

"And he's just pointing everything out and it's just like, ok, that's an example of why we emphasize the disguise so much, right? And it's not just the safety sitting back. If those linebackers aren't tied into it, if the front isn't tied into it, the elite guys are going to point that out.

"And so like, I just think that we can talk about it all we want, but having a guy up there literally out of the huddle, he's pointing everything out, I mean, I think that really speaks volumes to the players."

—While Legette, Tremble and Thompson returned to practice, a couple of guys took to the sideline. Safety Xavier Woods took a vet day, while receiver Diontae Johnson was held out and did not dress.

— The unofficial star of the day was rookie safety Demani Richardson. He undercut a Bryce Young pass in a move the ball period, nabbing his first interception and receiving a mob celebration from teammates that cleared the entire defensive sideline. In response, the DJ queued up the 1994 Soul For Real classic (depending on who you ask), "Candy Rain."

The tune was Richardson's song of choice in the rookie talent show – although elder safety Jordan Fuller debates the presence of actual talent.

"The first time he was up there, he was pretty monotone and stuff like that and people were kind of making fun of it, just kind of booing a little bit," Fuller shared. "They had him go up again. He got like a little bit better, but it was still kind of like monotone a little bit, but now it's kind of just like a team joke."

With each subsequent performance though, Fuller said, Richardson got better. It's the same approach he's taken to practice, getting his biggest pay off yet on Monday.

"So, he made a couple plays out there and then we started playing Candy Rain. So today during practice he had his best performance of all time," Fuller added.

Richardson solidified his best performance with another interception, this time on Jack Plummer, from a deep rainbow down field. Richardson flew across the field, leaping between a receiver and defender to grab the ball at its high point.

The Texas A&M alum played more nickel in college, and that nose from being close to the ball is paying off now as a deep safety.

"He moves really well," Fuller said of the rookie. "I know he was playing a lot of like kind of big nickel in college and I definitely see those cover skills. We've been seeing his ball skills in the past couple of days too. There's not too many things that Demani can't do on the football field, so I'm really excited to see what he does next."

— After teammates placed JJ Jansen's name on a list of least swaggy players in the locker room, the long snapper decided to up his game on Monday. He added tights and an arm sleeve, which caught the attention of defensive backs ahead of practice. Then punter Johnny Hekker helped Jansen add a visor to his helmet, something the longtime vet usually avoids.

It was worth the adjustment though, as safety Nick Scott declared the changes successful and moved Jansen off the list.

Make sure to catch these kind of behind the scenes interactions and more in Camp Confidential, the first episode dropping this week on the Panthers YouTube.