CHARLOTTE — It's one of the most time-honored traditions of training camp. Really, it's happened for so long that it's practically a cliche now.

The pads go on, the temperature goes up, and dudes will get up in each other's faces a little more often. And the temperatures only went up slightly, as this remains one of the most pleasant camps, temperature wise, in recent memory.

There were a few moments during Tuesday's practice that some might describe as fights or minor scuffles. That oversells it dramatically. Basically, after Chuba Hubbard and Jadeveon Clowney jawed at each other at the end of a play, a collection or large bodies came together (left tackle Ikem Ekwonu at the front of the line), and then dispersed.

There were no punches thrown. Nobody was hurt. But coach Dave Canales used it as an object lesson anyway.

"Great teachable moments right there," Canales said. "We're, we're toeing the line, we're pushing each other, the physical nature of it. It gets heated sometimes, but it's just a great opportunity to teach them about what happens in the game. Be a great teammate, pull our guys away, don't give the opponent anything. We can't give them free yards. We got to keep our head about us.

"And just in general, we lose time, the play clock's running, all those things. So just really good teachable moments right there as we start to get a little bit pushy and shove-y at the end of some plays there."

Again, anyone who overstates what actually happened is just looking for drama in exchange for clicks, and we respect the readers of Panthers.com far too much to engage in such behavior.

For the most part, as quickly as something flared it was over, and they got back to work. That's what Canales wants, and what quarterback Bryce Young said was the point.

"We want to clean some stuff up. We're still family at the end of the day," Young said. "When we go to the locker room, we're brothers, but it gets competitive out there. Obviously there are a couple of things that happen on the field and it's part of the game. We leave it out here, don't want it to happen in the future.

"You understand, certain things come with the territory, come with the sport. But also we want to be productive, we don't want to lose periods. . . . We have each other's back. And then just making sure not to lose sight of the big picture, make sure it's productive, minimize the stuff as you can and then making sure when it's over, it's over and then we're able to get back to being productive."

— It's nothing to be alarmed at, at the moment, but the Panthers are getting a look at some of their offensive line depth already in camp.

Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton was held out Tuesday, wearing a bucket hat out to practice while everyone else was in full pads. That's not out of the norm for the right tackle, who has played in 115 straight games and started 99 in a row since he came here in the second round of the 2017 draft.

Badara Traore worked with the first group in his place, the second day in a row they've tapped into their reserves. Monday, when right guard Damien Lewis was given the back half of practice off because of some shoulder soreness, Chandler Zavala plugged in his spot.

The Panthers are still without veteran tackle Yosh Nijman, who was signed this offseason to provide some experience at the swing tackle spot. Nijman remains on the list of physically unable to perform as he recovers from offseason surgery.

Canales said they expect to get Nijman back on the field before the end of camp, but until then, they're looking at a number of options.

Former starting guard Brady Christensen has worked at all five positions already this offseason, and since he's a former college left tackle, he could plug in there if need be. He started all 17 games at left guard in 2022 and the opener last year before he suffered a torn biceps.

And the fact that basically everybody got a chance to start last season (they used seven different left guards and eight right guards in 2023), a few young players still here have some experience.

"Yeah, great to see Badara Traore out there with the ones working at tackle, big matchup for him, right? He's got to block Clowney over there on the right side," Canales said with a grin. "So again, just an opportunity for him to elevate his play to pursue his best to see how he fares against those guys."

Canales said he's liked what he's seen so far in camp from some of the backups, specifically mentioning Zavala, Cade Mays, and Christensen.

— Prior to Tuesday's practice, the Panthers placed running back Rashaad Penny on the reserve/retired list.

Canales, who coached Penny in Seattle during some of his best seasons, said they had a conversation Monday afternoon in which Penny shared his decision.

Penny struggled with injuries during his career but was productive when he was well, and Canales said he was grateful he got to work with Penny again.

"It's a really cool opportunity for me to see; I know Rashad at his best," Canales said. "To see if we could get him to that kind of look. He just really felt like he wasn't himself and I had to respect that. I don't understand what that's like, to, to have a feel to have a vision and wanting your body to do exactly what you tell it to do and just not responding the right way.

"I was glad to be a part of this process with him just because I've known him for so long, and I wish Rashad the best."

The 28-year-old Penny signed here in May, but Canales said he felt he never felt like he needed to feel to be able to compete at this level. In 2021, Penny ran for 749 yards and six touchdowns for the Seahawks, while Canales was on staff there.

— Canales said that wide receiver Daewood Davis, who was carted off Monday with a thigh injury, was likely to miss at least several weeks.

That's why they signed rookie receiver Tayvion Robinson to take Penny's roster spot. Canales said they needed fresh legs at receiver to keep the strain off the rest of the group.

He also said that with Shaq Thompson and Moton held out Tuesday, the goal was to get them both on the field for Thursday night's Fan Fest practice at Clemson.

— Speaking of Fan Fest, Canales said he's looking forward to the first team-building field trip of the summer. It's not a road game, but they will board the buses here Wednesday and head to Clemson, stay overnight, and bring it back after Thursday's practice.

"We're going to go there as a team," Canales said. "It's a team function and opportunity to just practice being together on the road; even though it's with our Panthers family and Panthers fans, it still gives us that you're not sleeping in your home, you're not at our normal hotel room, it changes the environment and then see if the guys can execute with that response."

That practice will be in pads, and will function as an intra-squad scrimmage. You can get more information about Fan Fest, including how to acquire tickets here.

— Canales said they were going to have to go to the tape to see if new wide receiver Deven Thompkins got down in bounds on the final play of practice, since they keep score during each practice. There was some very vocal dispute about this on the field.

"There could be a body part that got in at the end right there," Canales said. "Maybe not, but that definitely swings our drills. We keep score of all of our drills. Interceptions, turnovers and touchdowns are all six points. Everything else is pretty much one point for the offensive defense. So it could be a big swing right there. The guys know it and expect it and they're already talking about it right there in the huddle at the end."

Canales said that building that score-keeping element in practice adds to what is already a competitive environment.

"The thing that you'll learn about these competitors out here is it's just got to have a score, and all of a sudden, these guys just go crazy," he said. "It could be ping pong, it could be trivia, it could be the practice field and all of a sudden they're arguing. Was it a catch, or was it not? That's the nature of this level of football. These guys are highly competitive individuals. You just got to put some stake out there, and all of a sudden, everybody's just going.

"I truly believe in it, I saw it in person. It's like you wouldn't think, the 10-year veteran is like, oh, here we go again. No, you put a score up there and all of a sudden they go. So it's something I really love, and it brings a lot of energy to our meetings."