'I was about to cry' — Dave Canales' postgame comments made one thing clear when it comes to Panthers' WR Xavier Legette

The start to the 2025 season is not the start Legette envisioned for his second professional season with the Panthers. Through the first two weeks, Legette was setting the wrong kind of records with his inconsistent play and then suffered a hamstring injury that knocked him out for two games.

In Week 5, Legette made his return to the field hungry to prove the doubters wrong and at first, things seemed to be headed in the wrong direction. On the second offensive drive of the game, quarterback Bryce Young overshot Legette in the middle of the field, leading to an interception.

However, on the next drive, Young went back to Legette in the redzone for a key touchdown that gave some oxygen back into the Panthers' lungs to help fuel the comeback.

"I was about to cry," Canales added when asked about the play. "Honestly, just very proud of the work that he's put in to get himself back out there. Because, I see him grinding. I see him attacking the things that he needs to work on in practice. He's not shying away from it, he hits it head on. He looked in the mirror and he said, these are the things that I need to improve my game on. To get him back out there healthy and playing confident was huge."

All in all, Legette finished the game with two receptions for 31 yards and one touchdown on three targets. Still not the breakout many envisioned in his first game back from injury, but it's clear the confidence is there for Legette and from his entire team.

"He works hard. He has his head down, always grinding, always pushing forward," Young said of Legette. "What I see is him every single day. I see how he approaches things. I see how he is in meetings. I see how he is in practice. There wasn't anything different. That's just him being him."