Canales called it an early night
Canales admitted earlier this week that he got emotionally invested in watching the Buccaneers lose to the Saints. But last night, he went to bed at halftime of their game against the Falcons, which meant he missed the wild finish that put the Panthers in first place in the NFC South at 7-6, a half-game up on the 7-7 Buccaneers.
“I watched the first half and, you know, 8 o’clock kicks here, it’s around 10 o’clock,” he said. “Got to sleep with the workday in front of me, and woke up and found out what the score was.
“I’ll have a chance to dive fully into it, you know, as we go into it next week, but last week was different because we’re playing the Saints this week, so I was able to watch that full game and be involved with that part of it as a part of my early evaluation process. But if I’m asking the guys to be focused on this week, I have to as well.”
The Panthers call the end of the week “Focus Friday,” and that’s what Canales was leaning into, saying he didn’t have to talk to the team today about what was at stake.
(What’s at stake is that the Panthers can clinch their first division title since 2015 with wins against the Saints on Sunday and the Bucs next week. Not that anyone’s getting ahead of themselves.)
“Nope, today was our Friday, today was a Focus Friday, and we had to be locked in,” Canales said. “Our focus is to make sure we win the day, because that leads to great process, and that’s been a part of what we’re doing.
“Everybody watched the game. We all, the guys, the coaches, we all watched it, but we also understand that’s for next week. We play the Bucs next week. We’re playing the Saints this week. We’ve got to have a focus here. It’s going to take everything we have to win this game, and we’re gonna get the Saints’ best shot.
