Feleipe Franks and the entertaining conundrum for the Panthers tight end room

The extreme nature means there are times Franks has to be pulled back. As Canales has mentioned more than once, though, he’d rather pull someone back from the line than push them towards it. He’s spent time with Franks this training camp, encouraging the spark but learning how to control the flame.

It was put to the test against the Jags on Wednesday, when Franks made a contested catch near the sideline, then got popped hard right in front of the Jacksonville defensive sideline, who reacted accordingly. When Franks jumped up, he said something to the defender, then turned and walked away. The rest of the defense came on the field, including some of his former college teammates, laying the bait for a reaction.

But Franks, heeding Canales’ favorite motto, “returned to us.” More than any play he made all day (and there were a couple), that was the moment his coach couldn’t stop smiling about afterward.

“I was so proud of him today,” expressed Canales, a huge reaction emphasizing his proud dad moment. “Got knocked on the ground, OK, kind of a little bit of a late hit. Popped up in front of the Jags sideline. Guys were walking toward him, and he backed away, came back to the huddle. It was a proud moment for me.”