Panthers “blessed” with Taylor Moton’s return, in more ways than one

But with Moton back, there’s time, because he resumed the kind of steady play he’s been known for. Canales said he expected it, but was still impressed with how quickly things stabilized when he returned next to right guard Robert Hunt.

“T-Mo, I mean, just settled right in,” Canales said. “It’s unbelievable, you know, to be able to come in there, play a full game, a lot of reps, to play the quality of football that he did, passing off stunts, handling pressures; he and Rob, like they didn’t skip a beat, like they’ve been working together this whole time, was so impressive.

“I’m not surprised about it, but just really proud of the way Timo was able to come back and help his team. I mean, coming into it, it wasn’t a matter of fitness. It’s just like football fitness, right? And when people are leaning on you, you get the power rushes, the run game, all those things, and it starts to accumulate. That’s always the concern when guys come back when they haven’t played a lot of football, but the strength staff, the training staff, they had him really strong, really fit coming into it, and I was happy he was able to finish the whole game.”

And having the chance to make a choice at some point and continue to develop Freeling with the model of consistency back on the field isn’t bad either.