The only offense Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales might've taken on Sunday was with what happened on the field during the game, not after it.
On Sunday, the Chicago Bears scorched the Panthers en route to a jaw-dropping 59-37 victory at Bank of America Stadium. The season-opening performance saw the visitors amass a whopping eight touchdowns and 552 yards of offense.
After the game, Carolina Sports Live caught the following video of the post-game exchange between Canales and Bears quarterback Caleb Williams . . .
"Y'all are a great defense man." - Caleb Williams
— Gabe McDonald (@GabeMcDonald_) September 13, 2026
Postgame exchange between the #Bears QB and #Panthers head coach Dave Canales.@CSLonQCN | #NFL pic.twitter.com/GC8wdRPVJt
Many folks over on Twitter/X perceived Williams' comments
as a troll job, seeing as though Carolina's defense was far from great in Week 1. But when asked about the situation on Monday, Canales dismissed any talk of disrespect.
"To me, it was just a common post-game humility," he told reporters. "It was the same thing from my exchange with Ben Johnson. It's Caleb just talking about preparing for the guys that we had and all that, the type of defense that we were able to play down the stretch last season. He was aware of it. They took advantage of things and they executed better than we did.
"So I didn't take that as a dig at all. I thought it was a good kid just being respectful and just kinda making a comment about just, 'Hey, we prepared and you guys played hard.' And he didn't have to say it, 'We played better today.'"
Williams completed 21 of his 29 throws for 269 yards and two touchdowns. He also accounted for 65 of Chicago's 291 rushing yards while running in two more scores.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers HC Dave Canales rejects idea that Bears QB Caleb Williams trolled him in post-game exchange
