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Monroe Freeling wasnt supposed to be here.
The long and lean offensive lineman is where he belongs at Bank of America Stadium, but hes not in the lineup where the Carolina Panthers projected him to be in April when they spent a mid-first-round pick on him.
With longtime left tackle Ickey Ekwonu sidelined after patellar surgery, Freeling was supposed to battle free-agent addition Rasheed Walker for the starting left tackle job.
Alas, that much-hyped battle will not be taking place this summer.
Instead, Freeling is the handpicked replacement for longtime starting right tackle Taylor Moton, who is recovering from a blood clot in his lung.
The ailment was discovered in June and the Panthers brass was forced to pivot.
So, there are no training wheels for Freeling in his rookie training camp.
Hes playing a different side of the line than he did at the University of Georgia last season during his only campaign as a full-time starter.
But head coach Dave Canales has expressed optimism that he will be up to the task, even if theres a considerable learning curve.
Its 9:45 a.m.
on Tuesday, and Freelings right tackle education is about to kick into overdrive.
The Panthers are donning pads for the first time this summer, and the 21-year-old lineman will finally endure some legitimate contact according to him, for the first time since Jan.
1 from the likes of Jaelan Phillips, Pat Jones and Princely Umanmielen over the next 108 minutes.
Is he ready? How will he handle it? Hes about to find out.
The Charlotte Observer spent the entirety of Tuesdays padded practice studying Freelings every move.
Below is the totality of those observations in uptown.
9:46 a.m.
Freeling walks through the gate separating the teams home stadium from the public walkway that neighbors the squads practice fields.
Its a walk hes taken before, during the offseason program and first week of training camp, so its part of his routine now.
He will take the trek almost daily throughout his rookie season, a locker room-enforced procedure handed down from veterans like Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson from the previous decade in Charlotte.
The rookie walk is a tradition that endures.
And Freeling, dressed in a white practice jersey with pads underneath, walks his way helmet in his left hand to the gates of the practice field.
He stops to sign autographs for a group of fans before heading into the practice field entrance bridge.
9:51 a.m.
Following the brief autograph session, Freeling walks next to the chalk on the perimeter of the sideline to the far right end zone to drop off his helmet before a stretching period.
He greets trainers and injured players near the strength and conditioning area before taking a route to fellow rookie lineman, center Sam Hecht, near the middle of the field.
The two rookies, one selected in the first round and the other selected in the fifth round, shake hands.
Like Freeling, Hecht has an opportunity for early playing time, even if veteran center Luke Fortner has taken the lions share of the reps at their position.
Veteran Brady Christensen, who was re-signed a week before training camp, greets the two youngsters and gets loose while chatting them up.
10:07 a.m.
Stretching period is officially underway.
The entire team is on the left field, which is the one theyll be hosting team drills on this morning.
Freeling is getting loose in the front row to the right with the offense.
Hes warming up between starting tackle Rasheed Walker (on his left) and backup right tackle Stone Forsythe (on his right).
Forsythe, a journeyman tackle who was signed in free agency, has been impressed so far by Freeling.
Hes great, Forsythe said Friday.
Hes just athletic, great hands hes long.
I see why hes a first-rounder.
10:13 a.m.
Stretching is complete.
Freeling jogs with his fellow linemen back to their helmets.
The position group starts individual blocking drills with Freeling taking his reps against undrafted rookie Albert Reese IV and journeyman guard JaTyre Carter.
The right side of the line is working separately from the left side and the centers.
10:22 a.m.
The first snap of installation drills for the offense comes from Fortner.
Freeling is lined up next to veteran Saahdiq Charles, who is filling in for Rob Hunt (back), at right guard.
Left guard Damien Lewis is also sidelined with a calf injury, so 2023 fourth-round pick Chandler Zavala is book-ending Fortner on the other side.
Walker is in his place at left tackle as quarterback Bryce Young leads the offense against air.
10:37 a.m.
Following the reps with the offense as a whole, Freeling heads to the sideline with offensive line coach Joe Gilbert and his fellow linemen.
The big guys are seemingly going over technique and lightly engaging while wide receivers and tight ends face off against cornerbacks and safeties on the right field.
10:42 a.m.
Its time for the first padded 11-on-11 drills of camp.
Freeling takes on defensive end LaBryan Ray early on.
He also gets matched up against Pro Bowl defensive lineman and franchise leader Derrick Brown.
The offense is focused on the run in these early drills, which is typical for the first day of pads, and Freeling is holding his own.
Remember, he hasnt had true football contact since Georgia was eliminated from the college football playoffs 208 days ago.
When you put the pads on, its a different game of football, Freeling said after the workout.
When you put your hands on them, they cant move.
Unfortunately, soon after team drills commence, tight end Mitchell Evans goes down to the ground and is looked over by trainers for several minutes.
Hes eventually helped onto the back of a medical cart and driven off the field with an apparent left ankle injury.
Canales will say after practice that the teams medical staff is optimistic that Evans didnt sustain a major injury, but he will undergo further evaluation.
The Panthers continued team drills as Evans was looked over, and unlike with outside linebacker Nic Scourton (ACL) last week, he wasnt swarmed by teammates before exiting the practice facility.
10:54 a.m.
Evans has left the field and the offensive and defensive lines are about to collide.
Individual trench drills are underway as big free-agent addition Jaelan Phillips lines up across from Freeling.
Phillips zooms toward Freeling who tries to leverage the speedy pass rusher around the stand-in QB, who is part of the support staff.
Following practice, Freeling will admit that Phillips won the 1-on-1 battle, despite Freeling seemingly containing the rush to an extent.
He admits he was late off the ball with his fundamentals.
I like being thrown in the fire, Freeling said later.
I believe youre a product of your environment so, you get thrown in, youre going to have to adapt quickly.
For what its worth, Phillips who faced Freeling all morning, both individually and in team drills had nice things to say about the rookie after practice.
Hes doing great, Phillips said after practice.
Hes really strong definitely works his hands very well.
As a rookie obviously, theres always things to improve.
I think hes getting accustomed to the speed, physicality, the playbook all those different things but (he) is very promising, and I love going against him.
I think that hes going to get me better, Im going to get him better, Phillips said.
And so, yeah, hes looking good.
10:59 a.m.
As the linemen are tussling, its getting heated during 7-on-7 drills on the other side of the field.
Cornerback Mike Jackson and tight end Feleipe Franks are in the middle of a heavy scrum toward the sideline.
Franks loses his helmet as Young and other players try to separate their more aggressive teammates.
Cornerback Akayleb Evans is pushed to the ground as Franks gets restrained by fellow tight end Tommy Tremble.
Jackson eventually tosses Franks helmet into the air.
Its the first day in pads.
Aggression is high.
You go to the line, Canales said about the scrum.
You cant cross it.
11:13 a.m.
Following a brief pause and chat with the offensive tackle group, including Ekwonu and Gilbert, Freeling is back in the mix with another set of team drills.
After a few more runs, the passing offense starts to test coverage.
Phillips pushes Freeling into the pocket on an early pass rep, but Young is able to get the ball out quickly to the point that the pressure doesnt impact the throw.
Soon after, Freeling anchors well on a rep against Phillips as Young hits veteran wideout David Moore on a pass down the field.
After a set of second-team reps, led by backup QB Kenny Pickett, Freeling and the first-team get back to work.
Freeling continues to be competitive with Phillips, despite the veteran pass rushers experience advantage.
Its a good battle.
Freeling understands hes got a lot to work on as he gets used to playing on the right side of the line, but he feels good about how hes performed during the first day of pads.
Hell go back and watch the tape and try to learn from the experience.
Really, I just love playing football, Freeling said.
I think having the team together especially with pads on, playing real football, knowing that the stuff Im doing now actually translates to the game I felt good.
For the most part, Freeling has kept his side of the line clean.
The rookie lineman, who is known for his athleticism, has a strong finish to practice with a quality block of nose tackle Cam Jackson on a run play.
Canales, who has to pay attention to several different areas of the practice field all at once, still needs to see the film from the day before weighing in.
I watched him, off and on, on a couple of plays, and he looked good, Canales said.
He looked stout.
All the things youd expect, but I cant wait to get into the film and really see how it panned out.
11:33 a.m.
The final whistle of practice blows.
The team huddles as the workout wraps.
After the huddle breaks, Freeling is ushered to this Charlotte Observer reporter to chat for roughly two-and-a-half minutes of questions.
This story was originally published July 29, 2026 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Scouting Panthers top pick: How Monroe Freeling attacked first practice in pads.".