Sidelined by orders to avoid exertion following skin cancer surgery, a restricted Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales adapts his high-energy style while urging fans to prioritize early detection and screenings.
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales was a sort of limited participant at Tuesday's mandatory minicamp practice.
The third-year head coach has been credited with turning around the Panthers, leading the team to an appearance in the wild-card round after winning the NFC South last season.
Canales, 45, was spotted at practice with a bandage on the left side of his nose after undergoing surgery to remove a basal cell carcinoma.
Doctors advised Canales not to run and yell immediately after his surgery, which the head coach said impeded his ability to run Tuesday's practice in the manner he'd like.
"I think there's another level of exertion that we can go to," Canales said, via the Panthers. "I was advised not to run or yell because of my surgery, so pretty much I can't, ... What I do is I run, and I yell.
"There were some moments where I wish we could have given a little bit more effort on both sides chasing the ball down."
The Panthers brought in a group of doctors to screen the coaching staff a few months back, and that's how Canales was diagnosed.
When talking to reporters, Canales urged people to get screened for skin cancer. Even healthy doses of sunscreen aren't 100 percent effective.
"So this is my opportunity to say go get screened," Canales said. "This is something that can be caught and detected early; they took care of it and took care of me, so I'm really appreciative of them.
"My mom had the same thing when she was in her 40s, and so I've been very religious about my sunscreen and 50 to 70 (SPF) nose, ears, and neck, but you can imagine a Southern California kid playing outdoor sports and then getting into coaching. It's just a good reminder, right? Just making sure we don't take these things for granted."
While Tuesday's practice wasn't perfect, he thought the team's effort was above average.
Canales will have plenty of time to recover between mandatory minicamp and training camp. When the pads come on, the head coach should be back to running and yelling.
