CHARLOTTE — There's no place like home. And after a week on the road taking a hard loss, the Panthers will return to the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium this weekend for only their second home game of the season.

"We love being at home," expressed coach Dave Canales on Friday. "We love being in front of our fans, the Panthers fans here in Bank of America Stadium. This is where we do all of our work, our practices, our meetings, all those things, and it's a place that we love, so it feels good to be able to be at home for two weeks here."

Carolina's one win on the season came during their solo home game thus far, and they're hoping to continue that streak on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins. Both teams are 1-3; the Dolphins are coming off their first win of the season on a short week, having defeated the Jets on Monday Night Football, and the Panthers, after a week of self-evaluation, are hoping not to repeat the mistakes that occurred in New England.

"We're looking for the execution and communication to continue to build our football the right way," said Canales.

With that in mind, here are five things to watch as the Panthers take on the Dolphins.

How does offense look with Legette back

Wideout Xavier Legette should be back on the field Sunday for the first time since Week 2. The second-year receiver suffered a hamstring injury in Wednesday's practice ahead of the Falcons game and missed a string of practices. Legette has been back in practice this week, with the expectation that he will return to the lineup against the Dolphins.

"I want to prove to the fans and all that whoever, whoever the doubters is out there, whoever think I ain't it," admitted Legette on Wednesday. "I think it's more so, they're just waiting for me to show them. That's what I think. Because for folks who say I ain't a good player. I mean, that's, I feel like that's way out of sight."

Legette had limited production in his first two weeks, bringing in only four receptions for 8 yards. Coaches and teammates threw their support behind the former first-rounder this week, praising his work not only to get back on the field but also to bring back an element to this offense that could open things up.

"I think one thing, you look at X and he's an explosive athlete and the biggest, one of the biggest missing pieces of our offense right now, if you just look at the stats, is the explosive plays," explained offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.

To Idzik's point, Young and receivers have connected three times on 16 on passes in which the ball traveled 16 or more yards in the air. There have been two plays that were catch-and-go, when the ball traveled 15 or fewer yards in the air, but was taken for an explosive play, including the longest play of the season so far, a 40-yarder to Tetairoa McMillan. Essentially, the game plan for such plays has been in place, but the rotation of receivers due to injuries, and teams starting to roll coverage towards McMillan, have limited those plays from being as effective.

Simply having someone with the ability to stretch the field and test the defense should provide more breathing room, according to Idzik.

"So, when you have an explosive athlete out there like Xavier, you know, like Jimmy Horn Jr.'s going to get a chance this week to run around and provide some speed on the field, or you're just making plays down the field, like TMac does that, expands the coverage, gives us more favorable looks for the running backs in the box, so it really all ties in together.

"And Xavier is a huge part of that. When he's playing fast, he threatens the defense, he forces the coverage to back up, and that opens up a lot of lanes both in the pass game and the run game."

Stopping Darren Waller

Darren Waller has played in only one game since January 7, 2024, but he made it count. The veteran tight end, after coming out of retirement and rehabbing a hip injury, had four targets in his debut on Monday night. The result? Three receptions for 27 yards and two touchdowns.

"Watching his New York film to now, you wouldn't even know that he's like he's an older guy or that he took a year off," linebacker Trevin Wallace said this week, while previewing the 33-year-old Waller.

"He moves like he's 19, 20 (years old). So it's a lot of respect. We have a lot of respect for his game. He's well respected around here, so that's somebody we have to key on too because he's good in the passing game and the blocking game.

"He (uses) everything. I think when people look at him, it's like, 'Oh, he's big,' but he's in that category of a fast tight end. He's big and strong; he can use his size against you. He's a vet, so he knows how to run routes, and he knows leverage. He knows everything about the game, so that's one thing you have your eye on is his vet IQ and IQ of the game."

Since Waller sat out the 2024 season and his last game was with the New York Giants, game planning becomes interesting. The Panthers at least have an advantage the Jets did not, in that there is tape to study of Waller within this Dolphins offense. But the defense is also scanning back over tape from the Pro Bowler's time with the Giants, and how he has played against similar schemes as the Panthers' in the past.

"Coach McDaniels has history obviously with high-caliber tight ends," noted defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. "They had Jonnu Smith last year. They had (George) Kittle when he was with, his time with the Niners, and so he's very versed in how to deploy those guys. And so we understand that.

"And, yeah, I think with any player you're always looking back for your individual studies, whoever is matched up on him, how did this guy run his routes, what are the keys and tells that we may gain from just watching his individual cuts and so yeah, we'll certainly go back to his previous stops and just kind of get more of a sense of him as an individual player."

Can defense slow down Miami?

Waller is an important aspect of this Dolphins offense, but that entire side of the ball for Miami is raring to go with speed. In theory, some of it will be lost now that Tyreek Hill is out for the year—"It's still a lot of speed, but Tyreek a different speed," admitted corner Jaycee Horn—but the combination of Jaylen Waddle, Malik Washington, and even running back De'Von Achane as a pass-catcher has ensured McDaniel's fast offense can still click along.

"Their offense is built on speed. That's been a thing since Coach McDaniel got over there, so they definitely still got capable players," said Horn.

The Dolphins, as a team, are tied for the fourth-highest top speed average across the NFL, according to Next Gen Stats. Speed starts before the ball is snapped, when players get a running start on motion, and slow down the defense with window dressing that causes second-guessing. According to Next Gen, the Dolphins have motioned at a league-high rate of 77.9 percent his season.

Furthermore, under McDaniel, Miami has posted the highest motion rate in the NFL in three of his four seasons as head coach. The Dolphins' motion rate climbs even higher to 88.5 percent on designed runs this season, which ranks first in the league. That motion rate on designed runs would be the highest recorded since at least 2018.

Motion also allows an offense to attack the edges, an area that Horn knows could seem susceptible after the Patriots took advantage.

"Our run defense been solid, inside the tackles," said Horn. "I think teams going to try to attack us on the perimeter more, you know, do the New England game, because they had success with it."

So how do you combat speed?

"All of it," explained Horn. "(Defensive) speed, technique, good pass rush, physicality, that eliminates a lot of speed. They slow down if you're being physical all game. So, yeah, we're going to, we got to be ready."

Rico Dowdle's increased snaps

The Panthers' run game will look a little different this week. Starting back, Chuba Hubbard is officially out with a calf injury after not practicing all week. Canales told reporters on Friday they just couldn't get the 1,000-yard rusher back to a point where they were comfortable letting him practice, much less play, but they hope to see him back on the practice field next week.

"We just couldn't get Chuba around quickly enough to feel confident to put him out there," Canales explained. "So we thought this would be a good week to get him back to strength, back to health. We'll keep working on through the weekend and then take a look back at him early next week.

In the meantime, the Panthers will turn to their other 1,000-yard back, Rico Dowdle. The two have split reps during the first four games, typically trading out on third down in each other's respective drives, as well as trading off who starts a drive every couple of possessions.

Now it will be Dowdle starting, with rookie Trevor Etienne providing respite. Canales said he expects a similar distribution of snaps between Dowdle and Etienne as Dowdle and Hubbard were sharing. Practice squad rusher DeeJay Dallas was also elevated this past week to provide depth.

"Rico, just expecting him, just like always, go in there, run the runs we call, and run with the type of intensity and energy I know that he can," Canales said.

For Dowdle, the longtime Cowboy, it's a chance once again to show who he can be as a lead back.

"Just making the most of the opportunity, that's going to be the main thing," said Dowdle this week. "Doing what I can do to help the team find a way to get to 2-3, so definitely take advantage of the opportunity, and looking forward to it."

The Dolphins' defense has given up an average of 158 rushing yards per game, the third-most in the league through four weeks.

Ryan Fitzgerald bouncing back

Panthers' rookie kicker Ryan Fitzgerald was perfect through three weeks, going 5-of-5 on field goals and 5-of-5 on points after, as well as holding opponents to the worst starting field position thanks to his knuckleball kickoffs. After the Patriots' loss, those stats took a hit.

Fitzgerald and the Carolina special teams unit are still near the top in opponents' average starting field position. They are second in average return yards allowed in that category as well, only giving up 17.3 yards a return, just behind the Los Angeles Rams, who allow 16.5 yards. The next closest team, the Eagles, is allowing an average of 21.4 yards per return.

Where Fitzgerald's game took a bigger hit was against the goalpost. He doinked a PAT attempt and missed a 53-yard field goal attempt.

But the rookie in his fourth game, playing an infamously mental position, never wavered on the sideline. That is why special teams coordinator Tracy Smith hasn't lost any confidence in his young kicker.

"I thought he handled it well," said Smith of Fitzgerald, not faltering during the game.

"He's come back this week and hit great in practice, and we're going to get a set in the stadium here—because we have a home game coming up today—after our practice. He's a worker, and he's going to get back at it.

"So, I had no problem with his game day demeanor or his confidence going forward. So, we'll just stay with the process and try to get him as good as he can get."