CHARLOTTE — All offseason, the Panthers have toiled, adding pieces and making strides in an effort to improve upon last season. Now, it comes to a head, with kickoff against the Jaguars on Sunday in Jacksonville.

There is an intriguing history at play, given the Panthers started their season in Jacksonville in 2003 and 2015, the two years the club made it to the Super Bowl. And while that is a storyline that will linger up until kickoff, this current iteration of the Panthers is focused internally.

"Three great days on the field, great practice and preparation by this group," Dave Canales bragged about his team on Friday. "And excited really to just get out there and play a game, which they all are, you know, I can tell they're just kind of chomping at the bit to get back to football here."

With that in mind, here are five things to watch in Sunday's matchup.

How do the Panthers start this game?

Dave Canales and Bryce Young aren't big on looking back. That's probably especially true when it comes to the first play of last season. The interception on the first scrimmage snap, unfortunately, set the tone for that 2024 opener, so now comes the question: How will the Panthers try to start this season?

Will they come out swinging, trying to throw deep, or with some pizzazz? Or will they lean on the running game that Canales wants to define this offense, and let Chuba Hubbard or Rico Dowdle get the game started?

The logistics of the play and opening drive are something Canales will keep close to his chest, understandably, but there is still a desire for that play to set the bar.

"I think that's always the mentality I think in my dream of all dreams," Canales said. "You just go out there and whether you're on offense or defense, you put your best foot forward."

Not every play goes as planned, though. And when that happens, the head coach doesn't want to see that snowball like it might have in the past: "With the other hand, I also say look, regardless of what happens early, you just go to the next play, you go to the next series, you just keep grinding, you keep battling, you keep pounding as we say. I think that that's gotta be the mentality."

It's a mentality that has to perpetrate the entire season, said Young.

"We take it game by game, no matter what it is, it's the most important game that we have, because it's the next one because it's all we got," Young said. "Our focus is Jacksonville, and we don't have a right to look towards other weeks or down the season. Right now it's all about Jacksonville, so that's our mentality."

Xavier Legette working towards a sophomore jump

Xavier Legette wrapped up his rookie season with highlights, flashes, and promise that showed why the Panthers traded up last April to take the receiver in the first round. But he would also be the first to admit he had a lot of work to do; in fact, he did admit it, several times, particularly in relation to getting on the JUGS machine this summer to cut down on drops, of which he had four, according to Next Gen Stats.

"Oh man, it's always been something I've done, and I don't know why, but I felt like I could take a little breath," Legette told Panthers.com back in late July. "And when you're playing in this game, you can never do that. It's always a way to get better, and that's one of the ways to help with catching. For sure, for sure. In my mind, I'm thinking about ways, things I can do. What can I do to have less drops this coming season in Year 2?

"The whole mindset has changed, man. Trying to do anything I got to. I'm sacrificing a lot of things that I used to do outside of the building to put my work inside the building."

Now, heading into Week 1, with no Adam Thielen (traded), no Jalen Coker (injured reserve), and joined by another young first-rounder ( Tetairoa McMillan), Legette is hoping his summer of work can help the Panthers' offense take a huge step forward

"He's a grinder, sometimes he's a little bit of an overworker," Canales said this week of his receiver. "That's just kind of the way he's wired, but I think it's just the play and play out energy that it requires to be a great receiver.

"If you want to be a great receiver, you got to be available. You got to be out there, play after play, going full speed. We may throw, we may launch you down the field 40 yards, and if that ball isn't complete, you're coming back, and you've got to be ready for the next play. I think he's just really pushed himself to keep his energy and his speed up consistently, and that's what I'm really proud of, is just his willingness to be coached, his willingness to grind."

The tight end snap splits

For two years in a row, Tommy Tremble has been sidelined during training camp; this season, as he recovered from back surgery in May. But the veteran tight end pushed his recovery to be completely clear and off the injury report by Week 1.

He looks great. I mean, as good as I remember, maybe better," Canales said this week. "He looks fast, he looks strong."

By going through the process last year, sidelined with a hamstring, and then coming into the season theoretically cold but still able to produce with 23 receptions for 234 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games (as well as the coolest touchdown of the season in the finale), Tremble knows what it takes to get ready on his own.

"He's got really two exposures now of limited in that first practice last week, coming back today was a little bit more, he's handling the load…he's been locked in mentally the whole time and now it's just a matter of getting his feet underneath him and, just finding those rhythms and being able to block different body types and and those things but I'm excited."

Tremble being sidelined for two camps, though, has given Ja'Tavion Sanders ample reps with the first team. The result, at least last season, was having two first-team-caliber tight ends. Sanders finished with 33 receptions for 342 yards and a touchdown. Now, the Panthers are hoping for not only a repeat, but a step forward with both guys having a year under their belt playing together.

"These guys are like the heart and soul of what we do," pointed out Canales, before launching into a story about watching Thursday Night Football between the Cowboys and Eagles this week with his kids, and explaining why the tight end is so important.

"I was like, 'Yeah, but if you notice every time there's a run play, those guys are involved. When there's a pass protection and play action, those guys are involved, and then in every pass game, they're a part of the concept.'

"Those guys are so valuable, they're so versatile and how we use our tight ends and so I'm just I'm happy to have JT, Tommy ready to go, Mitchell Evans, and then James Mitchell, of course, just showing us what he can offer the team throughout camp, so, it's a really exciting group, a bunch of young guys and, a talented group, and really, I think Pat McPherson does a great job with those guys just prepping them for all those things.

"I think outside of the quarterback position, tight end is probably the hardest, one of the hardest positions to play."

The return of Derrick Brown

One of the most popular talking points this offseason was the return of Derrick Brown. On Sunday, the Panthers finally get to reap the benefits. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle will line up for the first time since Week 1 last season, when he tore his meniscus.

"It's been a long road, that's to say the least," he said. "But just to be able to be healthy now, I'm excited about that, to be honest. I think it's one of those things you take for granted until it happens to you. Now, having to fight back through it, it's been a hell of a ride, but I'm ready to go now.

The last time Brown was on the field for a full season, in 2023, he set a league record for tackles by a defensive lineman, with 103. He was able to practice with his team during training camp, giving a peek into what this defensive line could be now with him, A'Shawn Robinson, Bobby Brown III, and Tershawn Wharton.

"We're excited about the group we have up front right now," defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said this week."Obviously, it starts with Derrick Brown, A'Shawn Robinson, Turk Wharton, Bobby Brown; all of those guys have done a really good job. They've had a really good camp.

"I mean (Derrick is) certainly one of our best players on our team, and so it's definitely great to have him back, and we know that when he's available and he is available now, that he's gonna be a major factor, and so we're excited about that."

And for Brown, the nerves are gone. Now it's just about playing.

"I think that was that was that was day one of camp," Brown said of any anxiousness. "So I mean, just to be able to go out there, got a chance to go down to Houston and compete in the joint practice, I mean, that kind of took all the nerves away."

How much can rookies on defense contribute?

The Panthers invested heavily in their defense this offseason, from free agency to the draft. As for what that looks like in Week 1 is yet to be determined, particularly when it comes to the rookies.

At edge rusher, Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen will play behind D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II, veterans and longtime teammates who can start the push at the outside. At safety, Lathan Ransom is likely to see time, but longtime veteran Nick Scott will most likely get the start, given his institutional knowledge of the defense and ability to ensure everyone in the secondary is in place.

When Scourton is on the field, he's ready to debut some new moves he's worked on this offseason.

"I think in college, I was a bigger end and I didn't use my power and strength enough," explained Scourton. "I think just establishing the power and working off that has been has done wonders for me in my game and just learning how to run, learning how to rush for others, so I think that was one of the biggest things I learned in camp."

And as for Ransom, his teammates are excited to see what he can do when in rotation with Tre'von Moehrig as two big hitters.

"Oh, he's a striker. That's what I call him coming across the middle," Brown said of Moehrig, before adding,"Him and Lathan, to be honest, anything moving across the middle, beware."

The anticipation might not be relative to expectations, though, and coaches are going to be aware of the whiplash rookies might experience in their first game.

"The one thing we've been trying to impress on not just the rookies but everybody in our room," Evero said. "When you kind of start this thing off in the spring, you're kind of building your defense, and then you get to training camp and you're going against the offense, and the speed of the game is obviously picked up. As you get into the preseason games, it gets even faster, and everyone's going because they're competing at a higher level.

"And then the one thing, as soon as you hit that first regular season game, like the speed of the game increases even another level and so that's the one thing that we want everybody to be cognizant of is, that like we've got to be ready to go because whatever you've seen and experienced in the NFL, it's going to be a lot faster on Sunday and so that's what we have to be ready for."