CHARLOTTE — Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble is back to hurdling people, so he obviously feels pretty good.

But sometimes, he said, the best ones are unplanned.

"I'd say it's 50-50," he replied on Wednesday when asked how much conscious preparation goes into leaping over another man.

"Sometimes you try to force it, it doesn't work," he continued. "And sometimes it's just a reactionary thing, and so I feel like the reactionary ones look better on tape."

Being able to adjust on the fly is helpful for the Panthers this week, since starting tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders is not practicing and head coach Dave Canales referred to him as "week-to-week" after leaving last week's game with an ankle injury.

Sanders is second on the team in receptions (11) and receiving yards (92), and he was coming off a productive rookie year when he caught 33 passes for 342 yards and a touchdown. So he'll obviously be missed in the offense, but the fact he's not going on injured reserve suggests they think the week-to-weeks won't be as many as four.

"He looks great," Tremble said of Sanders. "He's in great spirits. He's been nothing but good in our room, too. He's been happy-go-lucky, doing the same thing, keep cheering us on, so he's going to heal up quick."

The Panthers kept four tight ends going into the season, with rookie Mitchell Evans and former Lions tight end James Mitchell joining Tremble in a deeper group.

Having Tremble around helps with the comfort level, since he's the guy who may have caught the most comfortable-looking touchdown quarterback Bryce Young has ever thrown (the no-look job in Atlanta last year).

"We're super deep in that position," Young said. "It's a luxury we have a lot of really good talent at that position, and we have confidence in those guys to do everything, so for us, regardless of what it is that happens, we know we're going to get production from that room."

Mitchell hasn't been active for a game yet, but Evans has gradually increased his role in the offense, and Panthers head coach Dave Canales thinks they can still do all their planned offense.

When they took Evans in the fifth round out of Notre Dame, they saw the potential for an all-around tight end who could grow as a pass-catcher, while his blocking skills were an immediate help.

"Versatility," Canales replied when asked what stood out about Evans. "His ability to help us in the run game as a blocker, his ability to move him around in the pass game in the play action game, just a really well-rounded tight end. Protection-wise, all those things just give us the ability to put him in different spots.

"The reps are kind of evenly distributed throughout, for the last game with JT and with Tommy and with Mitch, so it does give us an ability to be able to roll those guys through and find out how they can help us in different ways."

Mitchell spent three seasons with the Lions, and stood out during training camp and the preseason.

"We kept him here for a reason, did a fantastic job for us in camp preseason," Canales said. "A guy that we really trust who can help us in special teams as well, so, really fired up for James to get an opportunity to come out there and help us."

Of course, Tremble's the known commodity of the bunch.

He was one of four members of the draft class of 2021 to sign second contracts in the last calendar year (along with his BFF Chuba, Jaycee, and Brady), and that familiarity is obviously a benefit in situations like this when you have to adjust. But he missed the end of OTAs and training camp after back surgery in May, and was only activated the week before the start of the regular season.

He admitted it took him a few weeks to feel like himself again, but he's there now.

"A hundred percent, and this is the first time in a long time, so I'm excited to just play football," Tremble said. "It was a little weird just practicing a week and getting back up to speed. I feel like I'm kind of back up to speed now, and that feels a lot better, especially a few weeks into the season.

"I think maybe that second week when I finally got my quick twitch back, that kind of felt like I'm back in football shape."

He better be, because as is customary at his position, they have to be ready to adjust in a hurry.