CHARLOTTE — There's not a team in the NFL that can walk into camp without its starting tackles for a portion of the regular season and not feel the impact of those absences.

But at least for the Panthers, the news is less bad than it could be, based on a systematic plan put in place this offseason.

With left tackle Ikem Ekwonu still recovering from his torn patellar tendon suffered in the playoffs and Taylor Moton sidelined after doctors found a blood clot in his lung in June, the Panthers will be working with some backup plans when they begin practice on Thursday.

At least they have them.

Signing Rasheed Walker in free agency was a short-term move, but drafting Monroe Freeling in the first round was a long-term play for the team, and one they're fortunate to have now. (As with having second-round defensive tackle Lee Hunter following the injury to Tershawn Wharton, it helps to plan ahead.)

Walker's got three years of starting experience for the Packers at left tackle, a team which happens to have made the playoffs the last three years. He's a different type of left tackle than Ekwonu, more of a pass-protector than a mauler in the run game, but he's certainly a quality starter.

Walker's on a one-year deal, but he said in June that he already feels comfortable here, after getting a lot of work with Bryce Young and the ones during OTAs.

"I just like the unit as a whole, because I feel like it's just a great group of guys," Walker said. "Everyone's on the same page. No one has given me the vibe that they think they're above the team. Everyone, we all understand the task at hand.

"So I feel like when you have that type of bond with your team as an offense, that's important, and that's half the problem, that's half the issue right there. You just have to get your team to be close."

Getting him in when they did allows him to be a valuable safety blanket, since they knew that tackle was something they were looking at adding in the draft, if possible.

And having a player with his experience on the left in a passing offense also allows them, if they choose, to use Freeling on the other side until Moton returns to health.

At Georgia, most of Freeling's playing experience was on the left. He played 747 total snaps in his college career, 739 of them on the left (with one at right tackle and the other seven as an extra blocker/tight end). He only started 18 games and is still very early in his progression, but said he had some familiarity with playing on the right during his college years, at least in practice.

"I was a swing tackle pretty much my first two years, and so I was getting experience at both," Freeling said on draft weekend. "And my sophomore year, I was primarily a swing tackle. Like I was getting in every third series and just kind of switching the middle of the series didn't really matter. So I was getting good experience.

"I probably have like 300 snaps or something at right tackle, and I don't know, 1600 or so on the left. So it's definitely a big difference, but I'm comfortable wherever."

Having a rookie tackle switch sides is a familiar refrain for longtime Panthers fans, and one general manager Dan Morgan's familiar with from his playing days. In 2003, first-round pick Jordan Gross played his first season on the right, since they had still-capable left tackle Todd Steussie on the other side. Gross, as you may recall, settled in to have a Hall of Honor career at left tackle after they went to the Super Bowl his rookie year.

The game has obviously changed since the early 2000s, and playing on the right isn't necessarily easier than playing on the left, but it doesn't carry the same perceived pressure as protecting the quarterback's blind side.

The Panthers also made moves this offseason beyond those two, bringing in veteran backup tackle Stone Forsythe and bringing back versatile lineman Brady Christensen (who was a college left tackle who has started at all five positions in the NFL).

Again, none of this makes it better that Ekwonu and Moton aren't on the field yet and won't be when the regular season starts, though the expectation is that both will be at some point this season.

That absence would be devastating for most teams. But Morgan's emphasis on keeping his lines strong since he's been here has given them a chance to make it work until Moton and Ekwonu return.