CHARLOTTE — When Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is asked about a disappointing performance by the team's offense in the opener, he answers fairly matter-of-factly.

"I mean, obviously, last week didn't go the way we wanted to, but you know, I think it was really a lot of small things," Hubbard said Thursday. "And the small things mean a lot in the grand scheme of a game, so I think we just clean up those things and we'll see a lot of things happen."

And if anyone would know about the small things, it's Chuba Hubbard.

He's become the local sensei of doing the small things correctly, and as time passes, he's gaining disciples.

Hubbard might not have a captain's patch on his jersey, but he's absolutely a leader here because of the way he does his business. When he was a rookie struggling to catch passes, he took up a Jugs machine habit. Now, he's out there every day after practice, and every game day at least three hours before kickoff. He goes through a lengthy pre-practice routine every day, from getting his body ready, to catching extra passes with special gogles that force him to concentrate. That takes a lot of time. But time? He's willing to put in time.

And if you want to beat Chuba Hubbard to practice, you'd better be prepared to commit to it.

Last week, undrafted rookie cornerback Corey Thornton, who has been here long enough to figure out what's up, was jogging to the practice field over an hour before that day's practice was scheduled to start. He was looking over his shoulder for a golf cart to get him there sooner, even though rookies aren't allowed on carts per local custom, at the risk of a fine.

But he had a mission.

Moments after he hit the grass, there came Hubbard, delivered on a golf cart ride he earned years ago.

"I got you," Thornton laughed with a huge smile when Hubbard came past, the undrafted rookie sneaking in just before the veteran to the practice field for the honor of being the first man out.

"Just watching him, you know, he stays late," Thornton said. "He's consistent. When he gets there to practice, he's going all out, every play, is not taking off one play, and that's something I want to take into my game, you feel me? Like, don't take one. Every play like I'm going to 100.

"The first time I told him I wanted to beat him, he just looked at me and said, 'Never.'"

But Thornton did get him, at least that one time. Since that day, Hubbard has had a new custom. The Panthers have a 45-minute window between their walkthrough and practice, and players usually duck in, cool off for a moment, or maybe grab something to eat, change into their pads, and wait until they head back out.

Hubbard's started carrying his pads out, and just staying now, while everyone else including Thornton goes in. He's determined not to lose.

"He's different," Thornton said, admiringly. "He's not going to let anybody get him again."

That's a story about Chuba Hubbard showing up early for practice, but also why they trust him, and why it's no surprise he was the one to get them into the end zone last week.

Getting a touchdown to cut it to a two-score game in the opener might not be the most important thing, but it's kind of a Chuba Hubbard thing to do.

And that's why they trust him with those reps.

The Panthers signed a 1,000-yard back in Rico Dowdle to back him up this offseason, but Hubbard ended up with two-thirds of the offensive snaps in the opener to Dowdle's third.

They're not committing to any kind of regular split, but offensive coordinator Brad Idzik wants to make sure he's got a fresh Hubbard throughout the year, because that's an important thing to have.

"You'd love to be able to continue to run the ball late into the second half," Idzik said. "I think you'll start to see a balanced attack when you're in four-minute mode and you're up on teams and you're trying to finish games out with running the ball and being physical. So that's when I think you'll see more base-down carries from Rico."

"It's going to pay dividends in the long run, so I do think that that distribution, you feel the emphasis of trying to get Chuba going, trying to let him impose that physical mentality early and often. But then also just keeping a pulse on it as the game goes, he takes a big shot, give a drive to Rico when you need to, knowing we're not going to lose a step as far as the quality of running."

But to Idzik's point, it's that style that Hubbard brings that separates him.

Last year, his overtime game-winner against Arizona was one of the first sparks that created the offseason of hope for the Panthers' offense. They had played the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles well in losses, but then flat-lined a bit against the Cowboys.

The following week against the Cardinals, they needed a lift, and he provided it. He wasn't much in the mood for reminiscing (he's a big day-at-a-time guy like Bryce and others here), but that day was obviously different.

"I mean, obviously winning is a confidence booster," Hubbard said of that stretch. "Obviously, that's why we play the game.

"I can't just say the feeling I had because that was last year, but obviously the way we finished last year was the right way to finish."

So while the Panthers have been dogged by questions about the problems that plagued them last week, from cadences to getting in and out of the huddle, Hubbard has handled all of those the same way. Very matter-of-factly.

"It's just little things," he said.

And Chuba Hubbard is one of the guys they trust to make sure those get handled.