CHARLOTTE — Panthers running back Rico Dowdle limped off the field at one point last week, but he wasn't going to stay on the sidelines long.

Likewise, Panthers head coach Dave Canales said the NFC's leading rusher missing Wednesday's practice was more about pragmatism with an eye toward Sunday than concern about his availability.

Dowdle did not participate in Wednesday's practice with a quadriceps injury.

"We're counting on him this weekend," Canales said. "And so wanted to make sure that we get him on the right track so he can get out there tomorrow, get some practice reps, and all that. But, as he continues to emerge as an important part of what we're doing, we've got to make sure that we get him to game day he's ready to go, and that'd be the plan."

Canales said that giving him extra time on the front end of the week (Wednesday is the shorter and unpadded version of the week's practices) was designed to get him ready to go.

And keeping him going is clearly the plan.

With his 130 yards and two touchdowns in the win over the Packers, Dowdle now leads the NFC in rushing and is third in the league with 735 yards. His 652 yards since Week 5 (130.4 per game) lead the league during that span.

The Panthers also know they have a reliable second option with Chuba Hubbard (who they know can also get on a hot streak) and rookie Trevor Etienne coming on.

"If it's Chuba rolling out there, I feel great. I feel very confident in him being able to execute the things the way we want them to be done," Canales said. "If it came to that situation, also Trevor Etienne, he's done a great job continuing to grow as a returner and did an excellent job last week in pretty challenging conditions, fielding the ball for us. All that hidden yardage is so important that we take advantage of catching the ball first, and whatever we get on the return is a bonus from there, and he just keeps improving that way, too."

Many happy returns on the offensive line

A constant shuffling of bodies has been the norm for the Panthers' offensive line this season, but on Wednesday, they had more coming back than missing.

Guard Chandler Zavala did not practice after leaving the Packers game in the first quarter. But center Cade Mays was back on the field on Wednesday after missing last week, and right tackle Taylor Moton wasn't even listed on the injury report after he dressed for last week's game in case of emergency only, but played just three snaps on the field goal team. Left guard Damien Lewis was a full participant as well.

Canales said the plan at the moment is to have Austin Corbett return to his natural position of right guard (where he started in the Super Bowl for the Rams, and every game for the Panthers in 2022), with Mays going back to the middle.

He moved to center prior to last season when the Panthers spent $150 million on free agent guards Robert Hunt and Lewis, and started there last week for Mays.

"He made the center move because we asked him to, and has done a fantastic job of being able to give us flexibility inside," Canales said. "It's always so valuable, even Chandler this offseason, we put the ball in his hands and snapped him a bunch just to continue to develop those guys, the inside players who are available on game day. When you have flexibility for a guy to play a guard or center spot, it does help you a lot in those different situations."

Tre'von Moehrig's premonition leads to big play, and big reward

At halftime of Sunday's game, as the Panthers led the Packers 7-6 and Jordan Love had been held to 11-16 for 136 yards through the first half, Canales approached Tre'von Moehrig.

"Just kind of how the first half happened, a couple of opportunities for me just being really close to the ball, and you know came off the field at halftime, and I was feeling it, and coach Canales came up to me and was like, 'You're going to get one this half,'" the safety shared Wednesday.

"And I was like, 'Yeah, I feel it too.' So as soon as it happened, that kind of just went through my head like our exchange, and it was just crazy to have it all come together."

It isn't the first time Moehrig has had a "premonition" when it comes to turnovers. His first was in his third season with the Raiders against the Patriots.

"I told my mom, I said, 'I'm going to get a pick. I said I'm going to find you in the stands, I'm going to throw it to you.

He did get the pick, then had to find his mom.

"I had no clue where my mom was sitting or nothing, but as soon as I looked into the stands, I just saw my mom, and I was like, wow, like I just found her."

After his interception on Sunday, Moehrig returned the ball, celebrated, then looked for Canales.

"He picks the ball off, has a nice return, comes running over, pointing," recalled Canales this week. "It was just like, he's just always he's looking for opportunities to make a big hit, to make a play, really brings an explosiveness to what we're doing on the defensive side.

"He just plays with a real urgency. He loves it. Bottom line, if I could say one thing about Tre, he loves football. He loves to be out there at practice. He loves to be out there during the game."

That explosiveness resulted in five tackles, two for loss, the interception, and two passes defended, which subsequently resulted in being named NFC defensive player of the week. It's the first time a Panthers' safety has earned the award since Roman Harper in 2014.

And what does Moehrig want as a prize?

"A win," he told Nick Scott when his teammate asked the question on Wednesday in the locker room, leading to immediate laughter from Scott, the fellow safety.

"What a team guy," chuckled Scott. "Yeah, just a win for our guy Tre."

Saints' trades change some, but not much, of Panthers' game plans

Rarely in the NFL does a team face the exact team they expected to face week-to-week. Injuries, benchings, or other reasons can lead to different line-ups each Sunday. But when the Saints traded not one, but two of their starting offensive players this week (receiver Rashid Shaheed and offensive lineman Trevor Penning), it inevitably changed some of what New Orleans plans to do on Sunday.

"Yeah, you do have to look at how are they using those players and who might they put in," admitted Canales. "Because you know, basically we're not going to just completely go away from the core of our systems, regardless of who's in there and who's out of there.

"So we try to look through the roster to say who could fill that role in some way, shape, or form. You know, Rashid Shaheed's a fantastic player. He's got a lot of speed down the field. They use him a certain way, with jet sweeps. But they have a lot of other players, so we have to consider that part to say, who might fill that role, and be ready for those adjustments."

The Saints' top receiver is still Chris Olave, who has 55 receptions for 560 yards and three touchdowns. Beyond him and Shaheed, the team has used Brandin Cooks and Devaughn Vele at the receiver position. Whoever steps in, Scott expects most of the big-picture things to stay the same.

"(Shaheed's) a guy that's got a lot of speed," said Scott. "He's a guy that can tear the top off of the defense, a gadget guy, reverses all that stuff. I imagine most teams have a backup that fits that mold. I would expect another number to come in and essentially fill in that spot and do everything he was asked to do.

"So it's still going to be the same offensive coordinator, offense, running back, quarterback, all that stuff. The game plan is probably not going to change too much because he left."

As for those on the defensive line who will be facing a new Saints' left guard, Tershawn Wharton thinks the same sentiment applies.

"They do it (trade him) knowing that somebody could possibly fill the role," said Wharton. "So we just got to focus on us being less and making sure that we understand the scheme and attack the scheme and not worry about the players."

Jim Caldwell keeping things in perspective

Having senior coaching advisor Jim Caldwell around is like having distilled wisdom, as Canales remembered when he looked at his phone Sunday night after the Packers game.

"Coach Caldwell, hit me up after the game and was like, you know what that win means is that you won five, you didn't win four," Canales said. "So to me it's like that's the next game mentality. Let's go play the next one.

"We have a hungry team that we're facing this week that has to be the focus. This group, I can feel the confidence as we grow because of the understanding of what we're doing, the speed of play, the communication and the trust. Those are the things that I'm looking for to gauge, And really like. As far as just making any statements it's like that was one game we have to go and replicate that because when we do play and take care of the ball when we take it away from the opponent, limit the explosives and play really good on special teams it leads to good results. We have to capture those things, capture the process that leads to wins and that's the most important part.