FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Panthers rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan may have raised expectations by going for 100 yards in his second career game.

Whether those expectations are fair or not.

McMillan had four catches for 62 yards in the 42-13 loss to the Patriots Sunday, though he and quarterback Bryce Young missed a few connections deep that could have changed things early in the game.

"I take accountability for that," Young said. "It's on me, I missed some opportunities. We'll watch a film and I'll be better."

Of course, McMillan is still off to an excellent start to his career. At the moment, he's second among rookie receivers with 18 catches for 278 yards, trailing only Tampa Bay's Emeka Egbuka (18 for 282), so it's far too soon to judge that connection too harshly. McMillan led all rookie receivers entering the week.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales referred to the deep ball issues as "near-misses."

"We've got to look at on film and just make sure that they're on the same page," Canales said.

Wide receiver David Moore "week-to-week" with elbow injury

Veteran wideout David Moore left the game after the first play from scrimmage with an elbow injury and did not return.

He left the locker room with his left arm in a sling.

On a 12-yard run on the first play, he was dragged down by Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones, who caught his arm awkwardly as they fell. Moore was immediately carted off the field and threw a thumbs-up in the air as he was driven to the locker room.

Canales said he'd be considered "week-to-week," which is generally what they say when it's going to be several weeks.

"Obviously, we all feel for D-Mo," Young said. "Obviously, what he brings on the field, but in the locker room, everything else. He's such a great energy, just having that veteran presence and just that joy about the ball that he brings every week.

"Obviously, when you see that, that's rough. Unfortunately, that's the sad part of the nature of the game. There are no excuses for anything; things happen, unfortunately. We have to make sure we execute."

That injury was compounded when rookie wideout Dalevon Campbell left in the second quarter and did not return. He was the fifth active receiver on Sunday and played special teams, meaning they had to finish the game with McMillan, Brycen Tremayne, and Hunter Renfrow.

Another shuffle on the offensive line

Starting right guard Chandler Zavala, who was replacing the injured Pro Bowler Robert Hunt left the game in the first half with a knee injury and did not return.

They initially replaced him with guard Brandon Walton, who has been promoted from the practice squad for the last two weeks.

They eventually made the switch to Brady Christensen, and Canales said that was largely because of Christensen's versatility.

With Cade Mays starting, Christensen is the other active center on game days, and there was an element of risk there.

"So we went with Brandon first, to just make sure that Brady was available in case anything else happened at the center position," Canales said. "But we wanted to make sure we came out of this game with Brady having a chance to be out there and play, just kind of looking into the future in the next couple of weeks to see if that's a place where we're gonna really need him."

Milestone for quarterback Andy Dalton

When Andy Dalton entered the game in the first quarter to finish up, he hit rookie tight end Mitchell Evans for his first NFL touchdown.

Dalton has many more than that.

That one was his 254th career touchdown pass, which tied him with Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts for 25th on the all-time touchdown pass list.

Dalton is ahead of a number of Hall of Famers on that list, from Jim Kelly (237) to Steve Young (232) and from Y.A. Tittle (242) to George Blanda (236).

The next spot on the list is occupied by Washington Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen (255).