CHARLOTTE — The Panthers brought Rico Dowdle here for a reason, and that begins on Sunday.

The Panthers will start Dowdle at running back, with Chuba Hubbard out this week with a calf injury.

Dowdle ran for 1,079 yards last year for the Cowboys, and added another 249 yards receiving, so he brings a near-equivalent kind of production to the game, and they're confident they can maintain the same kind of plan.

Dowdle has 103 yards from scrimmage in four games backing up Hubbard and getting around a third of the reps, and scored his first touchdown as a Panther here two weeks against the Falcons. Trevor Etienne will back him up, and they also added DeeJay Dallas to the active roster this week.

"Just expecting him just like always, go in there, run the runs we call, and run with the type of intensity and energy I know that he can," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Friday after practice. "So we're counting on him, counting on Trevor Etienne to get in there and get his share of the action as well."

Hubbard didn't practice all week, but Canales said he considered his starting running back "day-to-day."

"We just couldn't get Chuba around quickly enough to feel confident to put him out there," Canales said. "So we thought this would be a good week to get him back to strength, back to health. We'll keep working on it through the weekend and then take a look back at him early next week.

"Knowing Chuba, the way that he works, the way that he attacks, just getting back out there to full strength, I would expect him just to, ... we'll evaluate him day-to-day next week."

More targets for passing game coming soon

Canales said Friday there was a chance that tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders could be ready next week for the Cowboys game.

Sanders was among the four players ruled out this week, but Canales is hoping he's back sooner rather than later.

"He's progressing, but again we call him week to week right now because of the nature of the ankle injury," Canales said. "So we're just bringing him, pushing him, seeing what he can handle on a daily basis, and then kind of taking that information. We did not feel like he was ready to get back into the action this week, so we'll reevaluate him early next week and hoping he can come back for Dallas."

Canales said he also expected Jalen Coker (quadriceps) back soon, and that they planned to open his 21-day window to practice next week.

"Coker is doing great," Canales said. "His rehab is going excellent. He's hitting some top speeds. Now it's about capacity. It's about conditioning. It's about playing football and how many plays in a row can we count on him out there.

"So that's the part that we're going to be able to open up his window and test him to see what he can do."

The plan for Jimmy Horn Jr.

Rookie receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. will be active for his first pro game this Sunday. The speedster has been polishing his game during practice weeks, preparing for the transition to NFL speed and taking on snaps in the absence of David Moore (elbow), who went to IR on Tuesday.

"Jimmy will definitely be a part of our rotation," Canales shared Friday, previewing how the Colorado product will factor in against the Dolphins. "We're asking him to go out there and play, we're counting on him to play his roles when he gets in there."

Horn had limited reps in the preseason, but brought in six receptions on seven targets for 29 yards. As he has delved deeper into the offense, Canales has seen progress. Now he'll get a chance to show that work on Sunday.

"This is the reason he's here, this developmental part of knowing that these opportunities come up and this isn't the way that we would all love to see this happen with D-Mo getting injured, but opportunities come in a bunch of different ways, and here we are, and I'm excited for Jimmy to get out there," Canales said Wednesday.

The pass-catching corps will also return Xavier Legette this week, after two games missed due to a hamstring injury.

"Xavier had a great week," Canales said on Friday. "Spirits are up, body feels good. Another great day today, so I'm excited for him to get back in there and contribute the way that he was."

No Tyreek, but still preparing for speed

The Dolphins might not have Tyreek Hill on the field Sunday, after the receiver left Monday night's game with a knee injury. But Canales promised the Panthers are still preparing for lots of speed on the field Sunday. That's the nature of Mike McDaniel's offense, Canales said.

"I would assume the attack's going to be very similar," Canales said of the Dolphins sans Hill.

Hill had six receptions for 67 yards on Monday night before leaving the game with the knee injury. The rest of the pass-catching corps brought in 11 receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns (both tight end Darren Waller).

"Mike McDaniels has done a great job for years now, stressing the defense horizontally and vertically with different things. They still have some really fast players out there that they can use in different ways, versatile players, you know, they just got Darren Waller back.

"So, I would assume that the attack can be very similar, with some pieces being moved around in different spots, and that's the way we just have to approach it. What have they put on film and what are we preparing for?"