CHARLOTTE — As they head into the second month of the regular season, Panthers head coach Dave Canales acknowledged that they've taken a close look at themselves earlier in the week.

He called it a "combo day" since they spent time talking about themselves as well as the Miami Dolphins, and showing concrete examples of things they're hoping to see more of and less of as they move forward.

"Took Monday as a staff to really evaluate what we're doing, who we're using out there," he began. "Just kind of put our thoughts together, and share that with the players, here's where we're at with our schemes, here's what's working for us, here's what's not working for us, and things we have to improve on."

And while a lot of those things he (reasonably) wants to keep in-house, there were some thematic things he was willing to share, and they center around some of the big mistakes the Panthers have made this year, whether they're early turnovers like in Jacksonville or Arizona, or the punt coverage struggles in New England.

"Yeah, just minimizing the catastrophic plays," Canales said. "We know teams are going to make plays, we know that turnovers happen. But the nature of how they happen, that's the part that we really have to hone in on. We can sit up here, and if we execute properly and a guy makes a great play one-on-one, that's the NFL. There's a lot of great players in the NFL. But it's when we give up free things, when we have turnovers or we give up explosive plays because of lack of communication, or different things like that, or if I call a play at the wrong time and it doesn't fit the coverage or whatever and they have us or the pressure or different things like that.

"In the special teams as well, the big returns, right? We're in position, we have to be able to minimize those big, big plays because that shift happens, and when they do, we have to be resilient enough to just refocus and go out there and execute the next series, understanding that this is the NFL and teams are going to find ways to make plays. Can we stay consistent, can we stay steady, and just return to focus?"

A chance for DeeJay Dallas

The Panthers will get a closer look at running back DeeJay Dallas this week, after his elevation from the practice squad on Wednesday morning. Dallas has been with the team as a practice squad player since late August, and been a vocal part of the unit over the past month.

Injury creates opportunity, so while Chuba Hubbard is dealing with a calf injury, the staff is using the time to feed Dallas with more practice snaps.

"With Chuba—just not knowing if we're going to have him or not, going day to day with him—I thought it was really important that we start to see DeeJay Dallas," explained Canales on Wednesday.

Canales has some famiiarity with Dallas. The running back was originally drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fourth-round of the 2020 NFL draft. During his four years in Seattle (the first three seasons of which were spent with this offensive staff), Dallas accumulated 468 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 112 carries. He then spent 2024 in Arizona, rushing nine times for 49 yards, before reuniting with Canales in Charlotte.

"He's a guy that I really trust as well," continued Canales. "This was an opportunity for me to reward a guy who's been working his butt off in practice. He's been running all this, all the scout team running back deal. He's been excellent in protection in that role as well.

"He's doing all the special teams, he can cover, he can play different spots, he can return. So I just thought a really valuable guy who really stands for what we're about here in terms of just being a team player and have being a high effort guy."

Time is now for inside linebackers

Dave Canales wants to see a lot from his inside linebacker corps, but it all boils down to one trait: urgency.

That's how the coach responded Wednesday when asked what needed to happen in that unit.

"The time is now," he continued. "We have four games under our belt with different packages, playing against different styles of offenses and that's the production and that's the urgency that's being communicated is, guys we need better play here in different spots."

The unit of Christian Rozeboom (28 in four games) and Trevin Wallace (18) is averaging 11.5 tackles between them per game, and are second and third on the team respectively in total tackles, trailing safety Tre'von Moehrig For Wallace in particular, the Falcons win in Week 3 during which he had five tackles, was a good example of what the unit can be when at their best.

Now, Canales and staff just need to see it week after week.

"There's good stuff too and I saw Trevin Wallace, you know, two weeks ago play his best game as a pro," Canales said. "And then he was inconsistent last week (versus the Patriots) and just getting him to settle in there and be big and fast like we know he is; Christian Rozeboom who we're counting on to call the defense and be in there, you know, let's talk, let's execute, and so yeah, there's a lot of urgency communicated to those guys and they're up for the challenge."

Injuries are part of the reality of the NFL

The Panthers are going to start their third different right guard in five games Sunday when Brady Christensen moves into the starting lineup.

He's replacing Chandler Zavala, who went on IR Wednesday morning. Zavala was replacing Pro Bowler Rob, who went on IR during Week 3 after tearing a biceps tendon at Arizona (the same day center Austin suffered a left knee injury, which also put him on IR). When injuries stack up in certain positions, that's always a challenge, and the Panthers have seen that already on the line and at wide receiver.

But Canales remains a glass-half-full guy, so talking about injuries will always get him talking about opportunities for the next player. (And since this week's opponent just lost star receiver Tyreek Hill for the season Monday night, every team knows this kind of thing is just around the corner.)

"We know that it has an effect," Canales said when asked about the impact on a team's play. "I can't think that way, and the players cannot think that way. We trust these guys to execute that go out there. I get excited for the opportunity to find out new information about a player we may not have seen a lot when they get in there. We get to know them more. We get to know how they can help the team. So I always look at it from a positive standpoint of this is an opportunity to come in and help the team.

"We are aware, and we do acknowledge the fact that those are challenges that all of the teams go through, across the league, really. So that also doesn't allow you to have an excuse, because we all experience it, and so we have to just go back to football."