CHARLOTTE — Dave Canales isn't burying his head in the sand. After the Panthers 59-37 loss to the Chicago Bears in Week 1, the head coach is well aware there are defensive questions that need answers; hard conversations to be had. And understandably so, considering the Panthers gave up 552 total yards of offense, including 291 yards on the ground.

Before the head coach dove into any small mishaps and glaring omissions, he first quantified the level his guys were playing with; if that was off, everything could be off for weeks to come. Luckily, that wasn't the case.

"After watching the film and lots of conversations this morning, the first thing that stood out to me was when — I always check it against our play style. We played hard, we played with great effort, the guys were together, all those things are true," said Canales on Monday.

The effort being high is a comfort to any coach, but it begets the next question: what then, logistically, went wrong?

"Playing smart, that's where we fell short, and it was about executing our plan," explained Canales. "It was about timely and costly penalties. Certainly, the turnovers- 17 points off of turnovers against a really good team- that's not something that you can do to play the championship football that we need to play."

The turnovers in question were a muffed punt, a fumble, and a turnover on downs. And while 17 points in a 22-point game are significant, the offense also put up 37 points with 478 yards, the kind of performance that will win a lot of matches. So naturally, much of the focus on Monday went back to the defense.

"There were run plays, and there were a couple of pass plays that got out, and that's the communication, that's the connectedness," explained Canales. "In the run game for sure, just making sure that the back isn't entering into the second level of the defense unimpeded. And this is something where, when you look at those point-of-attack plays that safeties have or that corners have out in space, out in the field, well, it gets- all of a sudden, it's an open-field tackling drill.

"We're not fitting things up, and we don't make the backs check their feet and have to bounce something or slow down so that we can all get there in a timely fashion. So that all starts up front. That all starts with the proper fit on tackling."

Added defensive lineman Bobby Brown III, "Players and coaches alike gotta be better. Players can't execute all the time. Coach E (defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero) already told us he didn't get us in the best call all the time, but when we did have the call right, and we felt like we were in good positions, everybody doesn't show up and make the plays that need to be made."

The Bears and Panthers, with a combined 96 points, had the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history, and the final score was a Scorigami. But across the league, Week 1 was a barnburner. According to CBS Sports Research, the average combined points per game in the first 15 games was 53.3 points, the most ever for Week 1.

Longtime Steelers coach Mike Tomlin offered a theory: defenses are allowed to hit less and less during training camp, leading to a lack of proper tackling in the first couple of weeks of the season.

It's a fair point, concurred Canales, but far from the issue on Sunday in Charlotte.

"We try to push the envelope on the physical end of it. I don't think that was our problem. I think the problem was just schematically guys just fitting together to trust the fundamentals, and again, I'm not putting this all on the players. This is also the pressure on the coaches.

"I think coach Tomlin has a fair assessment of just the mode of how things are practiced and all that. And other than doing live tackling, you know, which is why we played our guys in the preseason so they can get a feel for that part, there's definitely something to that."

There won't be wholesale changes on defense right now. Canales has backed the scheme Ejiro Evero has created before, and that won't change. He's been on the other side, coaching against it, and he's seen it come to life down the stretch last season, so he's aware of how it can operate.

"I've seen this scheme work at a high level and I've seen us work in this scheme at a high level," said Canales. "And we need to find that week in and week out. All of us are disappointed with how it played out, but this is the work we have. We come back to it, we look at it, we improve it, and we go right back to work."

He's also confident in the personnel, an area of the defense that received a lot of attention and money this offseason.

"That was one of the things I did share with the team today is, I said, look, I wouldn't have been able to sleep if I felt like we didn't have the pieces that we need right in this room," said the coach, "and a true statement to those guys, but we need to collectively come together and play way better football than that."

The Panthers now turn their attention to the Falcons and another potent rushing attack led by the 2025 leader in scrimmage yards, Bijan Robinson. The questions from Sunday's loss to the Bears lead to answers that can be found this week, promised Canales.

"As we watch the film, as we show the group, we're able to watch and highlight some of the good plays and the talent that's in this locker room, and that's the part where, for me, it's the things that we need to improve, we can improve, and these are fundamental things.

"These are conceptual things that we can do a better job of, and as a coaching staff we have to take responsibility. Not just putting it on the players for execution, but what did our plan look like? Did we have too little? Did we have too much?" posed Canales.

"There are some things that we certainly can do better from an execution standpoint by the players, and then the biggest question that (Evero) and I had to ask each other is what was our plan?

"Was there too much, too little? Let's figure out that part of it, and without really giving a lot of the specifics of that conversation, we had to go down that path to just say, OK, well, we know we can execute better, but why didn't it happen, and that's what we're really focusing on."

Coker in a precautionary boot to start the week

Receiver Jalen Coker rolled his ankle during the first quarter of Sunday's game. He played through it, posting a career-best 138 yards and two touchdowns on eight receptions, becoming the first Panthers receiver since Steve Smith in 2011 to have back-to-back games of 130-plus receiving yards.

A career day was the result of a couple of simple things, according to Coker: "Just catching the ball well, Bryce finding me, just trying to finish the game (after rolling the ankle)."

He said he felt the result of the injury last night and this morning — "it's a rolled ankle. Going to be feeling it." — but he doesn't expect to miss any time. He called the boot on his left foot a precaution

Will Lee willing to take lumps in Week 1

Week 1 is a litmus test for many areas on the team, but none more so than the rookies. The Panthers started a rookie on both sides of the ball, and saw ample participation from three rookies on the defensive side.

Lee Hunter started on the defensive line and played 45 percent of the snaps (defensive linemen rotated all day due to the heat), and Aaron Hall matched him with 45 percent of the defensive snaps. At outside corner, rookie Will Lee III was on the field for 27 snaps (36 percent). When Lee was on the field, Jaycee Horn moved to the slot.

It was a dream fulfilled and a lesson learned in the NFL difference for Lee.

"It really felt like a dream come true, like as a kid you always want to play in the NFL and you want to go out there and really execute, you know, that's the whole main thing," said Lee on Monday. "You want to go out there and show up for your guys and show up for your teammates, and put on for the organization. So, just being out there and being able to play with the guys and my first one, and then to play at that real game tempo, it felt great."

Being a rookie corner, he knew he was going to get picked on. And the Bears did, targeting Lee six times throughout the game. Only Devin Lloyd, who was on the field for 47 more snaps than the rookie, was targeted more. Lee allowed four receptions on those six targets, for 90 yards, the most of any Panthers defender on Sunday. But he was also the only one to register a pass defense and recovered a fumble on the first drive that led to a Panthers touchdown.

"I mean, like who wouldn't," pointed out Lee, of all the times he was targeted. "You got a rookie corner out there, and you want to see what he's capable of and what he can do. As good a quarterback as Caleb Williams is, I expected that. That just leans back on me just having to execute and play our type of football."

There are plenty of things for both Lee and the entire Panthers defense to work on this week. As a group, the unit gave up 552 yards of offense to the Bears.

As for the rookies' impact, this has always been a coaching staff willing to take the lumps of a rookie growing period early on, knowing they'll have to count on them as the season wears on. When Lee walked off the field Sunday afternoon and dove into the film that night, it was with gratitude to be in this position in the first place, and a promise to learn those lessons.

"Just personally speaking on myself, I just feel like I can just execute better," said Lee. "People will say like, oh, that's a rookie. Stuff like that, but I don't want to live under that rookie rock.

"I want to be treated like a vet. I just want to play to the standard of my teammates, so it's really me executing better and playing up to the level of my teammates and how we're coached.

"It feels amazing to get out there early, get the little mess-ups, the little rookie mistakes out of the way. So when Week 8 and 9 come along, you've seen that, and you know what to expect, and you can play it faster and be more confident in your technique.

"So I feel like getting that out of the way and just getting those little bumps in the road early is a good thing for me."