CHARLOTTE — With injuries deciding so many games across the league, the Panthers are in the rare spot of getting healthier in a few spots.

Canales said Monday that the team was opening the practice window for wide receiver Xavier Legette this week, and that cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson and running back Jonathon Brooks were close.

"We're working on that right now," Canales said. "It's getting very exciting with some of the guys that are close, and those are the conversations we're having today, tomorrow, as we have these days to evaluate them to make sure," Canales said. "All just like, going through their processes to see when they're ready to come back. So I'm excited for where they are."

Legette being the closest adds another receiver with speed to the mix, while getting the starting cornerbacks (and one of the most productive duos in the league) back on the field would be an obvious bump after starting a pair of practice squad players last week.

They're also entering the second of three weeks of Brady Christensen's practice window, though they elected not to activate him last week.

Canales said he was encouraged by what he saw from the offensive line without adding the veteran five-position starter. After allowing 11 sacks in the previous two games, they allowed only three to the Broncos, one of the league's best-pressuring teams. (And one of those three was the strip-sack fumble that sealed the game.)

"Feeling good about the group that we put out there," Canales said. "Talking about the offensive line, I thought this was Rasheed Walker's best game. I know he got beat on that last play, and it was a sack fumble, and you guys had a chance to talk to Rasheed afterward, and just, like, so he could tell you better than I could explain it. But what I saw on film was a really good performance by Rasheed, and so we felt good about that group. Monroe Freeling, the whole, the guys inside, Celli (guard Torricelli Simpkins III) stepping in, played physical. So you know, that group that went into the game gave me confidence that this was a group that we could win this game with."

Canales pushing players to be cleaner with penalties after historic day

The 24 hours between a game and the next day provides a lot of time to watch film, reflect on where mistakes popped up, and determine where to go next. That meant Dave Canales spent a lot of time over the last 24 hours watching flags that racked up over 100 yards in penalties.

"We have to be cleaner, certainly with the penalties," Canales said Monday, after Carolina had 13 penalties for 119 yards in a five-point loss to the Broncos. Four of those 13 were defensive pass interference calls.

"We have to make sure that we're technically more sound. Usually these penalties come down to body position at the end of the play and making sure we're in the right spot to finish. But I love the way we challenge them on the outside and play physical."

There were controversial calls that sparked hours of debate, too. Canales said his opinion on the calls didn't change after watching the film. Granted, when it came to a highly debated Denver interception in the end zone off a careening Tommy Tremble play, Canales admitted he had not yet seen a video angle that showed the Broncos throwing a challenge flag on the play before the Panthers snapped the ball on the subsequent play.

"I was told that they confirmed (the challenge flag)," Canales added. "And they do have multiple angles where they kind of show the full view of what's happening beyond what's available to us. So, I take them at their word for that situation."

There were other calls throughout the game that raised hackles at different points, even from quarterback Bryce Young. It's the sort of passion that fuels the kind of players Canales wants his team to be. But he also understands as the coach he can't spend an entire game yelling at officials to no avail, when a conversation will work just as well.

"I'm going to respect the officials. They have a job to do. It's not an easy job. What I like to do is just to maintain — make sure I get their perspective on what happened. And then I offer mine, and I just offer it plainly and tell them, I saw what you saw; here's what I saw from my point of view," explained Canales.

"Or if it's something that wasn't called, then I can give them my perspective and say, 'Hey, will you make sure you keep your eye on this because we believe this or that is happening.' And I just want to have that open flow of communication with the officials."

Ironing out some kinks

Rookie defensive tackle Lee Hunter played just 13 snaps Sunday, but Canales said that was about ironing out some of their processes on the sideline rather than injury.

After changing the defensive coordinator and two other coaches last week, the Panthers are still working through their plans for how to handle traffic flow on the sidelines.

"Yeah, we've got to play Lee more," Canales said. "Again, in the transition, we played a lot more four-down (-lineman) stuff, so he's out there. He's our primary nose in base. We just have to have a better mechanism to be able to get him out there in our four-down stuff so he can affect the game."

The Panthers also got caught with 12 men on the field at one point, which he described as a mechanical problem.

"Todd (Wash) will be up here and tell you first that getting back out there and calling plays and you're on that play clock and they start changing personnel, there's an adjustment," Canales said. "And we worked through some things during the week to try to make sure he was prepared for it, but he settled in nicely, got our guys into comfortable calls where we can play aggressively. Where we can play fast, and that's what happened."