CHARLOTTE — After watching film of Sunday's 17-7 loss to the Saints, the first takeaway was obvious — the Panthers couldn't force the ball downfield effectively enough to back New Orleans out of a game plan designed to stop the run.

And for Panthers head coach Dave Canales, the response is equally clear.

After quarterback Bryce Young threw for just 124 yards and completed just one pass longer than 15 yards, getting the ball downfield is something they're going to emphasize this week.

And that means in film study, in practice, and in play-calling — with the emphasis on the entire process rather than just one person.

"In general, I think it's a group effort," Canales said. "Calling more of them, yes, let's get some more opportunities, we would love to have those explosive plays come alive. I will call them more when we have more success and those things come alive for us, but we have to keep working together. We have to keep taking those shots in practice to make sure we feel comfortable with them, and certainly for Brad (Idzik) and I, just looking at the pass game, the coverage contours, and what they're giving us, it's pretty simple when they're playing single-high (safety) and everyone's at the line of scrimmage.

"We've got to make the most of those opportunities when we have them, so that we are a balanced offense and so it does play off of the run game, which we got going. But now, let's get the pass game going so we really can be attacking."

The kind of complementary football that carried them through the wins in Green Bay and New York was not evident Sunday at home, when the Saints dared them to pass by taking away Rico (who was held to 53 yards), and they couldn't capitalize.

In nine games this season, Young is averaging 5.6 yards per pass attempt, lower than his 6.6 yards per attempt in the second half of last year, when there was a deliberate effort to move the ball downfield when he re-entered the starting lineup.

Tetairoa McMillan saw "fire" from Bryce Young postgame

Young was clearly in a mood after Sunday's loss, walking into the interview room, and answering questions before some of them were all the way asked. It was obvious he was upset, and his teammates saw that too.

Rookie wideout Tetairoa McMillan said Young talked to the team after the loss, and it was clear by his tone that what they put out there was not good enough.

"He addressed the team," McMillan said. "I feel like he was probably one of those guys that came out of the game with the most fire in his eyes. He was disappointed himself in the way he played and the way the team played, and he addressed that and he let the team know how he felt, and, you know, it's just contagious."

Young's done this a few times in his career, but he strives to keep things on an even keel.

Sunday, he was among the players raising their hands of accountability, along with cornerback Jaycee.

Panthers to reevaluate Victory Monday after Saints' loss

Losses open the door to a lot of self-reflection. After the Panthers dropped a divisional matchup at home to a team that was 1-8 coming into the day, Canales is doing a lot of reflecting. One of the things he made sure to note on Monday after the game was the Victory Monday from the previous week, and how it might have led to a lack of urgency during practice leading up to the Saints' game.

"Could be the game before, the travel, you know, maybe it was the Victory Monday, and maybe that's not a good strategy for us," Canales said.

The Panthers took a Victory Monday for the first time this season, following their Week 9 upset win over the Green Bay Packers. Given their late bye (Week 14), the travel, and the physical game, Canales told his players in the locker room after that game that they would get Monday off last week, a well-earned Victory Monday.

Canales told reporters last week that a good number of players still came into the building for work or self-called film sessions. But there wasn't an organizational structure to the day off. It somewhat mirrored the previous Monday, following the Week 8 loss to the Bills, in which the day was much lighter, but Canales still met with the leadership council to conduct a self-scout and discuss what came next.

The Panthers have held the latter sort of Monday twice now, after every four weeks, meaning after the Week 4 loss to the Patriots and the Bills game. Each time, they responded with a win the following week.

Now it's about finding the balance necessary to ensure guys still have time to reset mentally, without allowing too much of a lag that drags over into the week and the game.

"Giving the guys a little bit of chance to pour a little bit back into the cup," Canales said of the objective. "It's not just a physical thing, it's a mental and emotional thing where you allow the guys to have a little space to recuperate and be ready and focused to come back to work.

"And we have to make sure that we show that we have the ability to handle that."

Leaders stepping up to establish passing game

As the Panthers look to push the ball downfield more with a young group of receivers, they are taking extra time in practice with their quarterback and leaning on two veterans who haven't been on the field.

"We got a great group of veteran guys on the offensive side, they're really supportive," Canales promised. "They're all working hard, and there are people— David Moore is still hanging out, you know, Hunter Renfrow's been amazing just in terms of talking to the guys, having conversations.

"And then Bryce just bringing the guys together, working on the side during the defensive period. We're doing all the right things. I expect we'll see the results because of the work. I believe that the work leads to good results."

Moore has been sidelined with an elbow injury since Week 4, when he was injured on the opening drive against the Patriots. Renfrow has been a scratch since Week 4. Both are respectful of their place as the veteran voice and leader in a unit that has primarily played rookie and second-year receivers for most of the season (Brycen Tremayne has been in the league for three seasons now, but this is his first regular-season action).

For Moore, who has been a part of this offense since being drafted by Seattle in 2017, it's been about crafting a receiving corps that can grow, even if he's not out there, and find success so that when he is back, there's nothing that has been lost.

"Just trying to stay down with you guys, you know, stay connected with all of them as much as I can," Moore said Monday. "Let them know what I see, give them feedback on what I feel would help them if they did this or did that, or if they saw this or saw that, showing up every day and interacting with them. Letting them know that I'm still here as long as they need me in any way, friend, brother, teammate, anything."

Moore is on injured reserve, meaning he can't travel with the team. But he watches the game from home, taking notes of what he wants to share with his teammates when they return. And during home games, he's on the sideline, coaching in between plays.

"Away games, I'm not able to be there, so it kind of sucks," Moore said. "I watch the receivers, and I come back and let them know like 'Hey bro, y'all did good or y'all could have done this.'

"Just keep taking it game after game, you know, it'll happen for us, we'll have a big receiver game coming up. I know it."

More quarterback help coming

Canales said the team was expecting to bring another quarterback back this week, so they'd have three.

They released Hendon Hooker from the practice squad last week, and on Saturday, they released veteran Mike White from the active roster to make room for defensive end Jared Harrison-Hunte to sign from the practice squad.

"We'll bring one of those guys back," Canales said.

As players went through the locker room after meetings, White's 16 practice jersey was still hanging in the locker between Young and Andy Dalton.