CHARLOTTE — As players filtered into the team meeting room Monday morning, returning from an appreciated early bye week, Dave Canales knew he couldn't ignore the games that happened yesterday. With a week off, it was likely his guys had watched games, or at the very least, seen the results at some point.

And with the wild slate of games that happened on an incredibly long day of Sunday football in Week 5, the Panthers found themselves sitting alone atop the NFC South division after the first quarter of the season. With the Falcons losing to the Ravens, and the Saints falling to the Vikings on Sunday, the Panthers are 2-2 with the only undefeated record in the  division (the Bucs have not yet played a divisional game, and the Falcons beat the Saints in addition to losing to the Panthers).

So, while outside noise can be distracting, Canales also knew he had to address it, if for no other reason than to point out the opportunity ahead.

"That was something we addressed," shared the coach Monday afternoon. "The goal of our whole group is to win the division, is to win the NFC South. That's a collective vision, a collective thing we're striving to. Let's win the first championship first.

"It's playing out really nicely," he shrugged, before going on to point out, at the risk of becoming complacent, it can have no impact on how they perform.

"We have to get back to the basics. We have to find consistency in our run game on the offensive side. Defensively speaking, making sure that we're able to corral the quarterback and contain it in our rush. We're getting great pressure. Let's make sure that it stays that way and we re-contain that way.

"Some communication things with the coverage units and all that, continuing to build our blitz packages, all these things that we've been talking about improving, that's got to be the focal point. And so while those things play out yesterday, we're fired up about that, but it's going to be about us preparing the right way for the Eagles this week."

Focusing on those things is how the Panthers spent the first half of the bye week. The off time is usually an opportunity to self-scout, and Canales told reporters last week that his staff was going to evaluate what they thought would work coming into the season and how it's played, to see if their focus might need to shift.

On Monday, he shared that focus led all of their conversations.

"A great bye week, time of connection early on in the week being able to talk to the coordinators," said Canales. "And the goal is 'What are we doing well, what needs improvement?' just diving into some of those things and trying to find an edge, whatever that might be for us."

The bye week is also a time for rest, relaxation, and for many guys, a chance to connect with family. Robert Hunt took that to the next level and got married over the off weekend.

"Big congrats to Robert Hunt getting married this weekend," said Canales. "That's all public news, so the guys were fired up about that today in the team meeting.

"But this week has been about connection; this week has been about, let's just put our heads together and let's find a way to find this consistency that we're looking for."

Happy returns after the bye week

As he alluded to last week, Canales said that the plan was to activate running back Trevor Etienne from injured reserve this week.

The team will also open the practice windows for Taylor Moton and Tershawn Wharton, giving them three weeks to practice in advance of a potential return.

With Etienne, there's an immediate opening to fill in the return game, as they used five different kick returners and three punt returners in the first four games.

Moton and Wharton will certainly help, whenever they're ready.

"The window starts to open up for these guys; I'm really excited. They're excited to get back out there," Canales said. "We've got to get them some football to kind of be able to evaluate their availability in the next couple of weeks."

Moton's return will be welcome whenever he's back, considering he's been one of the team's best and most consistent players since he was drafted in the second round in 2017.

But with rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling suffering a knee injury in last Sunday's win over the Lions, there's an added wrinkle to this story.

"I mean it's timely certainly, and Monroe's doing everything he can to make himself available for this week," Canales said. "Again, we'll take, we'll go through that process, and of course T-Mo hasn't seen football; he looks in great shape, he's ready to go, he's been cleared medically, but now it's going to be about the football, and that's what this week is about."

In addition to Freeling, they'll be monitoring the conditions of starting outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips and wide receiver Jalen Coker, among others.

The team will practice tomorrow, as they bumped up the first practice day of the week after the bye, and then the players will have Wednesday off.

Panthers can learn from their defense ahead of Eagles

NFL coaching trees have roots and branches across the league. Schemes mimic one another because coaches draw from the same pool, then add their own tweaks and nuances.

This week, the Panthers will face a defense that looks remarkably similar, since Carolina defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero learned under the tutelage of Eagles DC Vic Fangio. It helps in-game, Canales explained, to understand the concepts of what the Eagles might be doing since his guys see it in practice every day.

"Yeah, absolutely, it helps the whole group being able to know how different techniques are played at every level up front by the linebackers and certainly in the secondary. What leverages they like to play to and what things might look like right before the snap," Canales explained.

It will also help the offense create a game plan throughout the week.

"Then, of course, just going through a full self-scout to see how our defense functions, to see how teams try to attack us," said the coach. "There were some really good conversations that carry over and do help the initial part of the game plan."