CHARLOTTE — Nic Scourton can feel a sack coming. It's practically in his hands, and at one point Sunday, the Panthers' outside linebacker thought he had one with a hurry on Falcons' quarterback Michael Penix Jr. Penix was able to get the ball off in time, dirting it for an incompletion, but it meant the rookie Scourton—in his first NFL start—didn't get the sack he was chasing.

"Oh, I'm itching, I'm itching real hard. I'm fiending for it," admitted Scourton on Monday, while recapping the Panthers' 30-0 shutout against the Falcons. "But you know I got to go out there and rush better and maximize my opportunity, so that is what it is."

As he dreamed of the almost and any possible coming sacks, his teammate Princely Umanmielen walked by towards his own locker. Scourton thought for a second before answering, no, Princely hasn't rubbed it in that he already got his first sack last week against Kyler Murray.

"I would," smiled Scourton. "He's better than me."

Scourton might not have picked up the sack this week, but it's only a matter of time. Since the Texas A&M product arrived in the spring, coaches have praised his work ethic and push during practice, knowing it would translate to the games. Ahead of his first start this week, in place of the injured Patrick Jones II (hamstring), Dave Canales saw that attitude again from his second-round pick.

"(He) really just, he works his butt off in practice, and he gives everything he has," said Canales of Scourton. "He's taking the coaching and the principles. And is it perfect? No, but he learns lessons; he continues to stack lessons."

Added Scourton, "I think that's just kind of who I am, you know, I practice hard. You know I work hard too, because I feel like that's where you get better, and that's how it translates. Obviously, I mean it's just, it's a lot, the transition from the NFL to college is a lot, and I mean I'm just trying to keep those same habits and standards that I had in college that made me a good player, so I guess it's kind of always been me."

When Jones returns, Scourton will likely take a step back in terms of play time, but he and Umanmielen have already become heavily involved in the rotation, even with starters Jones and D.J. Wonnum on the field. It's a sign of trust, Canales explained, as young guys such as the pass-rushers, plus safety Lathan Ransom, prove they've earned more and more snaps.

"I can say that, you know, generally for our young group, that they're taking the challenges the right way, they're taking coaching, and it's a trust factor thing," said Canales. "Trust level will continue to grow with these guys as they show us we can count on them to get in there and execute."

It was a full defensive effort, with both old and young, rookies and veterans, who smothered the Falcons' offense on Sunday, never letting them cross the Panthers' 31-yard line.

"That's a great stat, I don't know if that's ever happened to me in my career," admitted Umanmielen. "But as a defense, I think that just shows how hard we've been trying to put this thing together and how hard we worked this week to practice.

"Every third down, like, even though we didn't have any sacks, it was affecting (Penix), like we had a lot of batted throws, forced throws on him because of how much pressure we were getting on him as a unit, as a D-line. Even some of the blitzes, I could just tell like from our third down."

The Panthers' defense felt confident, coming out of both Jacksonville and Arizona in Week 1 and Week 2, that despite the losses in those two weeks, they'd established a foundation on which to build. Sunday was the result of addressing specific issues during the week and seeing it pay off on the field.

"Coach challenged us to start fast, and you know I feel like we did that," said Scourton. "We finished really good the past three weeks, but I think we starting fast, eliminated all those doubts and hard situations at the end of the game, and we won."

Now they have to replicate the performance against the New England Patriots and a quarterback in Drake Maye, who is Top 5 in the league in total passing yards through three games. The key, according to Umanmielen, is simple: keep stacking everything that's gotten them to this point.

"I feel like we can build on every game," said Umanmielen. "But really, to be honest, the way we started, starting fast, I feel like if we start like that every week, we can really be an unstoppable force."