CHARLOTTE — There are certain words and phrases that Dave Canales says a lot, his code words, those things he goes back to when he is trying to emphasize a point.

And one of those is "championship opportunity."

So now that the Panthers are actually in one, it's no surprise that's the message. But as he watched them on Wednesday, he saw a group of people living out those words.

"It's a focus, it's a seriousness, and we have fun; we really enjoy being around each other here, and the energy is right," Canales said. "But then there's also just like the subtle social cues where I can see this guy's locked in, and this guy's like . . . I can feel that.

"And every game should feel that way, but I don't want to certainly ignore the game that we have in front of us, and I don't have to oversell the fact that this is a championship moment for the guys."

The Panthers can't clinch a playoff berth this week, or be eliminated, but they can take a significant step in that direction Sunday against the Buccaneers.

With a win this week, the Panthers can win the NFC South with another win over the Bucs in Week 18, or based on combinations of results involving the Week 17 game against the Seahawks and Tampa Bay's game at Miami. (You can read the full breakdown of the playoff possibilities here.)

But on Wednesday, the Panthers were having a walk-through, a slower-paced practice that doesn't involve pads or hitting or the normal things that get guys' attention. And even in that environment, quarterback Bryce Young said he could tell guys got the message.

"We have a group of guys that are doing a great job with being focused and being motivated," Young said. "You know, walk-throughs I think are always a really good especially a Wednesday walk-through you're kind of back after the day off and a little bit of time away from being on the field together. And again, it's a walk-through tempo, so I think kind of in between the huddle, seeing how quickly guys get back, hearing what the conversation is, is it all on topic, are all the guys that are standing behind getting in there, how focused is everyone. And I'm super grateful and super proud of this team. We do a really good job of that, of being focused.

"I thought it was a good day today, but you know it's Wednesday, so we have to continue to be consistent, have to build. I have to go back after this and watch the film, get ready to grow from it, and then have a good Thursday tomorrow."

That sounds like a cliché, and it is. But safety Tre'von Moehrig laughed and said that clichés become clichés by being true.

"I think once your mental goes there you can get all thrown out of whack," Moehrig said of the distractions that come with playoff chances. "I think for me, and a lot of these guys I speak for, it is one day at a time. I know that's a cliché answer, but I think that's the biggest thing, just one day at a time and winning each day, and when we get to Sunday, executing and winning the game, right?

"I think that just narrows down the focus, you know what I'm saying? I think if you think too far down the road, I think your focus is kind of everywhere. And if we just hit it one day at a time, one game at a time, you're locked in on what the job is, and that makes it easier going down the road."

Coming days after Canales mentioned the defense looking "disjointed" and lacking in the proper communication in last week's loss to the Saints, that has a practical application as well.

"I think it could be a lot of things, but I think for our side of the ball, it's just executing, taking what we learned today in the building and on the field on the grass," Moehrig said. "And just the way we communicated, just how loud, how verbal we were, just trying to make sure we get everything right from the top down."

It helps when the leadership of the team shares that mentality already. Derrick Brown is like that. Young obviously is. Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton is, among a lot of other dudes who are committed to living life that way, even before they met Canales.

"Stoics, right?" Moton said with a grin.

But Young said he realized this was the way when he was at Alabama, and coach Nick Saban warned them about dwelling on external factors like rankings or media attention or social media.

"It's just being obsessed with us, with our process," Young said. "And coach talks about that all the time, it's about finding our best. So I think for me and for us that allows us to be focused week to week."

Of course, it's also impossible to miss the fact that there's a big crowd around this week, more microphones and cameras to document something that hasn't happened around here in a minute.

"I think it's wrong to ignore it," said veteran offensive lineman Austin Corbett, who won a Super Bowl with the Rams before coming here. "You have to look at it for what it is, and you have to go and accept the fact that we've put ourselves in this situation, where we can go win the division, and we have to go do it. This is how we've got to do it. That's right in front of us. And so to look away from that and ignore it, I think, is the wrong way of handling it.

"Like we've given ourselves this pressure, and I think that's a privilege in itself. That's why you play sports. That's why you compete. That's why you play board games. That's why you do everything. You're in control. You get the outcome in everything you work for, and it's obviously just on a grander scale here, and we're working since January and putting everything into it and coming down just day by day."

Like Young and Moehrig and Canales, Corbett said he saw that intention and that focus on Wednesday, even during a more casual day of practice (at least from a physical standpoint).

"It's how you get in and out of the huddle, it's your attention in the huddle, kind of even just how you're asking questions on the field and understanding looks and it's basically just a meeting on the field, right?" He said. "You're taking the physicality out of it, but to be able to lock in mentally and get after it that way, that's what it is."

That kind of focus is what Canales has been preaching since the spring. When he talks about the focus on the small details, it's because they all build up to situations like this, where they're playing for the first postseason berth since 2017.

"Every game is a championship opportunity. We don't see this one as anything different," he said. "It is obvious now for the division, right in front of us, this opportunity, and how huge it is. And I can feel a sense that the players feel that and see that and know that we can't let that be a distraction. We can't make it more than it is. It's about us executing.

"It's about us playing clean football, getting rid of some of the things that showed up last week, and making sure that we play our best brand. And I can stand in front of the group and say when we play good football we can beat anybody, and that's a true statement for this group, and I'm proud that we've worked ourselves to that point, but we've got to make it happen. We've got to bring it to Sunday."