HOUSTON — Patrick Jones II honestly isn't even sure how many sacks he picked up during the Panthers' joint practice Thursday against the Texans.

"I got to go back and watch the tape and then see," said Jones following the joint practice in which he got to Texans quarterback CJ Stroud at least more than once. "I might have more than two, you never know," he exclaimed.

"It's just when you're in that flow, kind of like when you're on 2K and the fire emoji come around you, you're just on fire, you're just out there just going, man. That's what it feels like for real."

The Panthers' outside linebacker did have at least two sacks on Stroud (possibly more), although to be fair, it can be challenging to tell during practice when quarterbacks are wearing non-contact jerseys.

"I feel like it's kind of tricky, just whenever you get a good rush and you get close to him and you kind of see us kind of take off the gas and just slow down," explained Jones. "We don't want to hit him. We respect CJ a lot; hope he has a good year this year, and we don't want to hurt nobody's players, but yeah, just whenever we go out there, make a good rush to get close to the quarterback, we kind of just tone it down."

No matter how you want to classify practice sacks, though, one thing is certain: Jones was in the backfield and in Stroud's face enough to be noticeable. It's part of a concerted effort to improve the rush on the defense this year, a project Jones is a pillar of after being brought in as a free agent from the Vikings.

"Just a physical style of play, you know, exactly what we're looking for to be disruptive on the edge, to really blow stuff up; it starts with the run game and he does that for sure," said Dave Canales, Thursday, of his outside linebacker.

"And then in a pass rush setting, he's got a nice speed to power move, and he's got counters, so he kind of keeps tackles guessing, and he can rush inside. So he's doing a great job, and he's a pro the way he prepares and works awesome."

It's the kind of standard Canales and the Panthers want to see perpetuated through the entire defense. And Thursday was a good example of the step forward the group has made, starting at the outset when Derrick Brown ran Stroud out of bounds for a sack.

Texans running back Nick Chubb got tons of work on the day, and as he is apt to do, found lanes at times behind his big line, and even broke off a big one. But the Panthers also loaded the box against the run—something they put a lot of money into this spring—with the front seven, as well as safeties Tre'von Moehrig and Lathan Ransom, the latter of whom dove into run defense with abandon at times.

Moehrig also came away with the biggest hit of the day when he leveled Houston receiver Xavier Hutchinson on a catch across the middle. The practice was thud, and Moehrig didn't wrap up Hutchinson or take him to the ground. But he used the live rep to flash his physicality.

"I was just playing football, you know, that's really what it comes down to, just trying to be physical, make the plays when they come my way," Moehrig said.

"For me, it's really just going 100 percent. I mean I'm not really trying to think, you know, pull back or you know I'm just trying to play ball and just keep my mental clear and just do what I know how to do."

And from his spot watching around the line, Jones loved what he saw.

"I love that. I mean, go out there and hit people. That's the type of person I want to play with," Jones bragged. "We're going to be physical for sure . We're definitely going to come hit you too, so you better get ready."

But Stroud was the offensive rookie of the year in 2023 for a reason, and during the two-minute drill, he walked the offense right down the field, picking apart the Panthers' first-team defense in chunks. And after a day in which the Carolina defense showed where they've improved, the drill was a good reminder of where they can still grow.

"Our standard today was to go out there and not let the heat faze us and just go out there and just try to dominate outside of the ball," said Jones.

"I feel like we still got—I feel like at times we did, and I feel like the whole part of the game is being consistent, so I still feel like once we go out here and we're consistent all the way around, then I can say we truly dominated."