CHARLOTTE— When Brad Idzik gets back to the locker room after an away game, after the win euphoria starts to wear off and he can think back over the last three hours, he'll pick up his phone…and see a barrage of text messages. Most of them are from David Moore .

"He's like when your mom texts you during games and she's giving you the dialogue as the game's going on around, but you don't check your phone until after the game and you have 40 text messages from her," explained the offensive coordinator this week.

"That's David Moore, and that's Hunter Renfrow when he's reviewing the tape. So it's really, really cool to see the vet guys buy in even when some of the younger guys are getting more of the spotlight, and I think that's a testament to the culture that Dave (Canales) brings here and that we're all trying to echo, and that's every single person in this building has a thumbprint on what we're doing."

Having those fingerprints all over a program is how the Panthers have been able to build what, on the field, is a relatively young team. Moore is working back from an injury sustained in Week 4. He's in the building every day, running at practice, offering tidbits during team drills, listening in, and mentoring guys in the locker room, texting Idzik his stream-of-consciousness thoughts during a game.

Renfrow has been a healthy scratch most of the season. But the veteran, who made it clear the Panthers were one of the few teams he'd come back to football for after a year off dealing with illness, has embraced the role he's playing in the progression of guys like Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, and others.

"He's very self-aware," Idzik said of Renfrow. "He knows how the league works, and he's great at communicating. As long as you communicate with those guys on the front end, like we did with Hunter, as we kind of cycle through different lineups at the receiver position, he was great with it. He handled it great. He attacks every practice like he's up on game day.

"They have a fun time having him on the scout team. I know he's continuing to stress the defense a little bit in that regard, but he and I have great conversations every day, just route concepts. 'Hey, here's a little thing I think that would be great for TMac.'

"I think he's such a selfless player that he looks at the game plan like a coach would and says, 'OK, I watched the tape too. I think there's some cool things that you could add,' and we're receptive to all of it."

He has the mind that could make him a coach one day, Idzik said, but knows the young husband and father might not want to deal with the hours—"He just had a new baby, so I think he would probably put that on the back burner for a little bit."—but his coaching ability has helped progress his teammates.

With Moore and Renfrow helping to draw together a plan for their young teammates, and coaches pulling together concepts, the Panthers knew it was only a matter of time before the vertical passing game came to life.

"We've been seeing it all season long, and that's what I said last week, and I stand on that; we've been seeing it in practice," Idzik stated. "We've been seeing the investment that (Bryce has) had with these young guys, some of the near misses in games."

It finally came to life Sunday against the Falcons, to the tune of nine different receivers bringing in passes (with five guys finishing with 50-plus yards) as Bryce Young went 31-45 for 448 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

"The biggest thing that I take away from some of the near misses in games is guys internalizing those messages, bringing them forward, and it came to light," continued Idzik. "Xavier is a perfect example of that. Two weeks ago, against New Orleans, he just barely misses a double move shot in the end zone, and then we have a carbon-copy type of double move designed to get him open, and he makes the play and runs through the catch.

"So that's just a huge testament of a young receiving corps, developing a relationship with their quarterback, and developing trust, and really all those near misses, making sure that we don't repeat those same mistakes. And I think that really came to light, fortunately for us all in one game, and we hope that continues to carry throughout the rest of the season."

Panthers concentrating on "population" around Christian McCaffrey

Everyone knows that Christian McCaffrey is good at running with the football, and that's his job description.

But when Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero considers what the former Panthers back can do, he's as concerned with his abilities as a pass-catcher.

"Well, definitely he's he's one of the best runners in this league, so whenever he has the ball in his hands and the run game, he's got great vision, he's got contact balance, he's got speed, change of direction, so all, all the qualities that you look for in an elite runner, he's got those things," Evero said. "But, obviously, the separation is the receiving ability. This guy can line up at the X receiver spot and run routes versus corners and win, obviously coming out of the backfield as well. And their staff, coach Kyle Shanahan and his staff, they do a great job of deploying him, and so it's hard to get a beat on exactly where he's going to align.

"So, the skill set, the diversity of the skill set, and obviously the way that they deploy him makes it very, very challenging."

McCaffrey's always been a dual threat, going back to his 1,000-1,000 season with the Panthers in 2019.

This season, he leads the NFC and is second in the NFL with 74 receptions for 732 yards and five touchdowns, to go with his 193 rushes for 707 yards and six touchdowns.

The Panthers did a better job (in the second half, at least) last week against Atlanta's Bijan Robinson, so they have some familiarity with a similar player.

"You're not going to have a good day if you're asking guys to make a lot of one-on-one tackles against these runners," Evero said. "And so we've got to get population out there and, obviously, those opportunities when you have to make one-on-one tackles, you've got to, do a great job with your technique and have the proper leverage and strike at the right time and all that wrap up, but you've got to get population to the ball."

Special teams preparing for the league's best

The Panthers have dealt with some dynamic special teams retainers this season, having to cover guys like KaVontae Turpin, Malik Washington, Jamal Agnew, and more. The challenge only becomes more difficult this week, facing a 49ers return unit headlined by Skyy Moore.

"They are a fantastic kickoff return team, number one in the country returning kickoffs, so I have to deal with that for sure," plainly stated special teams coordinator Tracy Idzik on Thursday.

Moore has 21 kickoff returners for 599 yards, averaging 28.5 yards per return, with a long of 98 yards. He also has 18 punt returns for 185 yards (average of 10.3 yards per return). The 49ers also use Brian Robinson Jr. back for kickoffs. He's returned seven for 234 yards, averaging 33.4 yards per return.

"Have to deal with some star players that I won't pick individually out in this forum, but it's going to be quite a contest, and they have to go get them tackled," Smith challenged. "Skyy Moore, Bryan Robinson, fantastic returners."

The 49ers are working through kicking issues this week as well, as Eddy Piñeiro deals with a hamstring injury suffered last Sunday.

"They're changing kickers or possibly changing kickers this week with the injury to Eddie Piñeiro, so that's sort of up in the air. I have to deal with both of the possibilities there. But a well-coached team, really solid in their fundamentals, plays very hard," offered Smith.

Coach Kyle Shanahan called Piñeiro "week-to-week" as they evaluate when he can go.

In case he can't go, the 49ers signed Matt Gay to the practice squad on Wednesday. Gay has appeared in 100 career games, with an 84 percent make mark of his 212 career field goal attempts. In the first 10 games of this season, Gay was with the Washington Commanders, where he went 13-of-19 on field goals (68.4 percent) and 4-of-9 on kicks longer than 50 yards, and made all 22 point-after attempts.

Gay was released by the Commanders earlier this week after missing two field goals in an overtime loss to the Dolphins.