CHARLOTTE — When the Panthers left Jacksonville after Week 1, it was with complex emotions, particularly for the defense. They knew they'd played better than the scoreboard would indicate, better than the box score would say. But the first showed a 26-10 loss, and the latter 200 yards given up on the ground.

But the tape also showed a run defense performance that defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero felt showed a strong foundation, one that could be built upon as this defense played more together.

"Obviously, Week 1, there were a couple of things we didn't fit correctly and came back to bite us," Evero admitted Thursday. "And so just continuing to understand, like where everybody fits in the puzzle and when they run the ball. How we play up front, how we play off on the second level, and understand how people are attacking us."

Heading into Week 2 against the Cardinals, the focus was on those slip-ups that told a different story than they wanted on the ground.

"The biggest difference between Week 1 and Week 2 was the explosive runs," Evero explained.

"In Week 1, we gave up a couple, three, or four runs that led to big gains, and we were able to get rid of those really the second week, and so I thought for the most part we've done a good job between our D-linemen and outside backers really playing against the opposing teams' offensive line.

"I thought we had a better job, did a better job of that in Week 2."

Kyler Murray broke contain, as he is apt to do, for a 30-yard explosive. Other than that, the only other run for double-digit yardage was an 11-yard gain in the second quarter. Some of that can be credited to better schemes, better tackling, and faster play. Wherever the blame lies when it doesn't happen, though, Evero is careful to take it upon himself.

"My father was just—the way we were raised, 'Hey, don't look outside for this solution, the solution's within.' And so I always try to have that perspective and I always try to be my harshest critic," Evero shared. "And then obviously I've been with some outstanding coaches like really all of them are great that way in terms of, hey, when things don't go well, they're not looking to blame the players, they're not looking to blame anybody else but themselves and and obviously part of that is we have to hold each other accountable and the players have to be accountable too, but no I certainly always want to be very reflective of the job I'm doing and continue looking to continue to improve."

It will take the entire defense being reflective and prepared this week to stop Bijan Robinson. The dynamic Falcons running back has come up in every conversation the Panthers have had thus far this week, given the threat he poses to opponents.

Evero was no different, taking a few minutes on Thursday to explain what the running back/athlete presents.

"He's complete. He's got speed, he's got quickness, he's got the jump cut, he's got power. He's a receiver. He's good in protection," Evero said, listing the qualities.

"I mean, very, very complete, and he's got that home run ability. And so we know he's a heck of a player. He's hard to tackle, and the message is we need more than one guy at the party to tackle this guy. And so we've got to get the population to the ball because if we're not going to make, we're not going to have a good day, we're trying to make a lot of one-on-one tackles on him."

Continuing to refine roles in the running game

The Panthers haven't had the kind of running volume they'd like through two games, as Chuba Hubbard (26) and Rico (9) have just 35 carries between them.

The goal is obviously to not fall into early deficits so often, so they can normalize what they want to do. But offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said they're continuing to work through what the roles will be for his two 1,000-yard backs from last year, in conversations during walk-through this week.

"I think with Chuba, he's voicing the things that he likes, which I love," Idzik said. "Like, when players come back to you and give you feedback on, hey, this concept makes my vision a little blurry. Hey, this concept is something that I have a comfort level. Hey, I'd love to add this if it fits within what the defense is presenting to us. So the communication from the backs has been awesome. Rico and Chuba like different things.

"We actually were in a walk-through yesterday, and we're talking about some of the schemes that they've done in the past, and it becomes apparent that hey, these guys are all different. They all feel different schemes a little bit, in their own way. So for Chuba, it's just continuing to lean into those things that he is comfortable with, that are in his wheelhouse, that he showed all last year in this season. But then also adding some of those complements that protect those runs. We do have to continue to stress him and stress his eyes and stress his patience on some of those things that might not be like, hey, when you need it, and you're in the fourth quarter and you're in four-minute, I would love to hear this run come out of the quarterback's play call.

"But on the way there, we have to be disciplined in what we're asking them to do to be able to set that stuff up. So, continue to stress that with the backs and being able to protect our core runs, that's really important for us as we go, we try to stay ahead of the sticks and play a full game."

Tracy Smith has plan for coaching new arrivals on special teams

Special teams coordinator Tracy Smith is used to coaching guys on the fly, both in-game and week-to-week. That's endemic to the role.

This week, he got a couple of new guys to coach up, who demand very different approaches.

Linebacker Maema Njongmeta came from the Bengals, and he played 17 games there last year, primarily on special teams (371 snaps of special teams, 30 on defense). So he has some familiarity with the concepts of special teams in the NFL.

"Just getting to meet him this week and seeing where he has his football knowledge and background, really impressed with his conscientiousness, his knowledge of the game, all that stuff," Smith said. "So that's been fantastic, looking to see how much he could possibly get done and how quickly, for us as he adapts to the Panthers. So, we'll see.

"He's putting in the time and through practice, putting in the effort for sure, and his experience from a year ago, which was his rookie year, but from a whole year of experience, certainly helps the onboarding process, so excited to see what he can do and how quickly."

Smith said that the goal is to meet them as early on Tuesday as possible when they arrive, to see what kind of base of knowledge they have, and to determine how useful they can be early.

"Can you get him his iPad and kind of give him a head start because you're trying to, kind of download the whole preseason onto them in a couple of hours and then go from there with your weekly plan," Smith said. "So we were on that, as early as Tuesday night with this particular guy, and that'll be the same for anybody that shows up in a skill position."

The coaching point for center Nick Samac, signed off the Ravens practice squad and likely to be active since they have just eight offensive linemen on the 53-man roster, is easier for a wizard like Smith.

"I think the offensive lineman from Baltimore is kind of like, hey, you know, let's just be gigantic and block the guy that runs into you on field goal," Smith said.