CHARLOTTE — The Panthers know they're going to have a different look on defense, heading into their Week 2 game at Atlanta.

That begins up front, as defensive tackle Bobby Brown III has already been ruled out with a back injury, which leaves them young and thin.

Other than Pro Bowler Derrick Brown, they have a couple of second-year players in TeRah Edwards and Cam Jackson, and rookies Lee Hunter and Aaron Hall. Edwards arrived in a trade with the Chargers on cut day, so he's still learning the language.

Jackson was inactive last week, but will have a helmet on Sunday.

"He's ginormous," Canales said of Jackson. "He's a pocket pusher in terms of pass rush, and in the run game, he's stout, he's hard to move, and has great length. He is our biggest human on the team, and he's a guy that just continues to take the right steps being in this program, being in that room, you know, with the likes of Derrick Brown and watching how they work and all that.

"And so I'm excited for Cam to get an opportunity to show everybody what he's been working on."

The Panthers are also in a wait-and-see situation with outside linebacker Patrick Jones II, who is listed as questionable on the injury report after practicing on a limited basis. He missed last week's game with a back injury.

"Well, what Pat brings uniquely is just his physical style of play," Canales said. "He's a big man, floats around 260 pounds, 6-5, and plays with violence, with great effort and strain, all those things. That's his style of ball.

"Our guys play their tails off as well, you know, but Pat certainly does make a difference when he's out there, you know, in the run game, and he's versatile in terms of how he can rush, sometimes. Inside sometimes on the edge, so it just has a lot of things that he brings to the group. And we're going to kind of take this thing, day to day, probably all the way up to game day to see if we can get him out there, but again we're always going to make decisions in what's best for the player."

The Panthers were hoping to build the defensive pass rush plan with Jones and Nic Scourton's ability to rush inside, but Scourton was lost to a torn ACL on the first day of training camp. Outside linebacker Trevis Gipson has that ability as well, but with Tershawn Wharton remaining on the PUP list, they're short there at the moment.

Plans stay the same with Rush reported starter

Just before Canales stepped into the media workroom for his Friday press conference, reports surfaced that quarterback Cooper Rush will start Sunday for the Falcons. The passer split first-team reps with Michael Penix all week, but the latter is coming off a partial ACL tear from which he is still recovering.

Rush got the start for Atlanta in Week 1 as well, going 12-of-22 for 143 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. He is one of four QBs on the Falcons roster, but Tua Tagovailoa — who was listed first on the depth chart — did not practice this week with an oblique injury. Rookie Jack Strand was also a possibility.

Despite not knowing who the opposing quarterback would be till Friday afternoon, the Panthers' defensive plan doesn't change much, according to Canales. The only issue would have been if Penix or Tagovailoa started, since a left-handed quarterback starts his progressions on the opposite side of the field.

"We were prepared for different types of guys; the style of it, right-handed versus left-handed, changes a little bit in terms of where the progression starts, but, in general, this isn't an extreme departure from anything in terms of just, if there was, say, like a mobile quarterback who might have more zone read or different actions that way where you have to prepare," explained Canales.

"But, they can certainly do wildcat," he added. "They got Bijan (Robinson), so we got to be ready for that as well."

Rush has filled in before and had success against the Panthers. In 2024, after Dak Prescott underwent season-ending surgery, Rush stepped in for the Cowboys. He went 18-of-29 for 214 yards and three touchdowns (no interceptions) for the 30-14 Dallas win over Carolina.

Canales can point to that game as a reminder to be vigilant despite uncertain questions around the passer.

"Absolutely," answered Canales as to whether or not he reminds the defense of that game. "(It's) right in front of us, and we saw what he's capable of, and that's right in our rearview mirror. So, a guy we certainly respect, and we understand that he can make the system go as we learn how they're trying to get the ball to the different skilled players.

In Rush's nine-year career, he has played in 43 games, primarily as a backup for Prescott in Dallas from 2017-2024, and started 17 games. In that span, he's gone 9-8 as a starter, with a 60.8 completion percentage for 3,909 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions.

"If you just take the totality of his work, this is an efficient quarterback, a guy that I really respect his game, and he's been in this role different times throughout his career where he's asked to step in and keep the ship moving and did that in Dallas for a while, and so what I expect is a guy that's going to be ready, if it's him, you know, he'll be prepared.

"Whether it was Cooper or whether it's Michael — Michael had, when he was playing, had a little bit more of the play action, intermediate, dagger concepts over the middle, those types of things that he really did a good job with," Canales continued.

"I've seen Cooper throw those in Dallas and those types of things; he can still do it. So small differences, both players that I really respect, the ability to move the chains and throw an accurate ball. So, fortunately, if it is (Rush), we have game film as recent as you could get from last week of him playing with those guys."

Canales takes moment to remember Kippy Brown

In the nearly three years Dave Canales has been head coach of the Panthers, he's always made an effort to find joy in the smallest moments. A hot day is a great day to grind and get better. A long road trip is a chance to connect with teammates.

It's a mindset he developed over the years, and he attributes a lot of it to Kippy Brown.

Brown was a longtime coach in both the NFL and at the college level. Between stints in the league, he would return to the sidelines for the Tennessee Volunteers, where he had three different stints as the Vols' wide receivers coach.

He spent time with several NFL clubs, most recently the Seattle Seahawks from 2010-2014. That meant he mentored and coached with Canales and several other current Panthers coaches, including Darrell Bevell, Pat McPherson, Carl "Tater" Smith, Will Harriger, and Todd Wash, among others.

Brown passed away at the end of August, and his memorial service was Friday in Tennessee. Canales, after starting his day on a memorial radio show and sharing old Kippy stories, made sure to start his Friday presser the same way he normally does, by saying what a beautiful day it had been. Then he honored the man who helped instill that philosophy in him.

"I wanted to just mention, really quick, Kippy Brown, he was a mentor of mine," said Canales. "The whole Brown family- Jennifer, Jerome, Young, all of them- just coming together; they're celebrating his life this weekend around the Tennessee football game. He coached there for several years. He was our wide receivers coach in Seattle, a huge mentor of mine, a great influence.

"And just wanted to mention that because today was a lot of fun, a lot of hard work; we try to find joy in what we do, and what I remember about Kippy is he had a way of just bringing joy to the job, and on the hardest days, he'd say something light to kind of loosen up the staff a little bit.

"But just wanted to mention that and give a little appreciation for anybody who knew Kippy and was connected to him."