CHARLOTTE — Panthers head coach Dave Canales has been in this situation before, being short on people, so he knows of which he speaks.

So for the sheer amount of injury news coming out of Eagles camp this week, he's doing everything he can to keep his team locked in on their own work.

Quarterback Jalen Hurts is out this week with a blood clot in his leg, leaving the starting role to Tanner McKee. And while wideout DeVonta Smith practiced Friday, running back Saquon Barkley was not present when reporters there were at practice, creating the possibility he'd miss a second straight game.

That's a lot, but not what Canales is thinking about.

"Yeah, we can't make it about the Eagles," Canales said Friday. "While we will know what they're doing schematically, we're assuming they're not going to show up and just have a completely different game plan than what everybody else has been practicing. I wouldn't do that. We certainly wouldn't. We try to have some things to offset that, but at the same time we're counting on the Eagles being who they are, and focusing on those things.

"But it really comes back to us. It really comes back to our process and how we practice and prepare for whomever we're playing, and this is no different, of course. I put myself in Nick Sirianni's seat, you know, and we've been here before where we've had injuries, we've had different things happen to us, and for me, I just go to, OK, who are the guys that are playing? We love and trust these guys; we're counting on them to go out there and play good football. So I'd be sitting in that seat, fired up to see the opportunity of these guys going out there and approach it that way. I'm sure he will too."

Word of Hurts' absence hit around 1 p.m. Thursday, when the Panthers were between walk-through and practice. Many saw the news immediately on their phones and started leaning into former Eagles like Kenny Pickett and Jaelan Phillips for info. But others, including Derrick Brown, didn't know until midway through practice.

"I mean, I can honestly say my wife, my brothers-in-law, or my brothers get the same information a lot of times at the same time that I do when it's not coming from this building," Canales said. "We're all kind of getting it at the same time, and so where I put my energy is making sure we're really focused on what we need to do next, and things may change, circumstances may change, but we have to execute. We have to do our job and we have to be, we have to make sure we throw a great week and, and it felt like that."

Still in wait-and-see mode on several players

While Canales said they intended to activate running back Trevor Etienne from injured reserve, he reserved judgment on Taylor Moton and Tershawn Wharton.

All three practiced fully all week, but are listed as questionable.

But with veteran backup running back AJ Dillon out with an ankle injury, they need Etienne this week. Canales also said they plan to elevate Anthony Tyus III from the practice squad as well because they need three backs active on game day.

"Yeah, we're counting on Trevor," Canales said. "So of the three guys, I can say with real confidence Trevor will be up. We're going to need him too, with AJ being out. But again, it gives us another opportunity to see Tre Tyus and what he can do, a guy that's helped us before. So, we'll count on him."

As for Moton and Wharton, Canales said he wanted to see how they responded on Saturday before the team flew to Philadelphia.

"I mean, we'll see," Canales said. "See what they look like. We got a great week of practice; our guys are bouncing back, excited to be out there and showing us what they can do, and now it's just a matter of putting it together, making sure again we'll check, making sure tomorrow, like, how are they feeling before we make any decisions.

"I thought (they handled the physicality) really well, especially the structure of this week, how we practiced on Tuesday. Had the Wednesday players' day off, a little bit extra recovery to come back out and have a really fast Thursday even though we weren't in full pads. So, it felt like the right dose, especially for the guys coming back, and they had good juice and then finished up with a good day today."

Experience in Philly from 2024 could pay dividends

When the Panthers rolled into Philadelphia in 2024, few thought the game would be much of anything. It was a growing team, late in the season, facing a club well on its way to a Super Bowl championship.

It was an eventual loss, but one that went down to the wire as Carolina fell 22-16. Young went 19-of-34 in that game for 191 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, while also adding seven rushes for 29 yards.

Canales explained Friday that Bryce Young's biggest advantage isn't knowing he can play well against the Eagles, especially in a season when the QB is blowing those 2024 numbers out of the water through the first four games.

It's not even necessarily the experience of having played in front of a belligerent Eagles fan base, though being able to take some of the mystery and sting out of that unique experience, having done it before, helps. It's more so the simple understanding of the logistics of Lincoln Financial Field.

"I think the exposure to different environments and knowing what it feels like to go into Philly and play in that stadium is pretty special," said Canales. "And, while each stadium kind of holds something — and I've been fortunate to have played in every stadium and we got to go to Buffalo this year for the preseason — you take something away from each environment.

"How the noise kind of comes back to you, different shapes of stadiums matter. It hits different on an open end to a stadium where (it) might be windier on one end than the other, all these different dynamics. You kind of just collect that information and put that into your memory bank.

"So, Bryce being able to go there before, playing really well in that game," Canales continued, trailing off before turning to other valuable lessons learned from Philly two years ago. One that serves as a reminder to his team that each and every play makes a difference in these games. And that the only way to take advantage of them is to stay together.

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"Also, when I think back to it, the big post to Xavier Legette we were so close to getting down there and really pushing the game, but just for the guys to be able to feel like, look, it matters about how we execute, it matters about what we do," said the coach. "And every time we get together at the end of a practice, and we have our tight circle, and everybody's around, and I'm kind of giving my last remarks, the reminder is this circle right here has to stay tight."

And when you're playing in an environment where the fans roar can affect how sound bounces, a tight circle makes a difference.

"Nothing gets inside here, not the opponent, not the outside, no external factors get to share this space with us," said Canales of the circle. "We have to be tight like this because when you travel. This is all we got.

"There'll be some Panthers fans there. I know there will be, and we'll be super grateful; we'll be fired up to hear them and all that. But at the same time, we're not counting on that; we're counting on each other, and the energy has to come from us."