CHARLOTTE — The Panthers have used multiple tight ends all year long in a lot of different ways, and they continued to add to that Sunday.

But when they lined up with three tight ends for the first play of the game, it was a statement of intent, particularly with the way recent opponents have tried to load up and lean on the Seahawks defense.

That emphasis lasted exactly one play, as second-year tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders was injured on the first play from scrimmage and did not return, in the 27-10 loss to the Seahawks.

He had his right leg in a cast in the locker room and was already on a scooter, and Panthers head coach Dave Canales said he suffered a broken ankle and would have surgery tomorrow.

"We're going to miss him a lot because he's been so versatile, a guy that we can really count on," Canales said of Sanders.

The 2024 fourth-rounder had 29 receptions for 190 yards and a touchdown this season — last week's on-on-knee job, which helped them beat the Buccaneers.

"I mean, that stuff is tough, man," veteran tight end Tommy Tremble said. "He's a good player, works hard, and so to see him go down, that was really tough for us as an offense. He's a good kid, good player, and so his going down was hard for all of us, but we've got to learn how to do the next-man-up mentality.

"We're praying for him to be healthy as soon as possible and get back to being right."

Without Sanders, they weren't able to run some of the stuff they wanted to against the Seahawks, though they mixed backup offensive lineman Jake Curhan in as an eligible receiver on four plays.

"Yeah, it definitely took some of our game out of there," Canales said.

But they continued to lean into Tremble and rookie Mitchell Evans as they have all season, particularly on a day when they didn't get a lot going in the passing game (just 54 yards through the air).

"It definitely was a good little emphasis for us, that we were doing that with all of us out there," Evans said. "But when that kind of happens, I think sometimes that happens, and you've got to be able to figure out how to adapt, when something like that happens, and we still have to be able to execute whatever this call and whatever we need to do."

The Panthers have veteran tight end James Mitchell on the roster, and he appeared in four games this year when Sanders was out with an ankle injury (Weeks 4-6), as well as the Rams game when they were hit with injuries across the roster.

Mitchell has three catches for 28 yards in those four games and has appeared in 34 games over four seasons here and with the Lions.

"There's the utmost faith in James," Evans said. "He's played a lot of ball, honestly. He's played a long time, so he knows his stuff. He knows the offense. He's always in there paying attention when we do our game plan. There's going to be no slouch off with that, and he's already up."

Even without Sanders, the Panthers continued to expand the way they use their tight ends.

Faced with a fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, they put Evans under center to take the snap and sneak for the conversion. Using the 258-pound Evans instead of the 204-pound Bryce Young makes sense, especially since Evans (a former high school quarterback) did it at Notre Dame as well (where he had eight carries for 13 yards and a touchdown rushing).

"We've had it in for a couple of weeks now," Evans said. "So, the first week when we put it in, we were just practicing it, getting ahold of it, getting that confidence. That's always a little frightening when somebody else is taking on a snap besides the quarterback, which I could see why, from a coach's perspective.

"But now that's on film, so the teams are going to have to prepare for that, have to keep that in their mind."