CHARLOTTE — When the Panthers returned home from Canton late Thursday night, it was on the heels of a win and a Haynes King performance that left the entire team in a celebratory mood. But when it came time to truly evaluate the game and the tape, Dave Canales saw something that needed to be addressed promptly.

Physicality.

So, he switched up the practice schedule. Sunday wasn't supposed to be a padded practice for Carolina, but Canales wanted his guys to up their intensity, especially in the trenches.

"Just trying to get the physicality," Canales explained after Sunday's practice, the hottest the Panthers have had yet.

"Talked about the line of scrimmage in the first preseason game. And I know our starters didn't play, but it's our group; we're all practicing together. I just wanted to make sure we're emphasizing and reinforcing great habits. And when you play in pads, you have to play low. You have to get your butt down. You got to play with bent knees. And so just a great opportunity to do that."

The change to pads won't affect the Panthers remaining practice schedule much. Teams get up to 16 days in pads during training camp, a number some teams never even reach given the schedule.

It was the first practice for the starters since Tuesday of last week, giving the days off ahead of Thursday's game and the return to Charlotte. It meant there was some rust to knock off, but as they get closer and closer to the season, Canales is looking for those stressor moments to prepare his guys.

"The guys did a great job capturing a couple of days off. The effort was there, all that. A little bit of sloppiness," admitted the coach. "The guys who played, you know, they're a little stoved up still. But it's a choice, and this is what Wednesday feels like in a season.

"So a great op to just kind of teach off of that, and they responded the right way and played and practiced with the right energy."

The chance to amp up the intensity is especially important for the starters this week, since they will play in Buffalo on Saturday. Under Canales thus far, starters have either been held out all of preseason or only appeared in later games. That will change this week.

"We will play this week for sure. We'll take it week to week. We'll get them out there, probably play something similar to what Kenny and that group played in the Hall of Fame game," Canales shared.

"So it'll be somewhere between 10 and 20 plays depending on how those drives pan out so we can just get some good work in. And really, it goes back to the night before leading up to the game: knowing you're playing regardless of how many snaps you're playing changes how you prep.

"It changes how you eat, how you wake up, what you do in the morning, when you get to the locker room, how you set your things up, and you go through your whole routine. It's just a great opportunity to put your mind in game mode, and so we got to take advantage of some of those."

For guys like quarterback Bryce Young and tight end Mitchell Evans, who haven't played since the wild card game, it's a chance to play full-speed once again. The Hall of Fame game was a teaser; now they're ready to strap up.

"I'm excited to just be able to go out there with the guys. Anytime you get to play football live in the stadium, it's a privilege, especially being able to go out there last week; you're around it, obviously weren't playing, but you get that itch again, so I'm excited.

"I think it's a great opportunity for us as well, go up against another team, go up live, hit someone else. I think it's just, it's going to be great for our process."

Added Evans, "It hurt me (Thursday) I couldn't be out there, especially being from Ohio. I never actually got to play in that stadium, but that's because they'd always host State (Championships) in that stadium, and so I never got to play there. But, just seeing all my boys who we've put in all this work in, and then I kind of go out there and reap the benefits of actually playing."

King week to week, Trask bringing competition

Rookie quarterback Haynes King was the star of the night in Canton, Ohio, thanks to his scramble for a walk-off touchdown. The run went down as a 5-yard score, but in total he ran about 14 yards, weaving around linebackers. King has always been mobile, but the speed and nature of the moment, on top of it being his first full-speed game action this season, led to a hamstring injury.

"From what I understood, it was on that last play where he kind of like lunged and dove for the goal line and really gave everything he had literally," commented Canales. "So, got his hamstring there and we'll just keep evaluating him on a weekly basis. I do not see him coming back for this game (against Buffalo) for sure. We'll reevaluate him the following week to see when we can get him back out there."

King was immediately mobbed by all of his teammates, something Canales admitted might not have helped the situation, although he wouldn't have been aware in the moment.

"I would imagine if it was already hurt on the play and then he's jumping around with his buddies, I mean, his hamstring wouldn't be feeling great in that situation, but caught up in the moment. The guys are there to celebrate the whole team, and so he wanted to be a part of that too, so."

In the interim, the Panthers signed a fourth quarterback, Kyle Trask. The veteran passer spent time with this staff in Tampa Bay, giving him familiarity with the Panthers' system that pays off now. He spent much of Sunday working closest with quarterbacks coach Will Harriger and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, the latter of whom Trask spent time with in Tampa when Idzik was the wide receivers coach.

"Our scheme is very similar — we've added wrinkles over the last couple of years, but I would say 60 to 70 percent of the words that he heard in the last day since he's been here are familiar, and so he made some really nice throws today and some concepts he knew. There are a couple of other ones that he needs to get a feel for, but I'm so glad to have Kyle here.

"We're going to need him as we go through this preseason."

It also provides a talented arm to the quarterback room, Canales shared, revealing how close Trask and Baker Mayfield were in the Bucs' quarterback competition in 2023, with Canales and Brad Idzik.

"I love Kyle. We had a great year in 2023 in Tampa," said Canales. "It was Baker and Kyle competing for the job for most of camp, and people don't know how well Kyle did in that process to figure out who our starter was going to be.

"It was probably, I don't know, two and a half weeks into camp when Baker really started to make strides and find that chemistry with Mike (Evans) and find that chemistry with Chris (Godwin), but Kyle did a fantastic job."

An in-game reality for Idzik on Thursday

Brad Idzik has called games for the Panthers before, typically in the preseason when Canales gives coaches a chance to do so. But Thursday night in Canton was the first time Idzik put on the headset as the permanent primary play-caller.

For Idzik, it meant not only calling the plays in-game, but it was a culmination of all that's gone into this offseason to become the play-caller.

"He's earned that; it's come from trust and just a lot of pride for me for the conversations that we've had over the years and especially the last three as we've really built this offense together, you know, Brad and I and Goody (run game coordinator Harold Godwin), and just continuing to add wrinkles.

"So I love the fact that he gets to do that. We're always looking for the next growth moment, the next growth curve, and this is certainly that for Brad…much more comfortable because he kind of goes through the process of the week.

"(Wednesday) night, he's the one with the group in the walkthrough. We woke up on game day Thursday morning. He's operating the walkthrough and brings them up and has some final notes and final words. That was me before. So now this is his group. This is his group. They've put the work in together."

During the first quarter, Idzik even got some real-life experience with technical difficulties.

"I even had them make his headset go out on the second drive," Canales joked.

"Actually, no, that happened," he quickly clarified, even if he had no involvement. "You know, that happened to me the first drive of 2024 against Tampa at home. The headset went out, and we were just basically signaling plays in there for the first couple of plays in that drive.

"Brad handled it well, just hollering, yelling at Kenny Pickett. Kenny came over. We had a stop clock. He told him, 'Here's the play, and then the next one, here's what you have at your disposal.' And Kenny managed that really well and ended up getting a nice completion.

"So some good stuff showed up for us, and I'm proud of how we handled it."

Other injury updates

Receiver Xavier Legette was back on the practice field after suffering a "stinger" on a fall last Tuesday while making a touchdown. He was a full-go participant during all drills.

Having him back on the field at any time is important, but as he continues to grow in his third season, Canales is pleased every time he sees Legette show off what he's learned.

"He's just done a great job of being one of the leaders in terms of just knowing what we're doing, how we practice, the effort that he does things, how he's prepared for meetings and all that," bragged Canales of his receiver. "We've all had a chance to really grow together, and I'm really proud of where he's at right now. The minor setback the other day with the stinger thing has seemed to be resolved."

Guard Robert Hunt was practicing but rotated at times with Brady Christensen while the former continues to return from a back injury that kept him out of the first couple of days of training camp. It's also a chance for Christensen, who suffered a torn Achilles in Week 8 last season, to work back in with the group after getting resigned at the beginning of camp.

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown was also held out Sunday. He didn't practice last Tuesday either with what Canales called knee soreness. Brown was on the field Sunday, working with the return-to-play rehab group.

"It's still pretty sore," Canales revealed after practice. "So I don't want to put him back out with the full group until he feels ready to go back in there. He had a great session on the grass today, ran around, did some stuff inside. So he's trending in the right way, in the right direction with the guys."

Defensive lineman Bobby Brown III was absent from practice Sunday with a personal matter.

And running back AJ Dillon , who ran for a touchdown Thursday night, was a little late, but with good reason. He was bringing his wife and new baby girl home from the hospital. She was born Friday night, just in time for her dad to get home from Canton for her arrival.

Steve Smith and NFL Network on site

NFL Network set up shop on the corner of the practice field today, visiting Charlotte as part of their tour with every NFL club during training camp. That meant former Panther Steve Smith was on hand to interview players and coaches.

Smith is around a good bit, but Canales takes advantage of each one. Sunday, that meant picking Smith's brain about punt return. But simply having him in the building is a positive for Canales and his team.

"I'm just always picking Steve's brain about, how do you make an NFL team and how to read punts. We were just talking about that walking off the field," the coach said.

"Certainly just competing, that's kind of his deal is just like the fiery competitor. That was every day. And from what I understood, I was never around him, but from what I understood, he got after it every day, and because he understood, if you can practice at full speed and if you can bring that intensity, then the games become easier, and you're ready to go."