CHARLOTTE — For Panthers head coach Dave Canales, it felt a little like a regular-season week.

But he also knew it was the week after the first preseason game, and a day off, and it happened to start pouring rain for the last half hour of practice. So he wasn't sure what he was going to get.

So he was pleased with the way the team finished Monday's padded practice.

"It felt like a Work Wednesday," Canales said of their in-season name for the day following Tell The Truth Monday and a day off.

"I could sense and I could feel that guys were still a little bit sore from the game," Canales continued. I was nervous that we were going to kind of start out slow. They did not let that happen. The guys got together, they challenged each other, and the energy was great from play one until the end, where it really started to rain on us.

"And I think it was just a really cool moment for me to kind of point to this afternoon to say this is it, we don't get do-overs. You think about a week in the regular season. You might get two live reps and two walk-through reps of a play, and that's about what you get. You've got to nail it. You have to be able to bring it and be focused, and it was a great challenge. It felt good to kind of point it out that way."

A number of injury updates, including Jaycee Horn and Robert Hunt

Cornerback Jaycee Horn continued to work on the side, do conditioning during individual drills, and coach from the side during Monday's practice.

Canales said he's unsure what Horn will be able to do in Houston after he was involved in a car accident last week that led to stitches in his left thumb (from the car's airbag deploying).

"If we were playing a game, he would be fine to do that; he would be out there," Canales said. "Just kind of taking care of it because we are in preseason mode right now. He had some stitches in between his thumb and index finger, and so we've just got to make sure that that thing's healing up the right way so that no infections happen or there's no setbacks. It's not worth it to put him in that situation."

Also, on Monday, Pro Bowl right guard Robert Hunt left practice and came back with his ankle taped, though Canales said he got his anticipated amount of work.

That did leave them thin at the position, since left guard Damien Lewis (shoulder) remains out. The Panthers finished practice with Brandon Walton and Ja'Tyre Carter at guards in Hunt and Lewis' place. Both were on the practice squad last year, and Carter started for Lewis last Friday against the Browns.

Defensive end LaBryan Ray is dealing with a high ankle sprain, which kept him from Friday's game. He's also in the week-to-week category. Ray started nine games last year and played a ton of snaps (627, after 355 the year before as a reserve), and is competing for a roster spot this year in an improved defensive line group.

Canales said that he hoped Ray and Chandler Zavala (knee) could be back for the Pittsburgh game to close the preseason.

Jaycee Horn still coaching, and talking, from the sidelines

Horn may not have been practicing on Monday, but his presence is still felt far-and-wide—for better or worse. The Pro Bowl corner, as has been his standard when not practicing this training camp, was on the sideline with a script. If you can't find Jaycee by the neon cleats he wears during practice, it's easy to track him down by his voice, as he continues to coach up his fellow corner and keep receivers honest all practice long.

"The same way, how you see him on the sideline, that's the same way he is on the field. He don't ever be quiet," joked Xavier Legette.

Sometimes though, a play is louder is than words, and that's where Legette said he and Horn find themselves communicating the most.

"I ain't got nothing to say. I just let him know, if I feel like I got him on something, I just let him know. And vice versa, he'll let me know, 'No, X, that ain't it."

A showdown in 1-on-1s

The Panthers faced each other again on Monday, with a showdown in 1-on-1s that saw both sides of the ball get the better of the other.

Tre'von Moehrig has likely faced Hunter Renfrow more in 1-on-1s than any defender should have to face a receiver in their career. The two were often matched against each other when with the Raiders, and have often drawn the same assignment this training camp. On Monday, Renfrow got the best of Moehrig on their first rep, using his patented cut to shake the safety for the win.

The next time they faced each other, though, Moehrig blanketed Renfrow, hand-fighting and allowing no space at all. It caused the veteran receiver to slip, and Moehrig broke up the pass to win the rep.

When it was Xavier Legette's turn, he faced Mike Jackson. The two were in lock-step the whole route, before Jackson got his hand in at the last second.

Rookie receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. put the moves on corner Michael Reid to start his reps, breaking free for a wide open ball. He then ended the period with a rep against nickel Chau Smith-Wade on an intermediate pass. Horn came off the line, juked Smith-Wade, and peeled away easily for the catch.

"It's that type of work, it's that type of development and mindset that Jimmy has that he wants it," Canales said Monday of Horn. "And that goes really far."

A few other notable plays from 1-on-1s: Adam Thielen outrunning safety Trevian Thomas to pull in an over-the-shoulder pass. Jalen Coker went against Mello Dotson, with Dotson punching the ball out of the air for an emphatic pass break-up. And Tetairoa McMillan boxed out Corey Thornton to get down the sideline and pull in a long pass.

Jimmy Horn making an impression off the field too

When Canales was talking about Jimmy Horn Jr. on Monday, he compared him to veteran wideout David Moore, and that's about as high as the praise comes in Canales' book.

Moore was a seventh-round pick of the Seahawks in 2017 out of Division II East Central University (in Oklahoma, Ada to be specific), who impressed Canales enough to bring him to two other teams (Tampa Bay in 2023 and then back here last offseason).

"It's just pushing him to grow every day; show us that we have to have you here," Canales said. "Show us that we have to put you on the field, show us that we can count on you, you know, and those are things that he's taking strides in, and that he's really competing. He's one of the first guys in the building. Give love to Keyshawn Colmon, one of our quality control coaches, who is constantly with Jimmy before and after practice, after meetings, he's working the right way.

"It reminds me of a young David Moore, seventh-round pick out of East Central Oklahoma, and I spent every second that I could with David Moore for about two years to the point where now he's had a really successful career on a couple of different teams. It's that type of work, it's that type of development and mindset that Jimmy has, that he wants it, and that goes really far with us."