CHARLOTTE — Tershawn Wharton might not have been on the field the last two games and change, recovering from a hamstring injury, but that was no excuse for the defensive lineman to miss a moment.

During meetings, Wharton still sat in the top row, back of the room in stadium seating, eyes locked directly below on defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

"You look up to him, every time his eyes are on you or he's engaged," shared Evero on Thursday. "He's writing down stuff. He's got his notebook open. He's watching tape."

When Evero would walk through the locker room, Wharton was sitting in front of his space, iPad out, studying game tape for an opponent he wasn't going to face as he recovered.

"I'll walk through the locker room, and he's sitting in his locker, and he's watching film on his iPad. And so he's tuned in. He's locked in," continued Evero. "Even the last two games when he knew he wasn't playing, he knew exactly everything what was going on with the game plan."

When Wharton was at practice the last two weeks, not being able to participate didn't stop him from making strides. During breaks, he would pull aside guys, like rookie Princely Umanmielen, and go over how their respective rush moves could help each other on the field.

"When we're rushing in the game, things I do affect him, and things he does affect me. So that's what he was really telling, like giving me insight about ways that we can help each other," Umanmielen shared.

"He's one of the best and has really kind of been like taking me under his wing, like, trying to show me the ropes and trying to show me ways to be a better professional with things like that. So it's not something out of the ordinary. He does that on a pretty consistent basis. It's just pretty cool just to have a guy like that, that really cares about your development."

And on Thursday, when Wharton finally got to strap on the pads and return to practice in anticipation of the Week 4 matchup against the New England Patriots, the entire defense palpably raised its level of play, because that's what Wharton demands.

"It means a lot. Turk's a dog," cornerback Jaycee Horn said. "You seen it for, I don't know how many plays he played the first week, but he dominated while he was out there. So I'm glad to see him back out there. I keep telling him, 'Wait till you're 100 or sit until you're healthy, because he's a dog.' He'll go out there on one leg and try to play."

Added Derrick Brown, "It's great to have an explosive player like Turk to be able to be back on the field. You know he got hurt chasing the ball in the opener, making an extra effort play, so to be able to get him back healthy and being able to be full goal this week, we're excited."

When Wharton, the free agent signed this spring from Kansas City, was initially hurt in the season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Panthers elected not to put him on injured reserve, in hopes he could return before the required four-game absence for such a transaction. The message and the hope were clear: Wharton would be back sooner rather than later.

Back on the practice field two-and-a-half weeks after the injury, the hope seems to have been founded, even if it felt long for Wharton.

"I tried to push it," he admitted. "Tried to get back with the guys early just because, just want to be a part of them. We're dominating right now, so it kind of makes it okay for you to sit down when the defense is playing how we're playing.

"And then just being able to know that, I wasn't on IR, you know, I was coming back. So just stay on my flow of things and making sure that I'm consistent with what I do."

But through it all, Wharton—who teammates say manages to be both incredibly intense and quick with a joke—refused to lose any moment of progress. His 20 defensive snaps before the injury made an impact and impression, if Horn and Brown's testimony is to be believed, but it is still just 20 snaps in the regular season. So Wharton found other ways to stay caught up with his team.

"I think I'm just so locked in," said Wharton. "I could kind of even look at somebody's lips just to make sure that I know what I'm writing down and make sure that I'm just locked in, you know, it's kind of like these weeks flying by. So, any little thing that I can get ahead of on the opponent, I want to do, and just make sure that I'm there.

"I think, you know, just being a part of the team, this team looks at me as a leader. So I just make sure I do my role, and then also, I'm just in love with the game, you know? So I just want us to be successful in all ways, and anything that I can share, I will."

Wharton was a limited participant in his first practice back, and his game status for Sunday will be unknown for a time. But the past two-and-a-half weeks have seen Turk Wharton still at the forefront of game planning and this defense, in whatever way he can be. Now, he's one step closer to being back where he and his teammates really want.

Said Wharton, "It's always a blessing to be out there with the guys and not be on the sideline cheerleading."