CHARLOTTE — As a young Panthers team has grown and matured over the season, they're learning how to react and respond to new experiences.

So as much as the locker room was filled with disappointment about the 20-9 loss at San Francisco, there was also a certain resolve among the participants who have been through worse things.

"I mean, I feel like we're a great team, we're building something special here, but we just missed on a lot of opportunities today we had chances to make plays early, make plays late. We've just got to be able to capitalize," running back Chuba Hubbard said. "I don't think the moment was too big for us. I think we're exactly where we need to be, but we've just got to win in these types of games, in those types of moments, we've got to capitalize and be the best version of ourselves."

The 26-year-old Hubbard has the kind of perspective that can only be earned through struggle. He came here in 2021, and had two head coaches and two interims in his life before he ever met Dave Canales.

So it's going to be harder to rattle him, as disappointing as Monday night was.

The reality of the situation is that the Panthers are still 6-6, and are still a half-game out of first place in the perennially jumbled NFC South. The Bucs are 6-5 with an injured quarterback in Baker Mayfield, which means this messiest of divisions will likely come down to the final two weeks (as it did in 2022, when Hubbard and a few others played at Tampa on New Year's Day with the division title on the line).

So for Hubbard, this wasn't a systemic issue; this was one result of 17. A disappointing one, but one.

"I felt like everything was in front of us the whole game. We just had to make plays, and we just fell short today," Hubbard said. "I mean, we still got a lot of ball left, obviously. It sucks to lose. It's never, never fun, never feels good, but we're not going to hang our heads. We've got a short week this week, and it's going to be another big one. So, take the lessons from this week and just keep moving forward like we always do."

And that was what happened on Monday when they got home. As Canales said Monday night, the only way over it is through it, beginning with the work they do this week.

The Panthers have questions aplenty, from medical concerns (concussions for Jaycee Horn and Claudin Cherelus, Corey Thornton left on crutches) to eligibility (after Tre'von Moehrig's late-game and post-game altercation with Jauan Jennings). And those things will have to happen fast, because they immediately went into planning mode.

The Rams are on their way Sunday, so this was already a short week, even if it wasn't Thanksgiving week.

And if this team has learned any lessons this year, they've learned that one.

Quarterback Bryce Young was owning his performance as he always does, but he understood what was next, realizing it on his internal clock in the moments as Monday was turning into Tuesday and he was about to board a red-eye flight.

"It's a loss, that's all it is. Again, plane ride back's going to suck," Young said. "I don't even know if we have the 24-hour luxury now. We're all competitors, it sucks to have this outcome, and then after that it, it doesn't matter, next week we're gonna be 0-0. We have to earn the right to try to be 1-0 next week, and it's going to go into practice, go into the week.

"We don't have the luxury to think about the big picture. I think that's not a good recipe for this league. Everyone demands our most attention, so we'll flip the page and go to next week."

That process has already started. And they know that.

So if anything, learning to compartmentalize games like that and keep them in perspective will be helpful in the long haul, even if it was little consolation Monday night.

"Everything was in front of us the whole game. We just had to make plays, and we just fell short today," Hubbard said. "I mean, we still got a lot of ball left, obviously. It sucks to lose. It's never, never fun, never feels good, but we're not going to hang our heads. We've got a short week this week, and it's going to be another big one. So, take the lessons from this week and just keep moving forward like we always do."