CHARLOTTE — David Moore is a lot of things: a father, a friend, an eight-year veteran in the NFL, a support system for the younger receivers around him. But when he steps into Bank of America Stadium every day for practice, there's one thing David Moore tries to be above all.

A hype man.

"It's a great way to describe me," said Moore Wednesday afternoon, sitting in his locker with the ever-present smile on his face, watching dance videos and joking with the rookie on one side of him— Tetairoa McMillan— and the young third-year receiver on the other side of him— Brycen Tremayne —about their breakfast choices.

"I like to have fun," continued Moore. "I just like to see people having fun genuinely, you know, because football is that and it's been that since I was a kid, so that's one part of the game I never want to lose."

It's the kind of refreshing mindset that helps keep the Panthers' receiving corps on track, and not falling apart when they roll into a practice on Wednesday without four starting pass-catchers: McMillan (calf), Ja'Tavion Sanders (ankle), Xavier Legette (hamstring), and Hunter Renfrow (personal reasons), in addition to Jalen Coker who is still in Injured Reserve.

"It's a unique opportunity to, you know, that's just part of NFL football," said quarterback Bryce Young "Practices, games, obviously, you're going to have movement, so I have confidence in all the guys here. We have a great group, so able to get some reps in with some different guys today, which I think is good for the team."

Tremayne, who has five catches for 63 yards through three games, used the time to add extra work with his quarterback.

"I think it's just being prepared, like trying to get prepared and being ready if guys can't go because you don't want to miss a beat as an offense because people can't go," said Tremayne. "So you know whether it's getting with Bryce, with coaches, with each other just to make sure we're on point."

Renfrow should be back soon. He was away on Wednesday as he and his wife welcomed a baby girl. McMillan said he feels good, the decision was cautious, and he's "expecting to play Sunday." Coach Dave Canales said the rookie receiver will be day-to-day, as well as Legette, while Sanders will be week-to-week with the ankle.

"We have to just push them," Canales said of McMillan and Legette. "We got to see what their capacity is and then make a decision from there."

In the meantime, players like Moore, Tremayne, and Jimmy Horn received a significant number of first-team reps.

"It's excellent opportunities for us to evaluate the guys and how we can count on them in different ways, run game, pass game, special teams, the different guys that are competing to find a way to help the team," continued Canales. "So today obviously with TMac and with X not practicing, we got to see a lot of Brycen Tremayne, a lot of David Moore out there, to be able to just fill in those roles and really just give them the intention and the targets that way."

And the Panthers' personal hype man, Moore, made sure they were ready and taking advantage of the extra time on task with Young.

"I mean, D-Mo just hypes everybody up, whether it's in the game, whether it's in the locker room right before we go out to practice, you know, if someone's feeling like 'Ah, we got practice today,' D-Mo's like, come on, let's go," shared Tremayne. "So, yeah, I would definitely consider D-Mo like the room's hype man. He's definitely the vet of the room, so I love having D-Mo in the room."

As the vet, who has been in this offense since entering the NFL in 2017, Moore was able to ensure neither he nor his younger counterparts wasted any practice time trying to play catch-up.

"I feel like it's always special to watch like somebody who's been in an offense for a long time like D-Mo," said Tremayne. "They know how to get open. In the past, offenses I've been in, like the vets, it's just fun watching them because the way they run their route, or getting open versus zone, or doing certain things that I've never seen before.

"Like D-Mo chops down the corner's hands when they come to grab him, and I've never even seen that before, but he does it better than I've ever seen, so it's cool watching the tricks that they've developed throughout their career."

Added Young, "Just his consistency, obviously on the field just being—especially with this coaching staff in different places—being consistent everywhere but it's really on how he carries himself and everything he does, consistent and, and showing up early, doing the little things and walk through and meetings, always locked in, knowing exactly what's going on, having the formations down, all that stuff, just that consistency, it builds trust within all of us.

While David Moore may be a hype man, one thing he isn't is a soothsayer; he wants to make that clear before previewing Sunday's Week 4 game against the Patriots.

"I don't know what's going to happen. I really can't see the future, I would say I need one of those crystal balls," laughed Moore, before continuing with his advice should a corps of younger pass-catchers join him on the field in New England.

"I would tell them boys don't think too much and then don't make it too big. Don't make the moment too big; just live in it and just continue to do what you've been doing all week, week to week, you know, treat it like practice. That's all you got to do is treat it like practice. They work so hard. And practice is supposed to be hard. That makes the games easier because the situations we have in practice are probably not going to happen in the game. Not that many reps back to back. But just have fun and don't make it bigger than what it is."

With that many pass-catchers down, Wednesday's practice could have been a wash. But the opportunity to find chemistry with a different set of receivers was crucial. And the Panthers had their secret weapon hype man to bridge the gap between scheme and youth, tapping into his energy and institutional knowledge of the offense to ensure no rep was lost.

"It's really just the consistency of how D-Mo shows up," praised Canales. "And he's an amazing human. He's always helping guys around him. He's always looking for ways to serve, and then when he's on the field, he gives everything he has, and that's the example that we love about D-Mo and the way he represents us. This is the style that we're looking for on the practice field, on the game field. How much can I do?

"That's somebody that we really just love having because he can go in there and catch a punt, and he's like I'm willing to help the team in any way possible and that's the type of mentality we have to have."