CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers are back under the lights this Saturday night, with their second preseason game, this time against the New York Jets.

Dave Canales and crew already faced off against the Jets this week, in a joint practice on Thursday. The practice results will help determine a lot of how the game goes, Canales told reporters on Thursday afternoon.

Kickoff for Saturday is set for 7pm at Bank of America Stadium. With that in mind, here are the five things to watch in the game.

Will starters be playing?

Frankly, no one knows the answer to that question at this time, possibly not even the coaching staff. Dave Canales has maintained all week that he wanted to get through the joint practice and asses the roster for injuries and whatnot before making a decision. Wednesday and Thursday's practice then produced a string of injuries. The human reaction is then to protect as many starters as possible. Sheer number may mean that's not possible in every unit though.

On the offensive line, there were only five healthy dressed players by the end of the first preseason game. There were roster moves made this week to bring in new faces, but if the assumed starting five don't dress, that leaves just seven linemen to roll with into the game, including Mason Brooks who was claimed on Thursday.

"We have to see how we came out of this practice to just figure out our full numbers to see if, see what we can do in the game," Canales said.

"Who's available? That's going to kind of dictate a lot of what we want to do."

A battle at receiver

Receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. put together a highlight reel during Thursday's practice, capping what has been a solid camp for the fourth-year receiver. In his three previous seasons, Marshall Jr. has 64 receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown. But even as Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen have set themselves up as Bryce Young's top receivers heading into the season, TMJ has forced coaches to pay attention to the LSU alum.

"It's exciting, you know, it's definitely not out of the norm, for me, I feel like I come to work every day, do what I got to do," Marshall Jr. said. "It's just the hard work paying off."

His ascension also sets up an intriguing battle that will likely play out more during Saturday's game, as Marshall Jr., Ihmir Smith-Marsette and David Moore fight for not only snaps, but spots on a roster that will be cut down on August 27.

Jack vs. Jake

The Panthers were able to work Andy Dalton back into practice this week, a welcome development in relation to Saturday's game. If the veteran passer plays, his familiarity with the offense and personnel will help coaches evaluate guys like the above mentioned receivers a little better.

However, the real quarterback battle lies in the third spot. Jack Plummer played the majority of snaps last week versus New England, with Jake Luton getting in late in the game. The rookie Plummer went 11-21 for 86 yards, while Luton went 7-9 for 38 yards in his limited snaps. As roster decisions loom, Canales is watching the two QBs closely, in practice and in games.

Teams ability to activate an emergency third quarterback off the inactive list during games now (if the first two are injured) makes the preseason snaps even more important to watch than in seasons past.

"It behooves all of us to utilize that third quarterback potential call up guy," Canales said Thursday. "When you have someone that you can trust to be available in an emergency situation, like it's a good deal. So we just have to look at the roster and try to make sure we do that. And, you know, Jack and Jake are, are showing us, they're going to be able to show us every day, whether they can be that guy and we'll give them all the opportunities we can, to do that."

Secondary's seconds holding it down

The secondary, like every other unit last week, sat all of their starters versus New England. With Xavier Woods now dealing with a groin injury that Canales said could cost him "a couple of weeks" and Dane Jackson now out for "six weeks-ish" according to Canales with a hamstring issue, the secondary will be even more dependent on young guys.

Luckily for Ejiro Evero, those young guys have made a habit of swarming in recent days. Versus the Patriots, D'Shawn Jamison had three pass break-ups and Lamar Jackson added two of his own. Then in Thursday's joint practice, Chau Smith-Wade flashed with a PBU on Aaron Rodgers and Garrett Wilson, and the former was picked off twice; once by Alex Cook and another by rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace.

Despite the relative youth of the depth players, Jaycee Horn declared "I believe in the guys here. They're taking strides every day, getting better."

While it's highly unlikely Aaron Rodgers plays Saturday night, the Jets still have four other quarterbacks to test a young secondary. If they step up to the challenge again, it gives the Panthers quality depth heading into the season.

Special teams, special players

Dave Canales' staff will get to see Eddy Piñeiro kick in a game Saturday night, testing the veteran's leg on kickoffs, and ideally, extra points and/or field goals. The club only kicked rookie Harrison Mevis against the Patriots, but Mevis was waived on Sunday. Piñeiro went 5-7 from 50-plus yards last season and Canales has mentioned wanting to take chances to kick long field goals in preseason games, to get an idea of where they can safely trust their kicker's leg in the season.

The Jets did not punt at all during Thursday's practice, and Canales told reporters afterwards it's because they were without their long snapper at the time. If that's the case again on Saturday night, it will give the Panthers defense an opportunity to face a lot of fourth-down alignments.