CHARLOTTE — As the Panthers finished practice on Thursday, Dave Canales gathered his 90-man roster and told them, "guys you're ready; you're ready to play."

And, that means all of them are ready.

Canales told reporters Thursday that the hope is for starters to play, from quarterback Bryce Young on down. It means the preseason finale on Saturday against the Buffalo Bills will likely look different than the previous two, which featured no starters, and a decent handful of second-teamers.

With this in mind, here are five things to watch as the Panthers take on the Bills Saturday at 1pm in Orchard Park.

Bryce Young, come on down

Young, as mentioned, has not played in a preseason game yet this preseason. He played 54 snaps in the preseason as a rookie. Canales had not yet decided if Young's time in the game would be based on a drive count, snap count or production marker, merely promising he wouldn't pull the quarterback in the middle of a drive. But while fans don't yet know how long they'll see Young against the Bills defense, there are things to watch for in any number of plays.

Since arriving, Canales and staff have noted Young's ability to play well on the run, getting out of the pocket and finding plays downfield either on scrambles or designed bootlegs. Chances are Canales will keep the offense fairly vanilla on Saturday, not wanting to tip his playbook before the regular season, but watch for Young to use his legs more. What will be important to the Panthers is to see how comfortable Young looks when pass rushers are coming full speed and he's no longer in a no-contact jersey.

Furthermore, how does Young handle the operation between snaps, something Canales specifically mentioned wanting to see from his quarterback, with a year of experience under his belt. Does the offense lallygag out of the huddle, or move quickly? Are the pre-alignments correct, audibles handled well, etc. It will all be things that Young has done before, but is now doing it in a new offensive playbook.

Let's go with Legette

With starters playing, that presumably includes rookie receiver Xavier Legette. The first-round pick had a foot injury that kept him out of the beginning of training camp anyways, but he has been back for two weeks. Legette's connection with Young has steadily become stronger and stronger through camp, especially in the middle of the field, while the duo works to hit on the exact chemistry needed for the deep ball.

They could have more chances on Saturday, depending on the status of Diontae Johnson and Adam Thielen. The former missed Thursday's practice with an illness, and trainers will monitor his recovery before making a final decision on whether or not he plays versus the Bills.

"Just get him some rest, get him some recovery," Canales said of Johnson, "and then we'll go day-by-day to figure out if he's going to feel good enough to go on Saturday."

Thielen was sporting a calf wrap Thursday, after he was kicked in the leg a week earlier during joint practice with the Jets.

Legette has also been taking reps at kick returner in practice, so in addition to seeing how he can fit into the offense, fans could also be treated to watching the rookie in the third phase of the game.

Dichotomy of DB's

The Panthers defensive back units will look completely different, but for two different reasons. The safety room is near bursting, deep with what defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero has called three starting safeties and depth that has stepped up admirably in the preseason so far. Rookie Demani Richardson has done nothing but prove himself a ball hawk in practice and in games, Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott have proven why the Panthers nabbed them in free agency and the team recently acquired Rudy Ford, who has a track record as a reliable starter. Put them with veteran starter Xavier Woods, and solid holdovers like Alex Cook and Jammie Robinson, and it's a deep group even after the injury to special teamer Sam Franklin Jr..

The corner unit has been pieced back together this week, after injuries took a whack at the room. After playing rookie Chau Smith-Wade on the outside last week, despite having him back up Troy Hill at nickel most of camp, Saturday will be a chance to see who coaches are eyeing to start opposite Jaycee Horn. One option, who coaches will be seeing in action for the first time? Mike Jackson, who was acquired via trade on Thursday.

Bubble players battle

Saturday's minutes will be the last chance for a lot of guys to impress coaches and general manager Dan Morgan. Teams must cut down their roster from 90 players to 53, by Tuesday at 4pm. As Canales noted Thursday, "A lot of guys know how important this game is for the evaluation process."

Particular units to keep an eye on are wide receiver, where guys are still battling for final spots, tight end, to see if coaches are forced to keep a larger unit than normal, and as mentioned above, the safety unit, where coaches have a good problem in too many quality bodies.

Finding an identity

As Canales told his team following their final practice of the week, he feels they're ready. The message was a response to the team finishing all of their installs, preparing physically and now ready to put it all together in one last game before the regular season begins.

Now, it's about putting all of that together and finding out exactly who the Panthers are. It can take as long as it needs to take, but Canales will be looking for certain things on Saturday, and leading up to the season opener on September 8, to figure out what form this team will take.

"I'm looking for confidence and speed of play," Canales said. "So I know we're in our wheelhouse when our guys, they get up to the line fast, they come off the ball fast, they finish the plays. All of those things come alive when I know they're really focused and know exactly what they're doing.

"That's what's gonna tell us who we are and what we can execute."