CHARLOTTE — Every week, NFL teams are obliged to say that they treat every game the same and approach it the same way.

At the same time, there's a recognition that that guy on the other sideline this week, that's Patrick Mahomes.

So even when they do their best to keep their focus on the task at hand, there's also a recognition that he's different, that he's a two-time MVP, and three-time Super Bowl champion (who, oh by the way, lost his first game of the season last week).

"I have a ton of respect for him, you know," Panthers quarterback Bryce Young said Wednesday. "All the stuff he's been able to accomplish. Whenever in these last couple of years we have mutual opponents, and I've been able to watch them, I try to do everything I can. Obviously, I'm watching the defense that they're playing, but also just being a fan of the game, being a fan of football, the greatness he has is something that I'm always watching when I'm watching the film; it's something that I'm always looking at and seeing.

"Just as a student of the game, as a fan of football, someone I have a ton of respect for, always looking out for, always watching."

Few of the players on this roster were around for the 33-31 loss in 2020, the only time the Panthers have faced him since he was drafted in 2017. (Only safety Sam Franklin Jr., right tackle Taylor Moton, and long snapper JJ Jansen remain from that game.)

But those who know him better know how dangerous he can be at any moment.

Linebacker Josey Jewell has seen him many times from his days with the Broncos and even picked him off twice in a 2022 loss (Jewell is 1-9 against Mahomes all time). So he knows you can't get wrapped up in the star power.

I've played them quite often, so I guess I maybe the first couple of games I thought about it," he said. "But after that, he's just a very talented QB, and you've got to be ready in all phases."

As someone who has studied plenty of film of Mahomes, Jewell knows the Chiefs quarterback's ability to make those off-schedule throws he's famous for requires a certain discipline.

"Sometimes you can get away with not covering a guy for the last second of the down maybe because the QB can't see, or maybe he's running out of bounds," Jewell said. "But you know, with Pat, you've got to be ready for every second of the down, including the last, just because as he's running out of the bounds, usually he'll try to whip it in there and throw him backside.

"He's not afraid to throw across his body and do all that stuff, so you've got to be really good at the basics, right?"

Outside linebacker D.J. Wonnum has only played against Mahomes once (the Vikings lost 27-20 to the Chiefs in 2023), but he echoed a lot of those rules as well.

"You can't really think about it, man," Wonnum said. "You just got to go play. You can't play scared against him. You just got to go. I mean, obviously, he's going to make his plays, but we got to eliminate the amount of plays he makes; you've just got to go, man."

For Jewell, who saw him twice a year, the novelty wore off years ago. But since the Vikings didn't see him often, Wonnum admitted there were some teammates who sought Mahomes out after the game.

"I've been playing good players my entire life, so it's not really nothing different to you," Wonnum said. "I mean, obviously after the game, it's like, oh shoot, I just played Pat Mahomes, I just played Lamar Jackson, but going into the game, we're all dogs. We've all got that mentality that we're going to get each other.

"Once you start to overthink stuff, that's when you start to play bad, that's when you start to mess up, so we've just got to go in, we know what to do, and do our jobs. We can't have any errors because that's where they capitalize, so we've just got to come ready and be locked in."

These Chiefs may not have the vintage offenses fans remember in years past (they rank 11th in the league in scoring and 16th in yards per game). But it's still Mahomes, and it's still Andy Reid (the guy Dave Canales admires and slid up next to at his first league meeting as a head coach), so they know they have to be buttoned up.

But since Canales is the guy in charge, it's his duty to make it the same as every other week, or at least that they talk about it that way.

"Honestly, we just try to keep the focus on us," Canales said. "I know you guys are probably expecting me to say that, but it's the truth. Can we play our schemes? Can we own our leverage? Can we be tough against the run, and can we affect the passer with our rush and be disciplined about our rush lanes? Because we know he's going to move and do those things. So, it's about sticking to our plan,, the different things that we're practicing on and making sure that we execute play-in and play-out."

That's what a coach says every week. Against someone like Mahomes, believing it and living it is even more important.