NEW ORLEANS— Coming into Sunday, Dave Canales was admittedly looking forward to watching the defense come together. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero had a lot of new faces, but the amalgamation was a group that had all played in Evero's system before, save cornerback Mike Jackson. It should have been a cohesive unit, at least on paper. It was anything but on Sunday.

"That's something that I was really looking forward to and hoping it came alive," Canales said.

Instead, a disconnect in communication plagued the Panthers from opening to closing play.

"I feel like this is the first time that we all really got to know each other on the field," outside linebacker Eku Leota said.

The Panthers only played their starters, offense and defense, for one drive during the preseason, something Canales said on Sunday, "all matters, it all counts. So that's something we got to think about."

It began with an opening drive that was capped by a 59-yard touchdown courtesy of busted coverage. Safety Jordan Fuller, acquired via free agency this spring after four years with the Los Angeles Rams, was brief but brutally honest about the play following the Panthers loss.

"It was my fault. I won't give you the coverage, but it was my fault," Fuller said after the game.

One play does not a loss make, however. The Saints scored on their first nine possessions, the only punts coming after posting five touchdowns and four field goals, resulting in a 47-10 loss for the Panthers opener.

Asked if it felt like the game was on top of them before they could breathe, safety Nick Scott immediately responded: "Yeah, for sure. There's some plays a lot of guys want back. I know they're probably harping on that first play in the first quarter with J-Full, but I was telling Jaycee (Horn), and Jaycee knows it, Fuller is one of the smartest, most reliable players I've ever played with."

Scott played three years with Fuller in Los Angeles in the same secondary.

"I was just encouraging those guys, like always trust him," Scott said. "He made a mistake. But he's a guy that we're going to need to lean on week in and week out because the fact of the matter is he's a general, and he's a guy that's going to get guys on the same page and plays like that he had today, that's an anomaly. That's not who Jordan Fuller is and never will be."

It's the attitude Canales asked of his players following the loss.

"We'll all take our measure of responsibility," Canales continued, promising he'll also examine his part of the defensive breakdown. "What was my approach like offensively to not put us in situations to where we had to wait so many drives to get our first completion."

To that point, the defense got little time after the first touchdown drive. On the Panthers' offensive first play from scrimmage, quarterback Bryce Young threw an interception that gave the Saints the ball back, already in Carolina territory. The defense held the Saints to a field goal in the situation and did the same after the second turnover of the day.

It was not enough, though, to stop the bleeding. And while quarterback Derek Carr went 19-23 for 200 yards and three touchdowns, no interceptions, the most painful gashing came on the ground. There, the Saints went for 180 yards and two touchdowns on 37 carries. They rode their two-headed bell-cow of Alvin Kamara (15 carries for 83 yards and a score) and Jamaal Williams (11 carries for 38 yards and a touchdown).

Williams' touchdown came in the fourth quarter, the final score, and was emblematic of the day, as he wove through traffic 14-yards to pay dirt.

The rush defense was an area the Panthers felt confident in during the offseason after bringing in free agent A'Shawn Robinson to partner alongside Derrick Brown and Shy Tuttle and adding outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney. The pass rush opposite Clowney was where Canales told reporters earlier in the week he was prepared "to live with some of the lumps." In reality, it became something of a bright spot.

Leota, the second-year linebacker, was in on the game's first drive. He shared snaps with DJ Johnson throughout the game, but Leota made an impression, taking advantage of the Saints focusing on Clowney to pick up four tackles, including three for loss and a sack, and a quarterback hurry.

"Just being able to roll off the ball," Leota offered as to why coaches trusted him with so much responsibility in Week 1. "That's what my coach told me, to roll off the ball and just hitting whatever you see first."

But as is the case with much of the defense, Leota knows there's much to do between now and next week.

"Just having a better eye control next week's going to help me out."

The ability to look ahead, after a day in which the defense gave up a total of 379 net yards, 22 first downs, and the aforementioned nine scoring drives, is what gives Scott confidence that any communication issues experienced in the raucous Caesars Superdome with upwards of six new faces taking over primary duties, can be addressed.

"In my experience, the best teams are the teams that get better each week, right," Scott said. "Your Week 1 is never going to look like your Week 17. So the goal now is just to keep gelling, keep meshing together as a group and getting better and getting these snaps and making sure that each week we get closer to seeing everything the same when we're out there.

"But right now, take this experience to take snaps together as a unit, and we're going to get that."

As A'Shawn Robinson walked off the field, he caught up to defensive line coach Todd Wash. He put a hand on Wash's shoulder and squeezed, offering a small smile. It was a comfort and a promise, one that Canales echoed.

"I still believe it will (come alive)," the coach said. "When you have that many guys who have played a lot of football in this scheme, they'll figure it out."