CHARLOTTE — As you might imagine, "Tell the Truth Monday" wasn't a festive occasion for the Panthers after their 40-7 loss at Washington the day before.

And upon reflection and seeing all the things that went wrong, Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Monday it was as hard to stomach the second time as the first.

"Just a humbling film to watch," Canales began. "Looking at all phases in the corrections, the fundamental things that we need to improve upon, and just went right to the truth of it, you know, just looking at the film, and everybody taking accountability for the different things that we can improve upon in the different areas.

"Certainly, in all phases, it's tough to look at the truth of what it is, but that's all we can do is look at those things, start with the basics and the fundamentals of it, and just take it head on and attack it again this week in practice."

The first and most obvious challenge was the two early turnovers since Canales stresses the importance of the ball in every press conference. Quarterback Andy Dalton admitted Sunday he should have thrown the first one into the dirt on an unfortunate screen attempt to Miles Sanders, which was returned 67 yards for a touchdown by Washington linebacker Dante Fowler Jr.

The second, which Dalton described as a "miscommunication" with wide receiver Diontae Johnson, was another play they went through in detail when they wanted the film.

"They talked through that. I want to keep those conversations private between the two guys," Canales said.

Of course, the problems were hardly limited to the offense, as they allowed 214 rushing yards, and Washington scored on eight of its first nine possessions.

Sticking with Andy Dalton at quarterback

With the team at 1-6 after a fourth straight loss, Canales got plenty of questions about the status of former starter and former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

Canales made it clear they were sticking with Dalton as the starter for this week's game at Denver and didn't entertain "hypotheticals" when asked about potential trades, saying there are plenty of discussions about personnel with Dan Morgan and Brandt Tilis.

"We're focused on the Broncos, Andy's playing this week, and that's really where our focus is at," Canales said. "And all those other conversations or all hypothetical conversations that, Dan and Brandt, that we have to have, but right now we're focused on playing the Broncos and focus on getting Andy to take another step in terms of getting us back to good football."

There were multiple opportunities to talk about Young's status, and Canales said he understood the importance of the questions, considering the investment made in Young.

"Absolutely. Completely sensitive to the questions, and they're not unfounded and unbased," Canales said. "But from my perspective, I'm trying to get a team to continue to take strides and take steps and that's where my focus has to be.

"It has to be on getting Andy to play his best football with this group. A group that has shown promises and then a group that has shown to struggle, like, what are those struggles, and what can I do as a coach to put ourselves in the best situation? So that's really where I can focus my energy on."

Young has also taken the diplomatic high road when asked about his status, including saying Sunday he was grateful for his opportunity to play deep in a big loss for the second time in three games.

"Obviously it's a hard situation," left tackle Ikem Ekwonu said Monday. "Something I can't really, I don't have the experience to talk about, but obviously Bryce has been great for us in this role.

"It could have been really easy to kind of just pout around and just have all the attention on him and kind of just make it like a sore spot for this team, and he's done a great job of kind of just being that leader that we needed to be, and just playing that role needed to play right now.

"Obviously, it's not a role that he decided for. Obviously, he wants to be out there playing with us...so big shout out to Bryce for how he's handling this whole thing."

Dislocated shoulder for returner Raheem Blackshear

Kick returner Raheem Blackshear was getting more tests Monday, but Canales said he suffered a dislocated shoulder on the play where the ball came loose Sunday.

"The MRI and everything came back looking as good as it could for that," Canales said. "So he'd be day to day right now."

Canales said he'd hold off on any other updates until Wednesday. The Panthers do have some players eligible to begin the process of coming back from IR, including wide receiver Adam Thielen and safety Jordan Fuller, but there were no details.

The 30,000-foot view

Cornerback Dane Jackson got his first action of the season on Sunday, after spending the preview six weeks on injured reserve (hamstring). The time spent on the sidelines now coupled with his time on the field means Jackson has both a big picture view and an up-close view of what some of the issues on defense have been.

"I just think we got to execute, you know what I mean? Coaches harp on it all the time, just execution, doing your job, not trying to do somebody else's job, just doing your job and I think we'll get the results that we want," Jackson offered on Monday.

"I think it's kind of just a want to. Not saying no guys out there don't want to. I know we all do. We all have mental errors and things we wish we could get back as well too. But just technique, wrapping up, just little things like that, like I said, just things the coaches harp on all day long."

Coaches have also harped on the energy Jackson brings in practice and now the games. Knowing so much of what needs to be addressed can be centered around playing harder and faster, Jackson – who finished with four tackles, including one for loss – is working to raise the that "want to" level of his teammates.

"I just kind of wanted to bring, I guess my personal energy out there," Jackson said. "I feel like I just, I'm just a guy that just plays, just love the game of football. So, I just kind of try to have a lot of other people feed off me as other guys was doing out there. But that's really my main thing just trying to bring some personal energy back to the group."