CHARLOTTE — When you see cornerback Jaycee Horn serving as the spiritual leader of the Panthers defense on the field, leading the cheers when a teammate creates a turnover or makes a play, it makes sense because that's kind of who he is, a big personality with the talent to match.

Same when you see Derrick Brown, the cornerstone defensive tackle, leading every line in sprints and drills all offseason because his work ethic defines him as much as his ability.

But when you watch those two and broaden your scope, you quickly realize they're among the few consistent things about the Panthers defense this year. Even 10th-year linebacker Shaq Thompson's almost new to this since he broke his ankle in Week 2 of his first season under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero

It's a completely different look on the field in the early days of training camp, in part because it needed to be.

"It feels like I'm on a new team even though I'm still on the Panthers because we lost so many of our leaders on defense," Horn said this week. "So, it's just a new challenge, new team, new vibe."

Horn was quick to say it's coming together quickly, and he remains confident in the group — which could be significantly better in a few areas.

"I still think we could be one of the top defenses in the league," Horn said. "That's how I go into every year. We have a thing where it doesn't matter who's out there; we play to the same standard. So that's what we're trying to do."

But make no mistake, the Panthers are going to have to play defense differently this year, even though the scheme and the coaching staff on that side of the ball remains the same.

If you wanted to cherry-pick a stat, saying the Panthers were fourth in the league in yards allowed last year might suggest they were good at it. But they were also 29th in the league in points allowed. That was part of the systemic failure of last season — the offensive breakdown kept opponents from needing to drive the length of the field often or needing to throw in the fourth quarter since they always led. The Panthers didn't hold the lead for a single second of a fourth quarter last year, which also helped depress the pass-rush numbers.

About that.

They were also last in the league with just 27 sacks, again partly a function of not having as many pass-rush opportunities late in games.

But if changes were in order, change came quickly. Of that sack total, 24.5 of them are gone, beginning with Brian Burns (8.0) and Frankie Luvu (5.5), but encompassing practically everyone else that touched a quarterback. Only Brown (2.0) and Shy Tuttle (0.5) recorded a sack last season and also returned to this team.

So yes, it's very different.

When asked this week if he thought this year's defense would have to play differently, rookie head coach Dave Canales agreed.

"I think we should," Canales said. "I think offensively, defensively, this isn't just about Panthers 2024. Everywhere I've been, every year is a little bit different. You have different pieces up front, outside, in the skill spots on both sides of the ball.

"And I think that what I've learned about our staff on both sides is a commitment and a willingness to find who we are this year, you know, and to continue to look forward and press into the things we do well, with the new group. So I would say, yeah, and to an extent, there will be some things we'll do differently based on having new people. But there are those core tenets that we believe in that will come to life in one way or another."

It's not just replacing the sack numbers, either. As presently constructed, the Panthers don't have the kind of pass-rush ammunition they've had in the past. While free agent outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney has 52.5 career sacks (and that's a great place to start), it's otherwise thin at the moment. Fellow free agent and projected starter D.J. Wonnum has 23.0 career sacks (and that's also solid), but he hasn't stepped on the practice field yet after complications from an offseason surgery.

There are only 9.5 career sacks on the rest of the outside linebacker depth chart, which is part of the reason the Panthers continue to work out any available free agents and keep an eye on the waiver wire. Clowney's a known commodity and looks good so far, but he shrugged off the lack of certainty on the other side because he's confident in other parts of the front seven.

"I think we do got the guys in the interior," he said. "The interior push as far as what we got inside, it's gonna be great."

Between the pair of veteran inside linebackers (Thompson and Josey Jewell), and an upgraded front with A'Shawn Robinson joining Brown and Tuttle, there is more stability there.

And that's fine with Canales at the moment. He might be young and full of energy, but he also has a traditional view of the game at times.

"My hope and my heart is that we're able to run the ball with efficiency and that we're able to stop the run," Canales said, using words you'd more likely expect out of John Fox or Ron Rivera (or even Dom Capers).

"To me, historically, the best teams I've been on have an ability to control that part of the game, he continued. "The pass game, as we all know, it's harder. So the run game is just making sure we spend that time invested in it."

Even before the pads come on next week, you can see an emphasis on that in practice. They've worked steadily on the run game in the first two practices, and Canales said he's looking for precision and communication during these less-contact segments.

There's obviously room for improvement there. The Panthers were 23rd in the league in run defense last year. Realistically, they were middle-of-the-pack there, but never having the lead late meant opponents were often trying to run out clocks, hence being 28th in the league in rushing attempts allowed.

But they gained size up front by going from the 6-1, 295-pound DeShawn Williams to the 6-4, 330-pound Robinson in the starting lineup. They should also be more stable in the middle since Thompson's injury left them with a miscast Luvu calling signals next to a revolving door of less-than-ideal replacements. So it's reasonable to imagine a vastly improved run defense.

Canales also said he's encouraged by the communication through the secondary, pointing to safety Xavier Woods, veteran nickel Troy Hill, and even backup safety Alex Cook (who had a pick-six in practice this week). With safeties Jordan Fuller and Nick Scott bringing their Evero background from the Rams, that should be a benefit.

But Clowney knows that the progress they make up front will be determinative for this group.

"I feel like the defense sets the tone itself as far as the guys up front, the front seven," he said. "Always to me, that's always been a tone-setter. So it's going to come down to the front, that's why I tell everybody every year. If we don't do our job up front, we have no chance in the back end. Them guys can't cover forever. So it's going to come down to the front seven every year."

Asked if that puts a certain pressure on him, he laughed.

"Ain't no pressure on me," he said. "I'm just here to play. That's what I've been doing all my career. I don't really care about the outside (noise). I know what I can bring to the team at this point. I've been talked about my whole career. What kind of pressure can you put on me now?"

Of course, as Canales and Evero get to know this personnel, there's also the possibility that the structure of the defense could change. If you don't have a glut of pass-rush coming from the edge, you might have to blitz more. That creates a different strain, one which could be covered by the ability to communicate that Canales referenced.

The one thing we know for sure is that this is a completely different product, one which will likely evolve over the coming months. And that could be a good thing. Time will tell.