CHARLOTTE — Brad Idzik started his Thursday press conference by letting those in the assembled media know he was thankful for everyone there. That may have just been the holiday spirit still driving the offensive coordinator's attitude, but we appreciate the sentiment regardless.

Another thing to be thankful for as we get into the swing of this holiday season is a chance to take to the field again. Even if taking to the field this week means facing the league's top rushing attack.

The Panthers' defense has seen progress and growth recently, but defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero knows more is needed.

"We've played two good football teams the last two weeks," Evero said Thursday. "We've played good enough in moments, but we all know that moments don't count. We've got to find a way to get those results. And so that's what we continue to strive for."

Scrambling man

Since taking back over as the starter in Week 8, quarterback Bryce Young has unlocked a part of his game again that had been noticeably missing since coming from college to the league: the scramble.

But during the five-game stretch as the starter, Young has scrambled 12 times, which is 11th most overall by a quarterback in that span, according to Next Gen Stats. That is 6.4 percent of the time on dropbacks. Some scrambles give receivers time to come open and Young to find them accordingly. Other times, he takes off to pick up the yardage on his own. In doing so, he has scrambled for 61 yards in the last five games.

"You couple a lot of that stuff with decisiveness, getting through your reads and canceling things out down the field," explained offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. "He's doing a great job of staying in there when we ask him to and getting through his full progressions. But the second, the time clock goes off in your head, and you're decisive, ok, now it's time to roll."

"He's got a real good comfort zone of when that is, and it's either try to extend the play for a scramble drill or scramble forward, which I think has happened more times than not lately, scrambling forward with your eyes downfield and if the defense isn't respecting you, he's been very decisive, just like he has in his reads, to just tuck it away and take what's given."

Quarterbacks have scrambled against the Eagles 24 times or on 5.4 percent of dropbacks. The unit is seventh in the league in sacks, with 36 total.

A mentor matchup

Sunday will bring a tough matchup for the Panthers defense and Evero, but it will also give the DC a chance to reconnect with his mentor. Vic Fangio, longtime NFL coach—including a stint as the first DC for the Carolina Panthers —is the current defensive coordinator for the Eagles.

Fangio and Evero first crossed paths in San Francisco when the former was DC, and the latter worked his way up from quality control coach to defensive assistant under the coach. Fangio became an important voice in Evero's life and has remained a guiding force in the young coach's career since then.

"Vic is, in my opinion, one of the best coaches in this league," Evero said. "He's a great defensive mind and passionate about the game, not the most out boisterous personality, but like the one thing that guys that have been around Vic know, that he admires his players and cares about his players, as much as any coach in this league.

"And so, I have a high, high amount of respect for him and learned so much from him. Obviously, a lot of what we do now kind of stems back to what I learned from my days with him in San Francisco. And so, great, great coach, great mentor, and I'm always still watching those Eagles games. I try to see if there's anything I could take away from him."

A Pro Bowl Caliber Guy

Panthers running back and return man Raheem Blackshear has steadily climbed the Pro Bowl voting this week. Blackshear is second in the league overall with 679 kickoff return yards (an average of 25.1 yards per return). He also has 144 yards on punt returns, averaging nine yards per return.

Pro Bowl votes can be subjective and fan-based, but Blackshear's attitude day in and day out is what helps him stand out as a Pro Bowl-caliber guy to his coaches and teammates.

"Raheem is an exceptionally hard worker," special teams coordinator Tracy Smith bragged on Thursday. "It's incredibly important to him. He's the last one to leave practice. He's out there every day catching, working on his skills, turning himself into the best player he can be.

"He wants to be out there. He wants to be on the coverage units. What can I do this week? What can we do? He's kind of always thirsting for more action on the field. He gets frustrated; you see him on any touchback; he wants to make plays. So, his desire to be good matches with his work ethic and he's kind of benefiting from both of those things combined."

Fans can vote on who they'd like to see as the representatives in the annual Pro Bowl games here.

Clowney pushing to play

Jadeveon Clowney has been held out of practice twice this week, with a continued nagging in his knee. Clowney told reporters on Thursday that the catalyst wasn't one particular thing in any recent game but more so, "playing a long time, that's all."

His status for Sunday's game against the Eagles is still unknown, but Clowney isn't giving up hope.

"We'll see. Few days out, a couple of days to heal up. But I've been working all week to try to get back. I have a couple more days to go; see how I go. Hopefully, I can get out there this week."

Clowney has 33 tackles and 3.5 sacks so far this season.