CHARLOTTE — Dave Canales couldn't help but smile as he searched for the right word, finally landing on "ornery."

"The fans are ornery," he laughed of the Philadelphia Eagles fan base. "They're loud, they'll talk to you… they're speaking directly to you and calling people out by name and like they're, it's an educated fan base."

Canales has asked the Carolina Panthers all season to figure out who they are and what this team is going to be both this season and moving forward. Going to Philly, playing in the cold against arguably the league's best team right now, and in front of the raucous fan base, will push the Panthers to find that identity.

"It calls something on you as a team to go in there and say, OK, look at this is good energy right here. This is a great fan base. Can we come in and execute and do the things that we're counting on regardless of the place, regardless of all the other things that are happening.

"It just requires us to keep the focus about us, knowing we're all we got."

The Panthers are hoping and planning that what they "got" on Sunday will include several key playmakers. Outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney didn't practice all week with a knee injury. He is officially listed as questionable, but coaches feel he will be on the field Sunday.

"I expect him to play right now," Canales said Friday of Clowney.

An experienced veteran, Clowney has the years and therefore luxury of being able to come prepared on a Sunday, even if he was unable to practice during the week. It's something Canales saw when both were in Seattle, and he's seen it again this year.

"He just has a plan, and he was really disciplined about that plan last year in Baltimore," Canales said. "We talked about that coming in like in terms of just getting him ready for Sundays, and that's the part that he's done a great job of, just making sure that he's available to help us out."

The defense could possibly get some more depth on Sunday with Jaden Crumedy. The rookie hasn't played in a game all season, spending the first two months on injured reserve.

"It's a matter of just availability, to get him out there to see what he can do," Canales said Friday when asked about the sixth-rounder. "And that's just again, those conversations that the coaches have about who gives us the best chance to execute our first, second down, third down plan right now."

Canales also went on to say they "fully expect" rookie tight Ja'Tavion Sanders (neck) to play. Rookie receiver Jalen Coker though is listed as doubtful and will be a decision made later in the weekend.

"We had him out there (Thursday), ran him around," Canales shared. "We had to shut him down halfway through, so a little bit of a recovery day today and then we're going to take a look at him again tomorrow to see what his status will be for the game."