CHARLOTTE — Panthers left guard Damien Lewis has taken to calling this year's interior three "mean, tough, and nasty," though he sometimes changes up who's who.

Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu would like to add to that slogan, and he has a specific word in mind.

When asked which one of the group that including Lewis, Austin Corbett, and Robert Hunt was mean, which was tough, and which was nasty, Ekwonu had a hard time settling on one answer.

"I think that's everybody, I think that's all of them," Ekwonu said. "I think maybe in some moments, the meanness comes out in other guys, and then some moments of toughness comes out, but I feel like they all kind of have the same traits. So it just depends on the situation, I guess.

"So, I'm all of them too, mean tough, nasty, all that. I'll throw another one, I'll throw dominant in there too. That's what we want to do. That's what we want the narrative to be about the offensive line. That we're going to move the ball, we're going to run the ball, we're going to impose our will and I feel like, you know, the more and more we get to work together, the more we're gonna see that come to fruition."

Ekwonu knows better than anyone; that was not the narrative last year when the Panthers were last in the league in total offense, didn't run as much as they wanted because they were always behind, and gave up 65 sacks in 17 games. Playing seven different left guards and eight different right guards over the course of an injury-plagued season didn't help, which led to a makeover this offseason.

By spending so much money on Lewis and Hunt in free agency and moving Corbett inside to play center, they took the first step toward establishing that personality. But by emphasizing the run game, they're playing to the strengths of Ekwonu.

While he struggled as a pass-protector last year, he went 10 games without allowing a sack as a rookie when the team was playing more of a run-focused offense. So he's relieved to get back to his strength, and so are his coaches.

Offensive line coach Joe Gilbert referred back to scouting Ekwonu coming out of college before the Panthers took him No. 6 overall and said he still sees signs of the player he graded highly. So when he arrived here this offseason alongside head coach Dave Canales, he put together a cut-up of Ekwonu's last season and went through the good and the bad.

"I think the biggest thing with Ickey is obviously consistency, and he's a guy that wants it," Gilbert said. "He works hard. And that's the biggest thing for me that I've been working with him is just trying to be more consistent on a daily basis. He's fun to work with, he's got a great personality, and that's part of it. But it's the every day of just being consistent and telling him, hey, the great ones do the same thing over and over again, and they get really good at it. And I think that he's starting to buy in."

Gilbert said he saw signs today in practice — when the run game had a particularly good day — that Ekwonu was beginning to "slow down" and apply the lessons in real-time.

"I think he's getting there," Gilbert said. "Are we there yet? No. "But I think he's getting there for sure."

Gilbert said that looking back at the N.C. State version of Ekwonu, he saw a few of the same things that popped up last year and that they're working to clean up now.

"We're in this together, there's no question about that," Gilbert said. "And the positive with him is he sees it, and when he has a bad day, . . . There was a practice that he went out there; it wasn't from a lack of effort or anything like that, but he was kind of inconsistent with some of those things, and when he looked at it, I said, all right, what do you think? He goes, I agree with you, it's not good enough. So, it's that part of it when he starts seeing it himself. That's when you really start making some progress."

— Veteran wideout Adam Thielen and right tackle Taylor Moton had veteran days, though Moton did some early individual work.

That left Brady Christensen working at right tackle with the starters. Until Yosh Nijman returns from the physically unable to perform list, Christensen is likely the backup tackle and one of the backup guards (and maybe the backup center, though the recent return of Cade could knock him down to four jobs).

Canales called Christensen's versatility "a blessing," as the former college left tackle was the 17-game starter here at left guard in 2022 before he was injured in last year's opener, triggering the avalanche of guards.

"The flip side of it is what I would love is to just let Brady settle into a couple spots instead of having the ability to play all five," Canales said. "Doesn't mean you really necessarily should because there's reps, there's time on task. And so as we go forward, really honing in on our group and saying, OK, where does Brady help us most spots?"

— Ekwonu walked into the press room wearing a clean new Providence Day shirt Wednesday, honoring his alma mater's appearance in Thursday's Keep Pounding Classic at Bank of America Stadium, featuring Independence vs. Myers Park at 4 p.m., followed by the Chargers against Weddington at 8 p.m.

"What, this old thing," Ekwonu said with a grin.

Ekwonu will be serving as honorary captain for his old school, which played in the inaugural event here last year against Rock Hill's Northwestern High.

https://www.panthers.com/photos/keep-pounding-classic-providence-day-vs-northwestern#020786a4-ea4b-4bd6-8de1-542f279e69ec

"I had to had to show some love," Ekwonu said. "I wanted to talk about how excited I am. Obviously, we're able to do this in the second year.

"Moving forward, I think it'll definitely be a staple of Charlotte football in the next couple of years. So definitely excited to see two schools that are very dear to my heart."

Tickets are available by clicking here.

— Give Dave Canales credit; he has self-awareness.

He's usually bouncing into his press conference with some pithy remark, and he recognized it Wednesday.

"Good morning. A great day," he said before catching himself. "I say that a lot. It was a great day."