CHARLOTTE— His name is Smith, Tracy Smith.

His job? International spy.

His mission? Classified.

Well, his mission is to win a football game, but anything beyond that is classified and he's already shared too much. But the mustache said it all.

"Now this is just in case I get into an international spy situation where they need some help," Smith surreptitiously explained Thursday. "I'm getting ready to enforce whatever America needs me for out there on the road."

Presumably all America will need from Smith on the road is an entertaining football game as the Carolina Panthers take on the New York Giants this weekend in Munich. And he'll have a whole team of people alongside him to make that happen.

One of those assets is Lonnie Johnson. The veteran gunner has developed a reputation for being an enforcer and antagonizer, something the Panthers are happy to use to their advantage.

"He is an exceptional physical fast player who is into every play when he's out there. He's playing at max effort at all times. So, that kind of guy, if you're not ready for that matchup as an opponent, you can get rankled by it from time to time," Smith said.

"He's playing on the edge of physicality and speed for everyone. So, I love, love the way he plays. The effort he brings, the attitude he brings."

Big man, big bucks

The Panthers laid a big foundational piece for the future on Thursday, signing running back Chuba Hubbard to a four-year extension. The signing helps fortify the club's identity as a run first team and celebrates years of work put in by Hubbard to become a current Top 5 rusher in the league.

Hubbard's ability to carry a team's rushing attack has been polished over the years, helping lead offensive coordinator Brad Idzik's unit. But Idzik saw that ability years ago, from a young kid in Canada whom the then graduate assistant at Stanford wanted to bring to America.

"I was 22 years old, first year coaching and part of my recruiting responsibility was to scour the internet with guys who had good grades, finding good tape," Idzik recalled. "And there's this guy up in Canada playing on different surfaces, playing with a different level of talent, but he was just trucking guys and running around him and I brought him to our staff."

There was a roadblock in the difference in school grades from Canada to the States, along with details on a different type of standardized tests that Idzik couldn't remember on the details on; but it prevented Hubbard from looking closely at Stanford. He played at Oklahoma State instead, becoming a fourth-round pick for the Panthers.

And Idzik finally got the guy he wanted years ago.

"It's funny when you, I'm not going to knock high school Canadian football, but Chuba was on a different level than those guys he was playing against and at his high school level," Idzik said.

"But he was, again, he showed a combination of footwork, size, speed, and then finishing runs like we all know how he finishes his runs here and he typically always falls forward. Well, he was rarely falling in high school. Not many guys could wrap their arms around him and bring him down.

"But the guy was physical and that brand of football, it inspires the whole team, whether it's offense, defense, special teams and that's where we're seeing a big piece of culture, not only the intangible leadership, but the way and the style that he runs the ball, it just, it galvanizes the team."

A bolster for the defensive line

The Panthers activated defensive lineman Jaden Crumedy to the 53-man roster off of injured reserve on Wednesday, as the rookie nears the end of his rehab stint. Crumedy was placed on IR in August with an ankle injury.

Crumedy was activated, along with rookie running back Jonathon Brooks at the end of his 21-day window, but Dave Canales said on Wednesday it was still too soon to tell when he'd play.

"We still got to evaluate (Wednesday and Thursday) as far as if they're up or not for the game. We'll make that decision later on in the week, but we will expect those guys to be on the team."

Whenever Crumedy can be plugged into the defensive line, even as a rookie, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero sees a big body ready to make an impact.

"It's kind of funny, I was telling one of our performance guys the other day, because we haven't really been spending a lot of time with him just because he hasn't been on the field and all that, I almost felt like he got bigger since the IR situation. And so really credit to him what he's doing in the weight room and all that," Evero praised on Thursday.

In his final season at Mississippi State, Crumedy had 35 tackles, three-and-a-half for loss, plus two-and-a-half sacks and two pass deflections. The sixth-rounder was able to participate in all offseason activities before his ankle injury.

"One thing I know is that he works and that's a fact and since the day he got here in the classroom and on the practice field," Evero said.

"He's been getting better with his technique and fundamentals. Again, all of those guys tend to get better with the way Coach Wash works them. And so, yeah, we're excited about what he can do and obviously it really matters when we do it in the game. And so when he gets that opportunity, whenever that may present itself, we're excited to see what he can do."

Windmon returns to practice squad

The Panthers signed linebacker Jacoby Windmon to the practice squad on Thursday. The rookie UDFA originally joined the Panthers in mid-October when he was signed to the active roster, off the Steelers practice squad.

Windmon has appeared in three games since arriving, in Week 7, Week 8 and Week 9. During that time, he has one tackle and has appeared on 54 percent of special teams snaps.

In a corresponding move, the club released linebacker Chandler Wooten from the practice squad.