CHARLOTTE —Everyone knew it would be different.

There were countless drills and hours watching tape to prepare for how different it would be. And while that paid off, muscle memory giving way to no major issues for the Panthers executing the NFL's new kickoff format in a game, there was still a moment of shock, realizing just how much it looked, well, different.

"Definitely felt weird the first time," said receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette, who had one kickoff return for 19 yards during the Panthers first preseason game versus the New England Patriots. "It's a lot going on.

"And it's really quick," added receiver David Moore, who had one kickoff return for 29 yards Thursday night. "It was different for sure. You ain't got to worry about nobody running 40 yards full speed. So that's fun."

The lack of barreling missiles disguised as coverage teams was part of the reasoning behind the league change to the format, hoping to reduce the speed of mid-field collisions. A result of that is that players aren't allowed to move until the returner catches the ball. The two returners can start moving early, to start tracking the ball.

The first time it's seen in real life, it feels like the mind is playing tricks. The ball is sailing, but the people are not. Even the returners, like D'Shawn Jamison , who had two returns for 52 yards with a long of 26, were thrown at first.

Asked if it was strange, seeing everyone stand still while he was already running, Jamison quickly and emphatically replied, "YES!"

"But at the same time, it feels great," he continued, "because now you have time to actually analyze and see what holes you need to go through or how to make your cuts and stuff."

The time and ability to analyze is the second part of why the NFL made changes to this section of the game following the lowest kickoff return output ever last season. Both Smith-Marsette and Moore answered in unison, "No," when asked if there was an advantage for the returner to have a head-start. Because the advantage is not so much in the speed, they've found after real game action, but choosing the most advantageous matchups.

"It's matchup based now," Smith-Marsette explained. "A lot of matchups; if the matchup favors somebody on whichever team it is, that's just what it is now…Basically, they move at the same time and if I'm more athletic than the person in front of me, I can beat them or if I'm bigger and stronger and I can get hands on this person, I can hold him down."

It's a matchup that a lot of teams are still figuring out during the preseason. Ahead of Saturday's preseason games, there had been 30 kickoff returns in games in five games. The best field position to that point was at the 36-yard line.

As the regular season gets rolling and game tape is more readily available, Moore said he'll watch opponents to see who is more of a "bully person" and who is a "speed person" to better choose his lanes ahead of time. Part and parcel with that is training the other 10 on the field to learn not just the rules of the kickoff return, but how their particular returner reacts to the options. It's something that stood out to Dave Canales in the game, and is shaping the teams approach to practicing the return in the remaining weeks of camp.

"Just see the challenges of the different angles of the blocks and the ball changes direction pretty quickly," Canales said of his biggest takeaway. "Very similar to an offensive play, that's a downhill run that bounces and all of a sudden, the blockers have to re-engage on the defender in space as they're running away from you. So, I just kind of noticed some of those challenges."

The parameters as a returner are completely different this year for Smith-Marsette, not just because of the new format, but also the new coaching staff. "The whole operation of how we go about returning kicks with the new coaching staff is completely different from the way I've usually done it," he said.

But they are also new for the coaches themselves, as Moore, who played under this offensive staff in Tampa Bay last year added. Regardless of what's changed, what could still change or just how different everything really is in the kickoff game, one thing remains the same.

"A lot more work to do on it, but I'm going to just keep on practicing and keep on perfecting my craft on it and," Jamison said, "and making sure I give my offense good field position."