CHARLOTTE — It's hard to adapt to losing a player with as much seasoning as Adam Thielen.

It helps when you have a few different flavors to choose from.

Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson said Thursday that the remaining wideouts can each do their parts to replace the injured veteran by adding their own spice to the mix. With Thielen going on injured reserve Tuesday, there's obviously a need and an opportunity for the rest of them.

"I mean, everybody's game is different, so you can't expect everybody to run the routes the same. Everybody's unique in their own way," Johnson said. "So Xavier Legette is going to bring his sauce to the game. Jonathan Mingo going to bring his, I'm going to bring mine.

"So it's like it ain't really nothing different but just the route concept and how they run."

Thielen is a hard player to replace for many reasons, specifically because he has maintained a high level of production throughout his career. Last season, he was the only part of the passing game that really worked, with 103 catches for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns. He was playing well again last Sunday, hauling in a 31-yard touchdown while pulling the hamstring that landed him on IR.

His skill as a route-runner is the kind of thing you can't replace, even though the Panthers have been careful to cross-train receivers at multiple positions. But between the big go-get-it skills Legette brings and the developing intermediate routes Mingo has shown capability for, the Panthers can approach it in different ways.

Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik said the reality of coaching the 34-year-old Thielen meant other guys were getting opportunities to step in during camp, which offered a chance to train others.

"Sometimes you've got to give guys vet days when they're in their 30s," Idzik said. "So, there's been plenty of guys getting Adam's reps as well. So there's a cycle of guys from top to bottom in that room; they're all getting their chance to execute the game plan and stay engaged.

"So, really excited about just the full group and their attention to detail, their ability to play multiple positions and just kind of plug and play and us not missing a beat."

That attention to detail is something Legette learned quickly from Thielen. And when he missed some time in training camp with a foot issue, Legette spent a lot of time watching and listening to the veteran.

"What I really say is just having him out there missing would be a big part of us really having to put ourselves in that mode because he was the talkative person in the group that gets everybody's mind going and get everybody ready for a play," Legette said. "But I say he's been doing a good job with that while he been out because still be out there with us.

"At some point, I had to figure it out for myself and do things that I felt like was the best way for me. I stayed by his side once I got hurt just to try to stay doing the right thing. Just really just trying to stay focused and just controlling the things that I could control."

Asked if there was anything in particular that stuck with him among those lessons, Leggette grinned.

"Just to keep my head up when it's my turn to shine, man," he said.

That starts Sunday with the Bengals when he and Mingo and others will be asked to help fill the first of what will be at least four games without Thielen.

Dalton has experience throwing to a lot of different guys, the obvious benefit of being in his 14th season. But he also worked with Legette a lot during camp when they were both running with the twos, so he has a sense of the timing required (which showed up during a 35-yard catch-and-run against the Raiders).

But this week, when they've been out there without Thielen (and Thursday when Johnson was held out with a groin injury), Dalton said the emphasis has been on communication with his targets.

"I think it just comes down to what we're doing in practice and just the relationship that we have of making sure they're going to be in the right spot," the quarterback said. "Obviously, we're going to miss Adam, a guy that's trustworthy in exactly where he's gonna be and what he's gonna do.

"But other guys are gonna have to step up, and other guys are going to get more opportunities, and I think that's what you've got to rely on the depth that we have."

Johnson's suddenly the old guy of the group, and he said he's seen things in Legette and Mingo already that give him confidence.

When asked what Legette's "sauce" was, Johnson mentioned the advantages his size and speed bring.

"Just his ability to create separation at the top," Johnson said. "A big receiver, can get off for the go, for those 50-50 balls and come down with it. Just little stuff like that separates him in his own way

"So it's just putting it on display and just let letting everyone see it once you get in between the lines."

When asked about Mingo, Johnson replied: "Separation. Releases. Good hands in traffc. He's just smart; he's a football guy. And he can play anywhere on the field, so that's a plus."

That can only help, because the guy they're trying to replace is so unique.