CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales stood to the side of the podium on Wednesday as a member of the public relations staff read an injury report that seemed worthy of a "War and Peace" reference' because of its length.
You can't totally blame their 1-3 start heading into Sunday's game against the 1-3 Miami Dolphins (1 p.m. ET, Fox) on injuries because they were close to full strength for the opener, a 26-10 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Nobody mentioned injuries at all after their 30-0 victory over the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.
But injuries are impacting performance throughout their roster, which was evident in Sunday's 42-13 collapse against the New England Patriots. This week they will be without leading rusher Chuba Hubbard with a calf injury.
NFL coaches and players don't like to use injuries as an excuse because it sounds like complaining.
"It's one of those things that aren't talked about, but it's a rep that you have to master, unfortunately, in a contact sport with a 100% injury rate,'' said Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, who on Sunday lost star wide receiver Tyreek Hill for the season with a dislocated knee that included a torn ACL.
"Something that is part of the success of all successful teams in the [NFL] is your adjusting. Somebody's stepping up into a new role and a collection of people have to really take positive steps forward in their game to be able to win.''
It's a challenge for all teams, particularly rebuilding teams like Carolina, but coaches fall back on the next-man-up mentality.
"We know that it has an affect,'' Canales said. "I can't think that way and the players can't think that way. We trust these guys to execute and go out there.''
Let's take a deeper dive into how injuries and the lack of depth have impacted Carolina so far in 2025:
Offensive line
This was supposed to be a strength with all five starters back from a unit that gave quarterback Bryce Young adequate protection in 2024 and helped create a solid running game.
Then starting right guard Robert Hunt (biceps) and starting center Austin Corbett (knee) suffered injuries in Week 2 that will put them out for most, if not all, of the season. Hunt's replacement, guard Chandler Zavala, suffered a knee injury in Week 4 that landed him on injured reserve.
On Sunday, Carolina will be down to its third right guard in Brady Christensen, fourth if you consider practice squad lineman Brandon Walton replaced Zavala on Sunday.
The pressure Young has faced up the middle the past two games has forced the third-year quarterback out of the pocket more and had an impact on his timing, particularly with first-round receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
McMillan had a season-low three catches on eight targets for 40 yards against the Patriots. The two teamed up for 11 receptions for 168 yards in the first two games.
Young also has been hesitant to take deep shots, and Canales has proved hesitant to call those plays after the first two games.
Wide receiver
This also was a strength heading into the season, so much that Carolina traded veteran Adam Thielen to the Minnesota Vikings.
Then Jalen Coker, who was going to replace Thielen, suffered a quadriceps injury that has sidelined him since August 30. Starter Xavier Legette suffered a hamstring injury that's kept him out the past two weeks after he struggled in the first two games. David Moore, who stepped into Legette's role, suffered an elbow injury on the first play of Sunday's loss, which landed him on injured reserve.
All of a sudden McMillan is getting tighter coverage and a strength has become a weakness. McMillan and veteran Hunter Renfrow, making a comeback after missing last season with ulcerative colitis, have been unable to carry a young group that now will include sixth-round pick Jimmy Horn Jr., who was inactive the first four games.
Legette also is expected back this week, but he was struggling before the injury.
"You have chemistry with guys, right?'' Renfrow said. "You invest time and spend time during training developing chemistry with quarterbacks. It's hard to just plug that in there.''
Renfrow added it "wears teams thin'' because you're taking players from special teams to fill needs, so even that unit suffers as it did on Sunday when the Panthers allowed one punt return for a touchdown and almost a second.
"It gets guys doing things that they're not used to, sometimes getting players out of position trying to overcompensate for guys. So it definitely can be a hard thing.''
Outside linebacker
This was an area the Panthers worked the most to improve during the offseason with the addition of free agent Patrick Jones II, along with second-round pick Nic Scourton and third-round pick Princely Umanmielen.
Jones and veteran D.J. Wonnum got a majority of the reps the first two games. Then it was Wonnon and Scourton because Jones suffered a hamstring injury that has kept him out the past two games.
In Week 4, it was Scourton and DJ Johnson, who was cut on Tuesday, less than three full seasons after he was a third-round pick. Johnson also was a special teams member, so his absence weakens that group.
Tershawn Wharton, who was signed as a free agent to bolster the front line, missed the first three games with a hamstring injury.
So the effort to fix the league's worst defense in 2024 has been hampered tremendously.
Carolina's defense ranks last in sacks (two) and next to last in quarterback pressure (18.8%), which has enabled three opponent quarterbacks to have their best Total QBR of the season. Jacksonville's Trevor Lawrence had a 76.2 rating, Arizona's Kyler Murray a 73.5 and New England's Drake Maye a 94.6.
The average Total QBR in 2025 has been 50.0.
Depth and the draft
The Panthers have only 24 players on the roster who were selected in the last five NFL drafts. That's tied with the New York Jets (0-4) for the fifth fewest.
The Panthers are the only team to not have a single-game started by a second-round pick they drafted between 2018 and 2024, according to ESPN Research.
"Depth is built through the draft,'' one NFL executive told ESPN. They need a couple of starters out of each draft, especially as high as they've been drafting, and then need good depth out of the mid and later rounds.
"Depth clearly is an issue.''
When it comes to injuries and depth, coaches keep their focus on finding a way to win anyway.
"No one really cares,'' McDaniel said. "You have to find a way to get yourself to continue to get better like all teams need to for you to stay in the win column and stack wins.''