The Carolina Panthers might’ve already had their final “Victory Monday” of the season.

That came last week, when players got the day off following their feel-good 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. But they weren’t feeling very good about the next outing on Sunday, when the 1-8 New Orleans Saints flattened them in a disappointing 17-7 defeat.

A few players, including left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, pointed to a lack of preparation throughout the week as a cause of the embarrassing showing—stating that the team didn’t “lock in” on the small details leading up to the game.

Head coach Dave Canales was asked about those comments on Monday afternoon.

“Really, we just have a standard for how we work and when it’s not up to standard, it’s my job as the head coach to make sure they’re aware of it. I made them aware of it,” Canales stated. “I’ve been in the league for a while now—and I’ve seen, sometimes, you have a bad practice and you play great on Sunday. Sometimes, there’s a fantastic practice and you don’t get the results you want. So I have to look at both things.

“But when there’s a similarity and it leads to something, it gives me an opportunity to point to that fact that every single week is a championship opportunity. Every opponent requires all we have and our focus and our energy to getting prepared for those games.”

The Panthers were not sharp against the visiting Saints—who amassed a season-high 388 total yards. Carolina, meanwhile, gained just 175 yards and recorded a pair of sloppy turnovers.

Canales was later asked what he thought led to the unacceptable week of practice.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Could be the game before, the travel. Maybe it was the ‘Victory Monday,’ and maybe that’s not a good strategy for us. But it worked the week before.

“And giving the guys a little bit of a chance to pour a little bit back into the cup—it’s not just a physical thing, it’s a mental and emotional thing where you allow the guys to have a little space to recuperate and be ready and focused to come back to work. And we have to make sure that we show that we have ability to handle that.”

After losing to a one-win team that’s started a rookie quarterback for just the second time, the Panthers may have shown that they do not yet have the ability to handle that.

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