CHARLOTTE — It was a game of "almosts." That's how Dave Canales described the Panthers' 30-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns in their first preseason game on Friday night.

The Panthers almost had five sacks, but ended up with only two. There was almost a chance for interceptions, but they fell through. Special teams almost had big plays, but little mistakes negated the chance for yards. They almost had multiple explosive plays, but penalties brought back a would-be 34-yarder to Jalen Coker .

Essentially, "It was a night of almost saying, can it be good enough," Canales said Saturday after watching the film from the game. "Going into the team meeting here shortly, and I get to just talk to the guys about the critical variables…all these critical moments where it matters."

One thing that

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