Carter was in the vicinity of the first sack on quarterback Bryce Young, but said his main goal was fitting in with a group of more established starters on either side of him.
"It's just being the new guy, just fitting in with them, playing physically just like them, and just playing off each other, five guys on the same page at the end of the day.
"It's amazing, man. Those guys, they gave me the confidence. They said, look man, we got you. I had their back, they had my back."
Ekwonu gave Carter the most Panther endorsement, calling the former Bears guard (two starts and 13 appearances in two seasons) "a dawg."
"There's just this next man up thing," Ekwonu said. "I feel like JT, obviously, you appreciate that he's really excited to step into that role and he's going to grind each and every day to make sure that he's the best player you can be, right?
"I mean, he's a dawg. Fun guy to be around, great locker room fit, obviously, but at the end of the day when it comes to playing ball, he knows what he's doing. He knows how to get the job done. He's going to dominate."