CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Defensive back Charles Godfrey was trying to explain that Sunday's game between the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens was about more than Steve Smith when he found himself in a pickle.

"You go to other teams, and probably every team has a guy like Steve," he said Wednesday of Carolina's all-time leading receiver, who was cut in March before signing with the Ravens.

"So who would that player be for the Panthers now?" Godfrey was asked.

He paused.

"Um, I don't think we have a guy," Godfrey said. "Steve's different. A different guy."

Asked if a team needs a player like Smith, who is fiery, passionate and sometimes volatile to a fault, Godfrey said: "Need? Need as in what?"

"Attitude," a reporter said.

Godfrey responded: "We have a lot of guys with attitudes. I have an attitude."

"Not like Steve's," another reporter said.

"It's not about that guys," Godfrey continued. "It's about playing football. It's not about who has the attitude, or who makes the noise or who does the most celebrations."

In other words, the Panthers have replaced Smith with more than capable wide receivers. Rookie Kelvin Benjamin has 16 catches for 253 yards and two touchdowns, which is comparable to Smith's 18 catches for 290 yards and one touchdown.

What the Panthers haven't replaced is that attitude Smith brought, the one that cornerback Josh Norman described.

“He’s going to be the same Steve Smith -- ragin’ Cajun, same guy, going out there and playing with emotion and playing with everything he’s got," Norman said.

The Panthers (2-1) don't seem concerned about that, or about replacing Smith's attitude. They seem content with the type of leadership quarterback Cam Newton showed when he wasn't happy with the way the offense broke huddle early in Wednesday's practice.

There were no tirades or meltdowns, or getting in teammates' faces, as Smith would do from time to time. Newton just said a few words and made them do it again.

"Expectations as one of the leaders on this team, it wasn't met," Newton said. "So we've just got to continue to break that lackluster standard and create winning habits.

"If it's as something simple as breaking the huddle, that may carry over to making a great catch that may spark something even bigger in practice."

Newton later said the Panthers were "as close as I've ever seen as a team."

"And it's refreshing for us," he said. "Not taking no shots at anybody. I just feel everybody is understanding his role."

Coincidentally, Smith said on Sunday it was refreshing to play for a quarterback like Baltimore's Joe Flacco, who was calm and cool when things weren't going well against Cleveland. And Smith also said he wasn't taking a shot at Newton or anybody else.

Godfrey's right about one thing. There isn't a player in the Carolina locker room like Smith. There may never be again under the current regime.

The closest coach Ron Rivera could come was outside linebacker Thomas Davis, who may miss Sunday's game with a hip injury.

"It's about an emotional guy, a guy that is high spirited," Rivera said. " . . . That's who Thomas Davis is. He's high-spirited. He's an emotional leader for us. That's the kind of guy everybody does need. You need to have a guy that's an emotional leader, a guy to get everybody rallied around and get everybody going.

"That's big. And Steve was that for us in terms of an emotional leader, leave it all on the field type guy. It seems that's what he's become for Baltimore."

Then, like Godfrey, Rivera said the game was not about Smith.