CHARLOTTE, N. C. — A day after his team’s not-fit-for-primetime performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera closed his Monday afternoon news conference by saying, “And remember, we are moving on now.”

The running back situation looked dire at the end of the lopsided loss, but veteran DeAngelo Williams is expected to practice this week, Rivera said.

Rivera shared a slew of injury news that revealed the Panthers will have to move on without two of their top three running backs and their second-best linebacker this week.

Running back Jonathan Stewart “severely” sprained his right knee when his foot got caught in the ground while being tackled by former Carolina safety Mike Mitchell in the third quarter. When he limped to the sideline, the oft-injured Stewart slammed his helmet in frustration. Steward will be re-evaluated on Friday and his status for this week’s game in Baltimore remains uncertain.

Fullback Mike Tolbert was placed on injured reserve-recall with a hairline fracture in his right leg.

Rivera would not clarify the injury that knocked linebacker Thomas Davis out of the second half Sunday night, but “it has nothing to do” with his right knee that’s been surgically-repaired three times. Like Stewart, Davis will be re-evaluated Friday, but it appears he is unlikely to play against the Ravens.

While they are not at Davis’ level, the Panthers have capable backups in A.J. Klein, Chase Blackburn and Jason Williams.

The running back situation is much worse.

Williams (hamstring) and Fozzy Whittaker (quad) were both held out against the Steelers. Rivera is not as optimistic about Whittaker’s chances to play this week.

Carolina’s ground game is now ranked 29th in the league, and that number is unlikely to increase much via runs by Cam Newton. The banged-up quarterback is averaging three carries in 2014 after averaging more than seven carries per game over his first three seasons.

Rivera admitted Newton is “not quite where we need him” to run the ball effectively. And when asked if the run game can be a threat if Newton is not, Rivera replied, “It’s going to have to. That’s the bottom line.”

Undrafted rookie Philly Brown played a handful of snaps on offense during the first two weeks, but he did not have a reception. Sunday night he not only caught his first career pass, but he finished with seven catches for 66 yards.

But early in the fourth quarter, with the Panthers down 23-13 and about to get the ball back, Brown muffed a punt. He tried to jump on it, but it slipped away. Then cornerback Josh Norman failed to corral it, allowing the Steelers to fall on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown, which effectively put the game away.

Once Brown picked himself off the turf, he was met immediately on the sideline by Newton.

“My thing to him was, he had too much of a good game to dwell on something that bad,” Newton said. “That’s just the moral of the game. One play was this player, the next play was that player. People just took turns making mistakes.”

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B — Quarterback Cam Newton was playing with sore ribs and a gimpy ankle, a suspect offensive line, a nonexistent run game, and with Jason Avant, Philly Brown and Brenton Bersin as his No. 2-4 receivers. So it’s tough to judge Newton too much in this one. The offensive line most critics were expecting this offseason showed up, and it seemed like Newton was sacked more than three times. He played his second straight game without throwing an interception (24-for-35, 250 yards, TD), and he got Brown involved early and often. The undrafted rookie had a breakout game — as a receiver — with seven receptions for 66 yards. Fellow rookie Kelvin Benjamin added 115 yards on eight catches, plus another highlight reel touchdown from Derek Anderson, who mopped up in the fourth quarter in an effort to let Newton get out alive.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: F — Running back DeAngelo Williams missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury, and perhaps the 31-year-old is still highly important to this offense. The Steelers had given up an average of 170 rushing yards their first two games, yet the Panthers managed 42. Running back Jonathan Stewart sprained his right knee in the third quarter, and then fullback Mike Tolbert suffered a hairline fracture in his right leg during the fourth.

–PASS DEFENSE: D — In their second game without deactivated defensive end Greg Hardy, the Panthers sacked Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger once. That was by end Mario Addison in the first quarter. Roethlisberger ended up with a clean line of 22 of 30 for 196 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Both scores went to receiver Antonio Brown, who torched the defense for 10 receptions and 90 yards. The Panthers also had a few killer penalties in coverage.

–RUSH DEFENSE: F — The Panthers had allowed a 100-yard rusher just once in their last 22 games (Buffalo’s C.J. Spiller on Sept. 15, 2013. The Steelers had two backs that broke 100. La’Veon Bell ran free for 147 yards on 21 carries while LaGarette Blount went for 118 yards on 10 carries. The only other time the Panthers have given up a pair of 100-yard rushers was during a 48-14 loss to the Rams in 2001 when Marshall Faulk and Trung Canidate combined for 328 yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus — Kicker Graham Gano was 2-for-2 on field goal attempts, while Brad Nortman booted a 65-yard punt and added one that landed inside the 5-yard line. Those two were pretty much the Panthers’ MVPs, which obviously says a lot about the kind of night it was. Rookie Philly Brown, who broke out as a receiver, made his first major mistake as a returner, botching a punt that ended up as a Steelers touchdown in the fourth quarter. Wes Horton and Josh Norman both jumped offsides on a third-quarter field goal attempt, and the Steelers took advantage by turning the penalty into a touchdown.

–COACHING: F — Head coach Ron Rivera deserves credit for winning with so much going against the Panthers in Weeks 1 and 2, but his team was not ready for prime time. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula came out with a solid first couple of drives, but unless he can figure out how to get a run game going with a line that can’t run block and a backfield that’s injured, the offense is going to continue to struggle. Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott didn’t have a solution to stop Roethlisberger’s short passes, or for a Steelers run game that embarrassed the previously proud Panthers’ rush defense.