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CHARLOTTE -- Seconds before he was to begin his news conference Monday, John Fox walked off the podium to ask a team official a question.

Fitting, really, that 24 hours after the Carolina Panthers' ugly, mistake-filled performance, the coach was guilty of a false start.

"One of many," Fox acknowledged.

Sunday's 20-10 loss at Minnesota wasn't what the Panthers (2-1) expected in Pro Bowl wide receiver Steve Smith's return from a two-game suspension. Instead of giving the new-look offense a boost, Smith was part of a unit that did an impersonation of the anemic 2007 edition.

Jake Delhomme had little time to find Smith (four catches, 70 yards) because he was on his back much of the afternoon. After engineering comebacks wins in the first two games, Delhomme was sacked five times and lost two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown.

Handing it off didn't work either. The Panthers had only 47 yards rushing, with DeAngelo Williams (10 carries, 27 yards) and Jonathan Stewart (seven carries, 15 yards) looking nothing like the potent 1-2 punch of the first two weeks.

But the Panthers had trouble just getting off plays. Hampered by the crowd noise and the Vikings' aggressive blitz package, the Panthers were called for 12 penalties -- six of them false starts.

In the past two games, Carolina has jumped the snap 11 times.

"Those are penalties that we have to get fixed," Fox said. "That has been a problem the last two games. I think it's something definitely that we will address."

Carolina could get some help on the offensive line for Sunday's home game against surprising Atlanta (2-1). Left guard Travelle Wharton, who has sat out the last two games with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, is expected to practice Wednesday.

Wharton's return would mean Geoff Hangartner could go back to the bench. But Hangartner wasn't the only culprit Sunday.

Left tackle Jordan Gross was dominated for most of the day by Minnesota's Jared Allen. Gross also had two false-start penalties and was flagged for holding. Rookie right tackle Jeff Otah also had two false starts.

The Panthers knew their overhaul of the offensive line, with different players at all five positions, wouldn't be completely smooth. But the mistakes, which include a heavy dose of penalties from tight ends Jeff King and Dante Rosario, are alarming -- especially with longtime Panthers nemesis John Abraham and his NFL-high six sacks visiting Bank of America Stadium on Sunday (1, WGHP-8).

"If I knew the answer to that we would have zero," Gross said when asked about the number of false starts. "That's the one thing I can say is maybe just new people. It's funny, because you start at the end of July and you're working on basic football 101 -- cadence and huddle and lining up right."

The mistakes muted the return of Smith from his unpaid ban for punching teammate Ken Lucas during training camp. Smith caught a 16-yard pass on Carolina's first play from scrimmage, but caught only one pass after halftime.

"I think if you go back and look at five sacks, he was about ready to get involved. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way," said Fox, who indicated Smith was wide open when Delhomme was sacked, fumbled and watched Antoine Winfield return it for a touchdown late in the first half. " ... I thought he made some good plays and I thought he helped us. We just didn't have quite enough, but it wasn't due to Steve Smith."

Carolina ranks 27th in the league total offense and 30th in third-down conversions, but the schedule should help. The Panthers play five of their next seven at home, including games with struggling Kansas City, Detroit and Oakland.

But the mistakes must stop if the Panthers are to build a cushion before the schedule turns brutal in December.

"I don't think there are too many coaches in the league ready to say they've arrived," Fox said. "I'm definitely not one of them."