Charles Johnson and Thomas Davis have both returned to practice for the Carolina Panthers, looking to bolster a defense that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher all season and is coming off a game against the Buccaneers in which they sacked Jameis Winston six times, forced three fumbles and allowed less than three yards per carry. Johnson was suspended before the Week 12 game against the New Orleans Saints for violating the NFL’s performance-enhancing drug policy and Davis missed one game after a helmet-to-helmet hit on Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams.
While Davis was only gone for a week, Johnson has been missing from the team for almost a month and spent the time working out in Miami; after undergoing an offseason microdiscectomy to help alleviate such tremendous back pain that the 31-year old said he woke up and couldn’t get out of bed, the defensive end made “an error in judgement” and is now set to return to a defense that ranks third in the NFL in sacks on the season with 49.
“He looked good,” defensive end Wes Horton said about Johnson’s first practice after serving the four-game suspension. “Good speed, you can tell he has a little bit of a chip on his shoulder; he wants to get back into this rotation and play at a high level.”
“He’s been a guy that we’ve kind of leaned on for a few years, so it’s good to have him back.”
With Johnson out, the defensive line has not missed a beat, with Peppers, Horton, Cox and Addison accounting for nine sacks, a forced fumble and three fumble recoveries in the four games missed; Johnson is expected to join in the defensive end rotation, he played 58.66% of snaps before the suspension, second-most on the team. With both Davis and Johnson being graduates of the University of Georgia and raised less than 200 miles from Atlanta, it’s fitting that both players will be on the field for the Panthers season finale against the Falcons.
“This is always a big game for them,” Ron Rivera said. “They really want to go out there and play and play well. He [Johnson] moved around well and he had a lot of energy, great enthusiasm out there. I expect that to translate and carry over to Sunday.”
