The Panthers have used the phrase “next man up” dozens of times this season, whether it was Luke Kuechly missing a game with a concussion to dealing with Curtis Samuel’s season-ending ankle injury to Charles Johnson being suspended for four games for performance-enhancing drugs.
Every time they have needed someone to step up, their depth has shown to be one of their strengths as it hasn’t been just one player, but multiple. Damiere Byrd, once thought of as a roster hopeful and perhaps someone that could contribute on special teams, caught two touchdowns against the Packers. Colin Jones, a little-used safety, stepped in for Thompson last week at the buffalo nickel position and picked off Aaron Rodgers; Amini Silatolu, a former second-round pick who spend last season out of football, played 100% of the snaps on Sunday and contained Pro Bowler Mike Daniels.
That depth is going to be tested Sunday with Thomas Davis serving a one-game suspension and Shaq Thompson ailing with plantar fascitis; Davis has played over 83% of snaps this season, Thompson over 60% and each linebacker plays more in the others’ absence; when Davis was ailing in Weeks 4 and 5, Thompson played almost every defensive snap. With Thompson out the last two weeks, Davis didn’t miss a snap.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter doesn’t think that the Panthers defense will have an issue even without Davis or Thompson; Koetter says that the interchangeability between nickel and base defenses makes the defense able to deal with player absences by design.
“They’d look super human instead of fantastically human,” Koetter said when asked what the defense might look like if both Thompson and Davis missed the game Sunday. “They’re a heck of a defensive team, those two guys are both really good players, they’re both really good edge players, but I think one thing they’ve done is they’ve overcome guys missing before and they’ve got those interchangeable edge players. 42 [Jones] has come in and played in those spots and done a good job. 55 [Mayo] has come in and played in those spots before. Last week, they switch out at nickel; they switch out 27 [Seymour] for 41 [Munnerlyn] and didn’t miss a beat.”
There’s another question about Thompson’s availability. Is bringing Thompson back against a 4-10 Tampa Bay team that ranks in the bottom six in terms of rushing yards per game a good idea? Ron Rivera says that the last thing the team wants to do is rush their 2015 first-round pick back too early and reaggravate the injury.
“Shaq is back there [at practice today] because the doctors and trainers said that he’s ready to roll,” Ron Rivera said after practice. “If Shaq hadn’t been ready, we had a plan already going forward, it would have involved David Mayo, it would have involved Ben Jacobs; it would have involved several other guys who played the different positions for us.”
Rivera explained that the Panthers weren’t bringing Thompson, who was a limited participant in practice today, back out of “desperate need”, but simply because the training staff allowed him to practice; is Rivera optimistic that Thompson will play on Sunday?
“Absolutely. He practiced well today; he took the snaps he was supposed to, he did the stuff that he needed to show that he’s getting better and we’ll see how he is tomorrow morning. Tomorrow morning will be a big tell for us as to whether or not we think he might be ready.”
While Thompson may be available on Sunday, Thomas Davis will not; when you remove the leading tackler in franchise history and the vocal leader from a defense, there is bound to be some regression, but the Panthers hope that David Mayo, who was selected five rounds after Shaq Thompson in the 2015 draft, is up for the task. He may not have to do it alone.
“I think we’re going to have a nice little rotation; I’m excited to get another opportunity to play,” Mayo said after practice Wednesday. “I’ve had opportunities in nickel packages, but mainly base and bigger personnel types, 12, 13 personnel, stuff like that.”
The idea of a rotation to fill Davis’ shoes is not a new idea, the Panthers have been using a rotation every time they’ve had an injury; while the catchphrase is ‘Next Man Up’, a pluralization might be required. With Thompson missing time the past few weeks, the Panthers have used a combination of Colin Jones, Jairus Byrd, and Kevon Seymour at the nickel position depending on how the offense lines up. When Kurt Coleman missed three weeks earlier this season, Jones and Byrd rotated, with Jones playing the run half of the platoon and Byrd in on passing downs.
Colin Jones, in particular, has exemplified the ‘swiss-army knife’ mold that the Panthers have been trying to preach this season; while Christian McCaffrey may get the credit for being a hybrid running back/wide receiver, Jones has played everywhere on defense other than starting with his hand in the dirt on the defensive line.
“I want to help out this football team whenever I can,” Jones said after playing 40% of the snaps on Sunday substituting for Thompson and snagging his first interception since Week 6 of 2015. “Sometimes that might mean 16-20 plays a game on special teams only, or sometimes my role might be expanded depending on what we’re doing that week on defense or with injuries we might have.
“I take pride in being able to help wherever, whether it be safety, nickel, [or] linebacker.”
Between Mayo, Jones, Kevon Seymour and a returning Captain Munnerlyn, the Panthers should be able to weather the one-game suspension the same way they’ve done it all season; with not just one man stepping up, but many.
