After being limited with a sore right shoulder and not throwing at all during yesterday’s practice, Cam Newton took all of his reps and was upgraded to a full participant in Thursday’s practice as the team gets ready to face off with Tampa Bay and the #1 passing offense on Sunday – in fact, the injury report was completely clean aside from wide receiver Torrey Smith, who didn’t practice at all last week before missing Week 8 against the Ravens.
“It’s just one of those things where he ended up taking a pretty good shot and he’s just been rehabbing it and it we’ll see how it is each day,” said Ron Rivera, who added that he’s not concerned about Smith’s injury – it sounded as if Smith would not be ready to suit up this weekend against the Bucs.
While he doesn’t have to be listed on the injury report, the absence of left tackle Matt Kalil – who began the season on injured reserve after undergoing a knee scope in August – has been noticed after Kalil was working on the side the past two weeks with a large brace on his right knee.
Kalil has not been seen on the practice fields this week, but Ron Rivera isn’t ready to discuss what will happen when Kalil is ready to return from a health standpoint – by NFL rules, he could return as early as this week against Tampa Bay. The Panthers’ offensive line has played well thus far this season, only allowing Newton to be sacked 10 times, the lowest of his career through seven games; Chris Clark, who the Panthers signed after Week 1, has started every game at left tackle since he arrived in Carolina.
“He’s working with the trainers and whatever they’ve got planned out and whatever they’re doing, that’s up to them,” said Rivera when asked about Kalil and his progress. “The only report I get is that he’s doing well so we’ll go from there.”
“A the end of the day, I’m not going to start talking about what ifs until it’s time.”
Check out the rest of the relatively clean injury report below:
| Player | Injury | Practice Participation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Adams | Rest | Full | |
| Julius Peppers | Rest | Full | |
| Torrey Smith | Knee | None | Rivera said after practice he does not have a target for Smith to return. |
| Cam Newton | Right Shoulder | Full | |
| Greg Olsen | Foot | Full | |
| Rashaan Gaulden | Ankle | Full | |
| Andre Smith | Hamstring | Full |
