Last week when the Panthers worked out multiple kickers on Tuesday, the fanbase assumed it was in reaction to Graham Gano missing three kicks over the course of two games – but after Gano popped up on the injury report last Friday and then was limited yesterday during practice, the team signed veteran kicker Chandler Catanzaro as an insurance policy on Friday morning.

Turns out they may be cashing in that insurance policy after Graham Gano has been ruled out for Week 14 with a left knee injury. Gano, October’s NFC Special Teams Player of the Month, was able to kick two extra points and a 37-yard field goal in the Panthers 24-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but Gano will not be able to go in Cleveland.

“I really don’t know a lot about it – I do know he was dealing with a sore knee the last couple of days,” said Rivera. “Yesterday, when he kicked, he came off the field and it was really bothering him – so he went and saw the doctor and this is where we are right now.”

“[Catanzaro] is the best option we have out there and we were real pleased that he was one of the guys that came in and performed well for us.”

Catanzaro will handle all of the kicking on Sunday in Cleveland, where he is a perfect 9-for-9, six extra points and three field goals, throughout the course of his career. As is the life of a kicker, Catanzaro said he got the call to join the Panthers while he was eating a plate of chicken fingers from Zaxby’s – he also just found out his new team would be playing in Cleveland Friday morning.

Rivera was unable to elaborate on whether this injury would affect Gano in the long term.

Other than the kicker situation, the Panthers injury report is fairly clean – Cam Newton threw during practice and took his normal amount of reps, according to Ron Rivera – even though Newton’s shoulder injury has been well-publicized this week and the QB didn’t throw during Wednesday or Thursday’s open portion of practice, this limitation during practice has been something that Newton has been dealing with since after Week 7 when he began limiting his reps during the week.

Colin Jones has been dealing with an illness all week and Rivera said if he’s healthy, he will be up to the active roster on Sunday – multiple players would take over Jones’ roles on special teams but the presence of a captain on one of the three sides of the ball will certainly be missed.

Safety Da’Norris Searcy, who the team designated for return from injured reserve last week, is still eligible to return to the active roster, but he is still working his way into game shape.

“Da’Norris had a good couple of weeks, so we’ll see,” said Rivera. “We still have got another week to make a decision, so we’re just kind of biding our time right now – but it’s been good to see him running around.”

Searcy is unlikely to be active this weekend in Cleveland.

The official injury report:

 

NameInjuryGame StatusNotes
Graham GanoLeft KneeOutDidn't practice Friday - team signed Chandler Catanzaro
Colin JonesIllnessQuestionable
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Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.