After a 9-on-7 drill early in practice, Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly left the field and did not return to Wednesday’s session at Panthers training camp in Spartanburg.
Kuechly spent the rest of practice standing on the sidelines and interacting with his teammates. Immediately after exiting the field, he stood near Panthers trainer Ryan Vermilion having a conversation while teammates Shaq Thompson and Eric Reid came over to chat with the five time All-Pro linebacker. Kuechly remained animated during defensive installs and drills while Jermaine Carter Jr. took Kuechly’s place – Kuechly was making hand gestures and yelling during the first install after he exited drills as well as interacting with referees.
“Something happened on one of the 9-on-7 plays and he went to the side and they started talking and they just didn’t want him to go back out – and being overly cautious, [they] just thought we are going to be smart and it is a little bit hot today,” Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said after practice. “I don’t know other than what they told me – that he got in a pileup. They came over to the side, they were talking to him. And they just felt out of precaution they just didn’t want to do anything else. It doesn’t make sense to put a guy back out there on a day when it’s gonna be overly hot..
“They just wanted to be cautious – he wanted to go back in. That’s why he wouldn’t take his helmet off, I guess.”
When asked if Kuechly would practice on Thursday, Rivera simply said, “We’ll see.”
It is no secret Kuechly has a history of head injuries in the past – although he played all 16 games in 2018, he has missed 10 games over the past three seasons due to concussions. That’s likely why the Panthers exercised caution as they decided to sit Kuechly for the rest of the morning practice and Ron Rivera was hesitant to put a timeline on Kuechly’s injury – if there was one at all.
“The big thing, moreso than anything else is we don’t play until September,” said Rivera. “So we’re going to be smart.”
The Panthers play their first preseason game next Thursday, August 8th at Chicago and open the regular season September 8th.
