Not only will the Panthers be without Cam Newton on Thursday night, but they also will not have their defensive leader as well.
Head coach Ron Rivera said that in addition to not using Newton Thursday night, linebacker Luke Kuechly would also not play versus the Bears. Kuechly has been dealing with an undisclosed injury since last Wednesday that has limited his practice reps.
Rivera said he is holding both Kuechly and Newton out as a precaution – but Kuechly knew the question on everyone’s minds when he stepped to the podium to speak to the media after practice on Tuesday.
“I know what you guys are all going to ask – My head is good, I wasn’t in the protocol,” said a grinning Kuechly. “Like coach has said the last few times, I just got rolled up weird, and they said alright ‘Luke, you’re going to sit out’ – and I’ve got to listen to what they said. Practiced the last few days, but everything is fine. I just got hit weird on the side.”
Throughout the last few practices, Kuechly has participated in individual drills and some team drills since he suffered the injury but has given way to second-year player Jermaine Carter for the bulk of practices. Although Kuechly will be out this week against the Bears, don’t expect him to sit during the entire preseason – because the always-looking-to-improve-linebacker needs his tackling to stay sharp.
“I think it’s a big difference between running by a guy and tagging off [during practice] and attacking him [during a game],” Kuechly said. “You’ve got to do it once or twice and kind of get the feel for it. You’ve got to get one inside and one in space. Luckily in the preseason, usually it kind of works out that you get those opportunities. I’m a guy that feels like I need to practice during the week and during the preseason.”
“I need to get a couple of tackles in order to make sure I still know how to play football.”
With Kuechly out, expect Carter to get a lot of playing time on Thursday night. Kuechly says the former fifth-round pick has a lot in common with veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson.
“[Carter] does some stuff a little bit like Shaq [Thompson] where they can play strong side, they can weak side, he can play in the slot, he’s athletic, he runs well,” Kuechly said. “JC is a lot like Shaq because he is smart. If you slide JC to another position, he just kind of rolls with it. And that’s a luxury we have had a long time having Shaq and now we got a guy like JC that does some of the same stuff.”
Kuechly has also noticed the Panthers defensive backs and how well they’ve played throughout training camp.
“I think we have a lot of good players,” Kuechly said. “I think you look at your roster at this point in training camp, that’s what you hope to see. There’s been a lot of plays that have been made on the football. I think the [defensive backs] are doing a really good job. I think secondary coach Perry [Fewell], and [Richard Rodgers] and Bug have done a good job with those guys. And that’s been the most fun part for us to see, production on the ball. We would like to see more out of our group, but those DBs have been playing great.”
Just because he won’t be able to play in the Panthers first preseason game doesn’t mean Kuechly won’t be paying attention to the rest of the Panthers defense and taking mental notes. As a matter of fact, Thursday night will allow Kuechly to take a step back and look at the Panthers from a different view – something that he was able to do while he sat out some drills over the past week.
“I’ve been in that situation before during OTAs [last season] when I had my shoulder stuff,” Kuechly said. “But it gives you kind of a chance to sit back and see your defense from a different perspective. Because when you’re practicing during training camp, you get done with a set, you need to come out, need to get a drink, talk to Shaq, what did you see, blah, blah, blah.”
“But now I’m not working as hard so it gives [me] a chance to see what everything looks like. How does this fit look? How does the safety come in the box? What’s my leverage on this? And you can really see a play out, and it’s something coaches talk about during meetings.”
“It looks good on film, but when you get in real-time speed on the field, it gives you a different perspective.”
Kuechly isn’t hoping to have that sideline perspective for long.
