After missing Bruce Irvin for the first three weeks of the season and Rashaan Gaulden for the past two, it appears that the Panthers will be getting some key pieces of their defense back for Sunday’s matchup with Houston as both returned to practice this week.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that Trai Turner, the only offensive lineman in the starting five to make a Pro Bowl in his career – Turner’s been to the last four – hasn’t practiced all week and won’t be available to match up with the Texans’ potent pass rush that features Whitney Mercilus, JJ Watt and others as they try to harass Kyle Allen into making more mistakes than he did last week at Arizona. Expect Daryl Williams to get the start in Turner’s stead, where he may be able to thrive on the inside.

If Kawann Short is unavailable for the second straight week, the Panthers will lean on a rotation of players in his stead – although Vernon Butler got the start last week, he played the second-fewest snaps of any defensive lineman, ahead of only Efe Obada.

“The great thing about having the depth that we have and the rotation that we have is that [even] if KK were in the football game – if he were a part of the rotation, once he comes out of the game, you want that next player to go in and hold up what we want that position to be about,” said Eric Washington. “Kyle Love is a really unsung player in our scheme. He’s made a lot of big plays over the years…we’ll depend on him.”

Washington also mentioned Butler, McCoy and Dontari Poe as players who have stepped up in Short’s absence.

“I just really liked how Dontari Poe played last week. I thought his movement was good…a couple of the sacks that we got, the quarterback was looking to step up into the pocket and Dontari was sitting right there and [the QB] had nowhere else to go.”

With Donte Jackson a gametime decision – although Ron Rivera told reporters he was optimistic – after tweaking his groin on Wednesday and missing Thursday and Friday practices, the Panthers would likely turn to Ross Cockrell on the outside if Jackson isn’t able to go. Cockrell has experience playing on the outside and the coaching staff loves his versatility to play all over the secondary – last week, he manned the slot corner position for 100% of the snaps and this week he may be pushed to the outside, which would move Javien Elliott, who played the nickel in Weeks 1 and 2, back into the lineup for more snaps.

While the Texans #1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins has 19 catches for 218 yards and demands attention, the Texans’ speedy receiver duo of Kenny Stills and Will Fuller has combined for 20 catches for 324 yards in three games.

Here’s the full injury report:

 

PlayerInjuryGame StatusNotes
Cam NewtonFootOutNewton was ruled out on Monday
Donte JacksonGroinQuestionable
Trai TurnerAnkleOutExpect to see Daryl Williams at right guard
Marquis HaynesElbowQuestionable
Bruce IrvinHamstringQuestionableIrvin is expected to play
Kawann ShortShoulderQuestionableShort was not in attendance at practice Thursday
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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.