After playing a full game yesterday and the division-rival Buccaneers looming in just over 72 hours, the Panthers players arrived at the stadium this afternoon and had a walkthrough in addition to watching tape and beginning to do some install of their gameplan for Thursday Night Football.
Even though the Panthers didn’t hold a full practice, the team can get a sense of what the players felt like coming into the building – so a Monday injury report ahead of a Thursday night game is almost always an assumption of whether or not a player would – or would not – have practiced.
When the players get out onto the Bank of America Practice Fields in the shadow of the Atrium Health Dome™ tomorrow, we’ll likely have a better feel for who is likely to be available on Thursday night, but the biggest question – as it will be for the rest of the season – is the Panthers quarterback and how both his shoulder, which he had a procedure on in January after scar tissue built up over the course of the 2018 season, and foot, which he sprained in Week 3 of the preseason, is feeling.
Ron Rivera always talks about how players feel the day after a full day’s work – and Newton threw the ball 38 times yesterday.
“He looked like he held up pretty well, other than being disappointed,” said Ron Rivera about his quarterback on Monday. “I think he’s OK, that’s my assumption….From what I’ve seen [in] seeing him walk around the facility, he seems like he’s fine.”
Bruce Irvin didn’t practice at all last week and was ruled out for Sunday’s Week 1 matchup, so the team will certainly be careful with him, especially after Brian Burns had a “heck of a doggone good day for a rookie starting out there,” according to Rivera – he didn’t participate in walkthrough today, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him held out on Thursday night.
While Rashaan Gaulden and Greg Olsen both didn’t participate today, it might be worth waiting until tomorrow to jump to conclusions, but it was encouraging to see Greg Little as a participant even as he remains in the concussion protocol after suffering a concussion during Week 3 of the preseason.
Check out the full injury report below:
| Player | Injury | Walkthrough Participation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bruce Irvin | Hamstring | None | Did not practice last week either |
| Rashaan Gaulden | Groin | None | |
| Greg Olsen | Back | None | |
| Greg Little | Concussion | Full | Little remains in the protocol, but being listed as a full participant is a good sign and the next step in his recovery |
