There was a familiar sight on the Bank of America Stadium Practice Fields Wednesday as Panthers tight end and Cam Newton’s favorite target returned to practice to work on the side with coaches less than two weeks after breaking his foot – Olsen did not wear a uniform, but also did not wear a boot on his broken right foot – small victories. Olsen plans to stay off injured reserve, rehab the foot and play through the season, with sources saying he will have surgery in the offseason to repair the broken bone; so seeing Olsen on the practice fields – even without a uniform – is a positive step towards his return.
“I think it’s really good to have a guy like that whenever he can be out there, helping and giving advice,” Ron Rivera said after practice. “Greg’s always willing to speak his mind, but what he says means a lot to those guys, because of the success he’s had as a player in this league.”
While Olsen worked with the tight ends and then with the receivers during the media portion of practice – Olsen at one point appeared to correct the stance of rookie tight end Ian Thomas during passing drills – both Trai Turner, who missed all of practice last week and the loss to Atlanta while in the concussion protocol, and Donte Jackson, who left the Atlanta game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury, both rode the bikes and did not participate in practice – the injury report has him listed with a groin injury, but he said in the locker room that he would be “good to go” .
Not present at practice today was wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who reportedly had a procedure to fix an irregular heartbeat ahead of Week 1 and has not practiced since – Rivera said after practice that the second-year player has been cleared to do certain workouts and is working his way back – the coach says everything looks promising; Damiere Byrd, who took a helmet to the knee in Week 1 and missed Week 2 against Atlanta, was back at practice on Wednesday, albeit in a limited capacity – expect him to be active on Sunday barring a setback. Absent from practice today was safety Da’Norris Searcy, who suffered his second concussion in less than a month on Sunday – we wouldn’t expect him to be out of the protocol for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.
Check out the full injury report below:
| Player | Injury | Practice Participation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Damiere Byrd | Knee | Limited | |
| Greg Olsen | Foot | None | |
| Curtis Samuel | Medical Illness | None | Samuel was not at practice for the third week in a row. |
| Da'Norris Searcy | Concussion | None | Suffered a concussion at Atlanta. |
| Trai Turner | Concussion | None | Was present at practice, which is the next step in the concussion protocol |
| Donte Jackson | Groin | None |
