While many people looked at the Week 4 bye with chagrin when the schedule was released, it actually may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Carolina Panthers; as they head into their Week 5 matchup with the New York Giants, their injury report is relatively clean, with every player on the active roster practicing aside from Julius Peppers, who at 38 doesn’t usually practice on Wednesdays, and tight end Greg Olsen, who continues to rehab his way back from a fractured bone in his foot suffered in Week 1. While Ron Rivera ruled out Olsen for this Sunday’s game, after watching the tight end run routes, hit the sled, sprint and catch balls from practice squad QB Connor Cook, his return may be sooner rather than later

“We’ll see how he responds tomorrow morning and hopefully it’ll be good,” said Rivera after practice. “We’ll see how it is again at the end of the week with this amount of work we’re putting him under, but yeah, most certainly we’re looking for the future. Nothing for now.”

Nothing for now is a lot more encouraging than last season, when Olsen was placed on injured reserve and missed 9 of 10 games with the same injury; the Panthers also welcomed back wide receivers Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd, both of whom participated during Monday’s practice. Trai Turner, who had missed Weeks 2 and 3 while in the concussion protocol, also was a full participant. See the entire injury report below:

 

PlayerInjuryPractice ParticipationNotes
Greg OlsenFootNone Sprinted on side with trainers
Julius PeppersRestNoneVet Day for Pep
Vernon ButlerShoulderFull
Damiere ByrdKneeFull
Curtis SamuelMedical IllnessFull
Trai TurnerConcussionFull
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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.