The Panthers have been preaching the ‘next man up’ mantra for all of 2017; while men have stepped up across the roster from defensive end to buffalo nickel, perhaps no group has needed it more than the pass catchers this season. A roster that began the season with wide receivers named Kelvin Benjamin, Devin Funchess, Russell Shepard, Curtis Samuel and Damiere Byrd now has 40% of that group; Greg Olsen was expected to put up his fourth straight 1,000 yard season before a broken foot in Week 2 derailed that plan. But the Panthers have consistently looked to the next man up, and for two months this season, that was veteran tight end Ed Dickson.
The Panthers are the only team in the NFL this season to have two tight ends that have eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a game; when Olsen missed almost two months, eight-year veteran Dickson was ready and willing to step up and step in with the second-highest yardage total of his career, aided by his five-catch, 175-yard performance against Detroit in Week 5. We had a chance to chat with Dickson for a minute this week as they prepare to face Atlanta in Week 17; Sunday’s game has implications for the Panthers’ playoff run even if they’ve already clinched a berth in the tournament.
With the injury to Damiere, what are you seeing from this wide receiver group and who do you think might step forward?
The beauty of it is that it doesn’t fall on the shoulders of just one person; you talk about Clay, you talk about Shep, you talk about Funchess and then you talk about them bringing up Mose, it’s a collective effort. It’s always been like that, like when Greg went down, there’s no sense of panic. The way we work, the way we go about our business is the ‘next man up’, but we really endure that, we really treat it that way. It’s not that we expect that next person to just be on [their] own, to figure it out, no we help them with the process. Veteran leadership like myself and Greg, we help those wide receivers with what they’re going to see out there; we’re very familiar with Atlanta. Going into the playoffs, it’s the collective group that’s going to have to pick up the play.
You mentioned being familiar with Atlanta, how different is it playing a divisional opponent vs. a non-divisional opponent?
Let’s just say it doesn’t matter what the records are, doesn’t matter what happens that day, doesn’t matter what happens the week before; if you don’t come to play, when it comes to teams in this division, any team can beat any team. We both have something to play for, we both have everything on the table for us, so we’re going to get both parties’ best effort.
Do you like how the schedule is kind of back-loaded with divisional games?
Honestly, I like them all. Big-time teams and big-time players show up in the big-time games. They flexed us for a reason, let’s go out and give them a show. I can only speak for myself, but I treat it as such, I treat it one at a time. This is the biggest game we’ve got on the schedule this year because it’s the next game.
They flexed the game to 4:25, did you think you might get flexed to the night game and be playing on New Year’s Eve?
I actually just saw that today; it makes sense. The people on TV and the people around the world want to see good games, the teams that are playing for something. They don’t want to see the teams that really aren’t playing for anything; but with that said, it doesn’t matter if we were flexed or not, we’re going to have to win this game.
Do you feel like this team has faced more injuries than normal with Greg, Ryan, Curtis, Damiere; or is this just kind of par for the course for a normal NFL season?
I’ve been around for a long time, so with injuries, this is the one thing you can’t get around. They’re going to happen, so when you talk about being a veteran leader and how do I respond to it? I help however I know how to help; with those young guys, it starts very early, in the process of training camp and everything like that, we’re getting them ready – game ready – before this situation ever happens, so we practice and plan on these situations before they even happen.
You’ve been in these ‘final game of the season’ situations, how do you weight momentum vs. rest?
I’m not in control of that, so that’s the head coaches, that’s the club’s idea of what they want to do; as a player, you’ve got to prepare yourself like it’s another game and you’re going to play sixty minutes of football.
Any temptation to check the scoreboard, see what’s going on in that Saints game this Sunday?
Nah. I’m not going to do it; somebody else might do it, but I’m not going to. Control what we can control and that’s our game, then we pick our head up and see where we are.
