Panther Injuries Opens Door for ‘Bubble’ Players

There an old saying that there’s three things that cannot be avoided in life: taxes, death and NFL training Camp injuries. Okay, I added that last one. Here’s a Panther injury report with an update pasted below:

Injury Report:   The Panthers were hit hard by injuries in the first week of training camp.

The most serious injuries appear to be to defensive tackle Ian Scott and returner Ryne Robinson, who suffered knee injuries. Both are considered week-to-week.

Defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu (shoulder), Damione Lewis (ankle) and Darwin Walker (concussion) missed most of last week but all three should be back sometime this week. Cornerback Ken Lucas could miss some time with a broken nose, thanks to teammate Steve Smith.

Others who have been in and out of practice include offensive tackle Charles Spencer (knee) and running back LaBrandon Toefield.

Jonathan Stewart and D.J. Hackett are only working once a day during two-a-day practices.

Not mentioned but picked up in a review of Monday’s practice sessions:

By the end of practice, Jon Beason had succumbed to a "tweaked" ankle, suffered during the first-team defense's final series of work.  That meant rookie Dan Connor handled middle-linebacking duties with all three units of the defense ...

Defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu (shoulder) and Darwin Walker (head) returned to practice, and Damione Lewis worked with Simmons while recovering from a leg injury.  Kemoeatu was back with the first team Monday, working alongside Gary Gibson ...

... Defensive tackle Ian Scott (knee), wide receiver Ryne Robinson (knee) and safety Nate Salley (hip) remained sidelined.  Salley was the only one of the three to work with Simmons throughout the practice ...

... Tight end Dante Rosario sat out with a hamstring problem, but worked with Simmons

... With Robinson still sidelined with a knee injury, Jason Carter was first up on punt returns.  Rookie Darren Toney followed him ...

The person most likely to benefit from the injury bug is WR Jason Carter. He looked good returning punts and given Robinson’s injury will take some time Carter may stick just for that reason.

Both DT’s Gary Gibson and 6^th round pick Nick Harden are getting extra work because of the DT injuries. Harden has looked good if Scott can’t make it back by the Chargers game I bet Harden makes the roster. The big kid from Wisconsin kind of reminds me of Jordan Carstens with the way he plays, the ‘non-stop motor’ analogy.

With Rosario sitting out 5^th round pick Gary Barnidge gets to show what he can do with the 2^nd team. The Panthers will probably keep three TE’s so he has a good shot to stick.

LB Jon Beason’s ankle worries me a little but it seems he’s not missing much practice time. Not mentioned above is that LB Adam Seward missed some time due to an abdominal strain. Seward missed a number of games last season due to injury and it may have cost him dearly. When Dan Morgan went down he was next in line but was already out himself leading to Beason’s promotion. Now Seward will be lucky to hold onto the 2^nd string spot. Give the Panthers depth at LB it would seem someone has to go. Could it be Seward, whom the Panthers dangled to the Patriots in the offseason? You know Dan Conner isn’t going anywhere.

Update: I forgot to mention SS Chris Harris tweaked his hammy.

This might have helped Nate Salley if he wasn’t hurt himself. Nate Salley is a prime example of how an untimely injury can cost you everything. He was projected to be the starter at FS last training camp but injured his leg which cost him the entire season. Now he’s battling for a roster spot at strong safety I believe but still can’t seem to stay on the field. I’m starting to wonder if he may be earning the dreaded ‘injury-prone’ label.