Rivera on Kelvin Benjamin MRI: "We Want to Be Smart About It"
Then he began: "Well, we got a bit of good news." Rivera further explained to reporters, who shared the update with paranoid Panthers fans glued to Twitter, that Benjamin suffered a bone bruise after bumping knees with a teammate during Sunday’s practice. "There is nothing structurally wrong. That’s probably the biggest thing I can tell you right now," Rivera said.
Benjamin has been everything the Panthers hoped for plus a bag of chips. He hasn't dropped a pass in practice, he's running good routes and he's getting targeted by QB Cam Newton a lot. That will change for a few days as he works through the minor injury.
I was certainly impressed with the way he conducted himself. In several one on one match-ups I saw him gain separation the CBs in man coverage on him. He was also running a lot of different routes, working both sidelines and the crossing routes. I didn't see them toss any corner fades in the end zone though. I would have liked to see some of that. But I did him haul in a deep pass for a TD in somewhat flawless fashion.
That's the thing, he has soft hands and is very smooth in his route running. I imagine you can tell I'm excited about seeing this guy in action this season. I'm also very glad it's a minor injury and he should be good to by the weekend (my estimate).