[vc_row no_margin=”true”][vc_column width=”1/1″]Carolina Panthers receivers coach Ricky Proehl remembers when one of his team’s seasons ended in August.

16 years ago, when Proehl was a receiver with the Rams, quarterback Trent Green tore up his knee in a preseason game. The next man up was some guy who used to back up some other guy named Jake Delhomme in Amsterdam.

That story comes in handy on days like Thursday.

“Any time you lose a guy with Kelvin Benjamin’s ability, and his presence, it hurts your football team. It sets you back for a day or two until you get back and pick yourselves up,” Proehl said.

“I look back at the ’99 Rams when we lost Trent Green and Dick Vermeil stood on that podium and said we’ll rally around Kurt Warner, and you know that story.”

That next man up — Warner — shocked the NFL with one of the best years a quarterback has ever had. And five months after the Rams’ season was proclaimed dead, they won the Super Bowl.

But what St. Louis did that year is special because storybooks like that aren’t often written in the NFL. Plus, Warner had more than a bit of help with a cast that included running back Marshall Faulk and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.

Running a ball-control offense, Carolina’s Cam Newton, Jonathan Stewart, Devin Funchess and Greg Olsen won’t likely form “The Greatest Show on Turf II.” But Proehl’s point wasn’t about a record-setting offense and a Super Bowl. It was a reminder that the sky in Spartanburg was still up there.

“I don’t think you replace Kelvin Benjamin. To me, he’s one of a kind. But we have a group of receivers that can get it done,” Proehl said. “I look at Ted Ginn, Corey Brown, Jerricho Cotchery, Brenton Bersin, Jarrett Boykin and Mike Brown.

“One thing coming into this year I talked about is that we have weapons. We have size and speed. We have Funchess. We have a group of guys that are very talented.”

Because of his size and potential, the focus is now Funchess. But we won’t be able to see what he can do this weekend. The hamstring he tweaked late in Wednesday’s practice will force him to miss Saturday’s preseason game against the Dolphins.

The injury sounds more precautionary than anything, so Funchess could be back by Monday. And if anyone on the roster can pick up the flag Benjamin left behind at the No. 1 receiver spot, it’s the second-round pick.

No pressure, kid.

“No pressure. You come to play this game of football. Everybody is going to get hurt at one point in time. You knew that since you were little. You’re on the bigger stage now,” Funchess said.

“It was always my expectations for it to be a big year. It just so happened it occurred yesterday. I guess everybody expects more out of my play.”

Good guess. But anyone expecting him to be at Benjamin’s level by Week 1 is going to be disappointed.

“I don’t know if that’s fair to put that on him,” tight end Greg Olsen said. “The plan for him can’t now be altered. We have to keep him on the path he’s been on, and wherever that takes him as the season goes, we’ll find out.”

The immediate comparisons that came after Funchess was drafted didn’t help temper expectations. From his first practice at May’s rookie minicamp, it was clear all he really had in common on the field with Benjamin is they’re both tall and play receiver.

Funchess is a more fluid route runner and the 6-foot-5 Benjamin is an inch taller with a much bigger body. He also knows how to use it. All you have to do it go back to Friday’s preseason opener and see Benjamin snag a touchdown pass while treating Buffalo’s rookie cornerback Ronald Darby like he was just an annoying gnat. Later in that game, Funchess failed to come down with a ball in the end zone against the 5-foot-11 Darby.

“I think Devin’s a different receiver,” Proehl said when asked where Funchess is in his development compared to Benjamin as a rookie.

“He’s a talented and gifted guy that has speed and athleticism, and he just needs to play to his size. The transition to the NFL has been a little different for him, but he’s a guy that’s gotten better every day.”

Funchess did make a couple impressive catches against the Bills while leading the Panthers with 53 receiving yards. He’s where many rookie wideouts tend to be at this stage. He’ll now concentrate more on Benjamin’s X receiver spot, but anticipating him to repeat Benjamin’s incredible start isn’t practical.

What’s more realistic is the offense will continue to be dependent on Olsen. Since coming to Carolina in 2011, Olsen has accounted for 22.5 percent of Cam Newton’s completions. Last season that number was 32 percent, four points higher than Benjamin’s.

Maybe Olsen will see some more targets, but the total won’t be much more than the career-high 123 he saw in 2014.

“Sometimes it’s a double-edged sword. Sometimes having those guys on the outside makes life easy and of course they get their targets but they make life a lot easier,” Olsen said. “You can’t go in with a one man kind of focus. You got to spread the ball around.”

The offense may also lean a bit more on their other tight end. But the Panthers had intended to get Ed Dickson more involved in the passing game well before Wednesday.

“That was a big reason we wanted to make sure re-signed Ed last year because he and Greg give us a very good combination at that position,” Rivera said.

So while losing their best receiver is a huge setback, it’s not like the Panthers are going to rip up what they’ve been. Some fans would like that, but controlling the clock while limiting mistakes and big plays is the blueprint they planned to use with Benjamin. Now they’ll have to do it without him.

It’s tough to envision an ending similar to Proehl’s ’99 Rams, but there’s a whole season left to play before it ends.

“We rally around the guys on the field. Whether it’s another wide receiver or two other guys, the running game, offensive line. This is about a team,” Rivera said. “We don’t want these kind of things to happen but when they do, somebody has to step up and take advantage of it.

“It’s not about us being one player as it is being a team.”[line][vc_raw_html]

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