Ricky Proehl played three seasons with Steve Smith before coaching him for another three. So Proehl’s seen and heard tempers flare much worse than they did Sunday in Oakland.
Proehl was on the receiving end of Kelvin Benjamin’s brief tantrum late in the third quarter of what would ultimately be the Panthers’ seventh loss of the season. It was one of a few notable moments involving Benjamin, who in the second quarter jammed his left shoulder after he got tangled up with Raiders cornerback Sean Smith.
“I just wanted to be on the field,” Benjamin said. “Once I hurt my shoulder, I think they thought my shoulder was messing with me, but I wanted to play.
“It’s an emotional game. It wasn’t a big deal, just emotion.”
Benjamin’s shoulder felt good enough to toss his helmet when Proehl called him back to the sideline immediately after an interception by linebacker Thomas Davis set the Panthers up at the Raiders’ 28-yard line. Benjamin spent the first couple plays of the ensuing drive pacing down the sideline but was back on the field for Jonathan Stewart’s three-yard touchdown run.
“They wanted to get him out right there and make sure he’s all right, and he wanted to keep trying to push himself through it,” coach Ron Rivera said.
“Kelvin and I just talked about that before I came out here and I told him, ‘Hey, I appreciate you being passionate. You just got to learn to control it.’ But he really didn’t. He didn’t want to come out. He wanted to get back out there and try and make a play for his team.”
Benjamin did four plays into the fourth quarter when he out battled Smith for a 44-yard touchdown that extended the Panthers’ lead to eight.
But later in the fourth, with the game tied at 32, Benjamin’s second and final catch of the game provided another pivotal moment.
On third-and-10 from the Panthers’ 31, Benjamin caught an out route against Smith right at the first-down marker. And while it appeared Benjamin might have been able to stop his momentum, he went out of bounds a yard short.
“I knew exactly where I was at,” he said. “I tried to reach for it. I went to the sideline so fast, I couldn’t.”
And then, Analytical Ron chose to punt.