Panthers coach Ron Rivera’s comments to media during his weekly Monday press conference.

How’d you come out of Week 4, injury-wise?
“Healthy as far as that’s concerned. The only real thing that came up and I didn’t catch it until later in the fourth quarter was Jared [Allen] had that pinched nerve. Apparently he did it early on, so they’re getting him checked out right now. That’s the only one that’s of concern. The nice thing is that we have two weeks to get ready.”

Jared didn’t seem too concerned by the injury?
“Yeah, but it affected him, which is funny because he was doing some good things out there. Then I noticed that he wasn’t there, so I went over and asked him and he told me. Hopefully, he’ll be all right. It’s in his lower left back, affected his lower left leg.”

Is Luke Kuechly still in the concussion protocol?
“Still in the protocol. Hopefully, in the next couple days, they’ll be able to get that think taken care of, so we’re pretty optimistic. But you know how I am.”

Does that mean he’ll meet with the independent doctor again?
“Yes, yes he is. Yes he will. At some point he will.”

Was he not able to pass the tests in his first meeting with the independent?
“Correct. That’s a correct assumption.”

And there was no issue with the neck, right?
“No, as far as I know, no. I know the one thing is it was about how he was going through the protocol. Everything he needed to do, he did, but when he met with the independent, the independent didn’t feel comfortable to clear him.”

Will this be just his second meeting with the independent?
“That I don’t know. I just know that the last time he met, the independent did not feel comfortable enough to clear him.”

What will this defense look like with Luke back?
“Well, I’d like to believe that as well as we’ve played, we’re going to play better because Luke does mean a lot to us, he does do a lot of the good things. The one thing I will say is A.J. [Klein] has played very, very well. [Thomas Davis] has played well, as had Shaq [Thompson]. It’s interesting because we talk about what we could potentially be and yet we’ve played very, very well. You could go, ‘You gave up a lot of yards yesterday,’ well, there’s mitigating circumstances to that. There’s a reason for it, but at the end of the day the group played very well and they rallied around each other. They did their jobs, they didn’t do more than they needed to. They did their jobs very well and that was very pleasing.”

Has Luke’s absence hurt your third-down defense?
“Yes. If there was one area, that’s probably the one that sticks out the most. That and the red zone. I think Luke’s absence was part of it. But I think part of it, too is A.J. really doesn’t play a lot on third downs and he had to play a lot more than he normally had to, and it wasn’t really A.J. either, it was some of the people around at different positions. So there’s some things that go into it, and I think again, hopefully having Luke back soon will help to correct those things.”

How might not having Luke make the defense better?
“Mentally guys will realize and recognize that you don’t always have to rely on him. It forced a lot of guys to step up to the front to do their jobs better, know that they’re capable. I think it added a lot of confidence to some guys, particularly A.J. I think it also helped T.D. We had T.D. play the Mike at some of our situations, which was different for him. One thing that people always talk about is when you learn another position, you realize how it affects the way you do things. I think it helped the safeties because a lot of times Luke handles a lot of checks and corrections, and I think the safeties stepped up and did a real nice job as well.”

Do you have a sense for the status of Jerricho Cotchery and Daryl William for after the bye week?
“Coming out of it, Cotchery will probably start practicing. I might be ahead of myself, but I think he’s going to try on Tuesday of Seattle week, and it’ll be interesting to see where Daryl is. He’s made progress, but again it’s a [knee] sprain for a big guy. Any time you get over 300 lbs., it takes a lot longer. We tried to do some comparisons. A couple years ago, Chris Scott had the same thing, and it took Chris five weeks before he started, and even the sixth week he was ready to play but he was still inactive. We’re looking at four to six weeks, and when we come out of Seattle, it’ll be four weeks.”

Is it surprising DE Ryan Delaire was just sitting there on a practice squad?
“Our college scouts brought Ryan to [defensive line coach [Eric Washington’s] attention during the draft and looked at a lot of tape during the draft and liked him and we had a good grade on him. We just didn’t have any late picks. All of a sudden he’s a PFA out there and Tampa Bay had him and was on their roster during training camp and they let him go. The Redskins picked him up, because obviously they liked him too, and we liked him, but to see that kind of impact and knew it all along, then why didn’t we get him from the beginning? We like who he is. We like his athleticism and ability. He’s a very smart young man. His test scores somewhere in the mid-20s, so he’s a solid, sharp young man. He picked things up so quickly. I went to Eric and asked him and he said, ‘Coach, he’s ready to roll.’ Eric’s really liked him. Kudos to our college scouts for seeing who this young man is and Eric doing the work he did, then for the pro guys to keep an eye on him and see what’s he’s doing, where he was, and what his development was. They put together a real good tape from what he did during training camp so it was a group effort and that’s what you need around here because everybody has to be on the same page. This is an example of being on the same page.”

How do you feel LB Shaq Thompson played Sunday?
“Shaq played well. He’s getting more and more confident and comfortable in what we’re doing. He made some mistakes. A couple times he got up field too far. A couple of times he was in the wrong crease, didn’t make a proper check one time. I thought he did a good job in coverage and dropped with good zone awareness. His breaks on a lot of plays, he’s very physical and that’s been a big plus. One thing is that we’re not afraid to play young guys here, which we’ve done since I’ve been here. This is one of the few times that we’re only starting one rookie. For the most part, in the past, we’ve started two or more. It’s a little bit comforting because I think we’ve done a nice job of finding depth and developing it and having it as part of our football team.”

Do you think this bye is at a bad time because of the momentum from winning or good because of injuries?
“Yes and no. With us playing well, you’d like to keep that going. We have a lot to correct and get better at, but on the inverse, it’s a good time because we get a chance to slow some guys down and get guys back on the field. And then we’re gonna get somewhat of a mini bye once we play Thursday night and that will help us as well. Coming off the bye is at a good time because we go to Seattle, and we should hopefully be well rested in terms of dealing with that long flight.”

Are you doing anything differently with the poor numbers in the past off a bye?
“Yes we are. We looked at a lot of things that teams throughout the league are trying and we’re going to give guys an extra day off. We’re going to give them Monday off then come back and go Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and do all preparation on those three days. Then Friday will be a recovery day that a lot of people are trying. And not just because of coming off the bye, as we look forward, it’s something we may do on a permanent basis. Typically you come off a Sunday game and they take Monday off and come in on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and that’s the bulk of your installation. Friday is a review day and a recovery day where guys work with trainers and strength and conditioning and working soreness out, so it’s almost like a half day of work. Then we’ll continue to do our classroom work and our installation walk through stuff for review. It’s a little bit different but we’re going to give it a try and we did something like that the last two years, involving Christmas, and it worked pretty well because we won both of those games coming off Christmas as well. We’ve talked about this, [strength and conditioning coach] Joe Kenn has done some research on it, as has [head trainer] Ryan Vermillion, trying to figure out how teams are doing it and see. Most notably, Green Bay has had a lot of success with it. We’re trying to study that model a little bit.”

What have you learned these first four games?
“That we can be better. There are some inconsistencies in our play. I don’t think the numbers are far as far as taking stats and using them. It’s about the way we play. There are certain portions of the game that we haven’t done really well at offensively. Those first couple drives have been, eh, then we start scoring. Defensively is the same thing. We’ll have moments with takeaways and moments with sacks, but why the inconsistencies where we don’t do it consistently. Those are things we’re going to study the next few days. As far as coaching staff is concerned, I talked to the coaches this morning, and we talked about the things I wanted them to produce as far as player evaluations and self-scouts. So we’ll get a chance to look at these things and improve on them. Things we’re doing better we will work at and hopefully do much better at, and things that need to get improved, we will improve.”

With the firing of Dolphins’ HC Joe Philbin, do you ever reflect how far you’ve come from the 2012 hot seat to this point?
“I do and I understand it. In 2013, after the Arizona game, Week 4, all I can say is that I’m very fortunate to have an owner with a lot of patience, and a general manager that works with me very well. We’ve put players in position and had been hoping to get to that point and we were fortunate enough to get to that point. It happened after Week 4 of the 2013 season. 2011, 2012, coming off 2-14, it was tough, with a team that had lost a lot of players to free agency, trying to develop a quarterback, trying to find your middle linebacker, putting an offensive line together to protect the quarterback and putting playmakers around him. We’ve been able to do that and it’s still a work in progress. We’re trying to shore up the defensive line, we have a crew of linebackers who run well, and we’ve got some defensive backs. We’ve seen the development of Josh Norman, Tre Boston, and Kurt Coleman. You’ve got veteran guys like Charles Tillman and Roman Harper back there trying to lead the way. We’ve put that together, and then trying to sure up the special teams, which has always been a tough thing here. We’ve been trying to do that and it goes back to the fact that the owner has been patient and a general manager that’s been trying to do everything and it started with Marty [Hurney] and look what we did with our first couple draft picks. You find your cornerstones on offense and defense and we were fortunate. Thomas Davis was here and Jonathan Stewart was here and Charles Johnson, and now with Dave [Gettleman], we’ve added on. We find guys like Ryan Delaire. It’s all coming together and I think it’s happening at a good time. Now we have to maintain it and as coaches we have to continue to coach and teach our players. We have to put them in position to have success and the scouting department has to look for guys who fit us. We’ve been fortunate the last couple years.”

Did you ever go into any of those meetings about your performance and ever wonder what the outcome would be?
“No. The one thing Mr. Richardson has always done and told me was that he’d make no decision until after. I’ve always had that and never used that. He said if I had to, I could tell that to you guys, and I never did. I appreciated that because it gave me comfort and solace going forward that I could do my job, work as hard as I could, and at the end of the day, he’ll evaluate me. It’s the same thing for not only myself but for assistant coaches and players. I had that, knowing that he was there and support me and met with me, and it was great. He was forward with me. He was tough. He was everything that you needed to be as a young coach to have. That 2012 season, as tumultuous as it was, it was fair. That’s probably the best way to put it. Coming out of that end of the season meeting with Mr. Richardson was that it was fair. That’s all you can ask as a coach. I know with what happened to coach Philbin today is tough, and hopefully at the end of the day, it was fair.”

Is this the best team you’ve had here?
“I think it is. Although with the injury to Kelvin [Benjamin], you can argue because of the position that’s one of the things, but then you see guys like Ted Ginn stepping up and making plays at the right time and you see Brenton Bersin getting the opportunity to make plays and part of it has been piecemeal at times. This can be our best team. I don’t know if it is yet, that’s probably a better answer, but it can be.”

How are you evaluating your coaches to this point?
“I think the coaching job our staff has done in the past few years has been very good. To single out and say this is the best, no. These guys have done a great job. One of the things I’ve said before is that it’s not just what you’re doing in practice and meetings, it’s all the extra stuff that’s being done. We have meetings early in the morning. Ray Brown gets the entire young group of offensive lineman. There’s like eight of them that are first through third-year guys that meet every morning with Ray and they’ll do a little walk-through on their own. We got wide receivers staying with Ricky [Proehl] and Cameron Turner and doing those things that they need to do. The young DBs with Steve [Wilks] and the linebackers, it’s Al Holcomb Facetiming with Shaq [Thompson]. There are a lot of guys committed to the development of this football team and what they’ve done in the last few years has been Yeoman’s work and they don’t get enough credit at times. It goes back to what the scouts have done and bringing in guys and Dave really to discuss and argue with me about players. At the end of the day, when we go out the door, these are our guys. It’s just the way we’ve approached it. All the coaches should be commended. The development of our schemes and what we’ve done. Look at what Mike [Shula] has done and what he’s willing to do. With his coaches and that group of men putting together a package that fits our quarterback, then our quarterback doing the extra things to develop in the system. Then our defensive side, looking at what we have and having to adjust with what Sean [McDermott] and Steve [Wilks] and those guys have done has been great. To say this is the best coaching job they’ve done, no, that’d be unfair to the work they’ve done over the past four seasons as well.”

With so many injuries, the team is 4-0 and hasn’t appeared to miss a beat, why is that?
“It’s what’s been developed over the past four seasons. A lot of it goes back to players that have been brought here and developed. A lot of it goes to what coaches have done and how they’ve developed guys. A lot is the players. There’s a group in here that has done a good job with taking ownership of the locker room. It starts with the team captains. Our team captains have been solid and they’ve done a lot of good things as far as trying to take control of that locker room. At the same time, the players understand that we’re all in this together, and we try to create a culture here. I think it’s a pretty good culture. I just got done talking about it with the guys. A lot of it starts with leadership at the top, starting with Mr. Richardson and starting with team president, GM and head coach. We all share the same values. At the end of the day, values start at the top, and they trickle down to everybody. That’s been a big part of it.”

Do you go into the Seattle game thinking it’s just another game, or want your team to approach it different because of the Seahawks’ success in recent years?
“Next most important game is the next game we play. So it really doesn’t matter. No matter how you look at it, they’re all important. You have to take them all that same way. One of the best things my old teammate Jim Morrissey used to say, he used to get really mad when one of our coaches would say, ‘Now turn it up, this is a playoff game.’ No, they all have to be treated that same way. If you say we’re going to turn it up for this team for whatever reason, then you’re missing the point. Every time you get on that football field, it’s the most important thing you’re about to do because it’s what you’re doing now. No baloney, everything you do has to be important. If you don’t do it the right time, then you’re going to have a regret and say, ‘He didn’t put it out on the line for us.’ That’s bull. That’s the way we have to approach it. It’s the next game we’re going to play, so it’s the most important one.”

But you wouldn’t dispute that Seattle and Green Bay are the measuring sticks for where you rank in the NFC?
“Without a doubt. I don’t dispute that one bit. The bottom line is that you want to be the champs then you have to beat the champs, and they’re the defending NFC champs and Green Bay beat us the last time we played them. So, yes, do we have big games coming up, absolutely. Are they a test? 100 percent. Are we going to approach them any different than any other game? No. Why? Because they’re all important. That’s the message. If we understand that every time we’re on the field, we play a certain way. I think we have a great chance going forward. If we start picking and choosing which game is more important, then we’re going to lose sight of the objective, which is to win them all.”

What do you make of pundits who say Carolina is the worst 4-0 team?
“That’s OK. We were the worst team in the playoffs last year, and we won a playoff game and we scared Seattle, so I felt good about that. I’m not going to apologize for everybody else’s record. At the end of the day, you could say if we lost all four of those games, well then all those teams would have a better record, wouldn’t they? You can’t have it all and can’t please everybody. Our record says we’re 4-0, so we’re 4-0. Our schedule says this is who we play. There’s nothing I can do about it. You can’t please everybody, and I’m not going to apologize for being 4-0 and being the worst 4-0 team in the NFL right now. That’s OK; I get that. I’m OK with that. Our players are OK with that. I think our players are a little upset that’s the way people look at it, but I told the guys there is nothing you can do except get ready for the next game. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll take the bye week, get away from everything and relax and rest up and get ready for Seattle because, believe me, we’ll show up on Sunday to play football.”

So you’d rather be 4-0 over being the most-respected 3-1 team?
“Or most-respected 0-4 team, that’s for sure. I tell you that. There’s nothing we can do. Now look at who we’re going to play. If whoever we beat with a winning record then everybody goes, ‘Oh well.’ That’s the schedule. Think about who we’re going to play. We have Seattle and Philadelphia then Green Bay and Indianapolis. Three of those four teams have good records. It’s just the way it works. Are they going to say anything when other undefeated teams play teams with losing records? It’s just the way it’s setup.”

You faced a kicker who struggled yesterday and it’s been a trend around the league. Have you noticed that?
“Yeah. First of all, kudos to the commissioner for wanting to move the extra point back. I didn’t want it moved back, but it’s created a little uncertainty in kickers’ minds and it’s playing a little bit of a game. I think guys are concerned about it, and they say, ‘Shoot, this is kick that could be missed.’ Moving it back 15 yards has been that disruptive. It’s played into some kickers’ heads. Kickers that are confident and feel that they’re going to go and stroke them do it. I saw the guy in Kansas City go 7-for-7. That’s pretty impressive, and it doesn’t seem to be affecting him, but other guys it has. It’s done what the commissioner and the league hoped it would do. It’s made the extra point not as simple as it used to be. It’s crazy because some of these guys are tremendous kickers but to have them get up there and miss a couple is surprising.”

Do you like the change on the extra point now?
“No. I still don’t like it (laughs). I can feel for a lot of those guys. It is effective. The league wanted to make these kicks not be gimmes anymore and add some more excitement and put pressure on the coach and make them think a little bit more and give them more angst. That’s what it’s done.”

How confident are you in Graham Gano’s ability?
“I’m very confident. I thought he kicked the ball well yesterday considering the conditions, too. The kicker in Tampa slipped twice. The conditions were hard. On both of those slips, he pulled the ball. It’s unfortunate for them, and it’s hard, but both teams had to play in the same situation and conditions.”

Gano tweeted about a rough landing at the airport returning from Tampa. What was your impression of it?
“Piece of cake (laughs). It was a rough landing. We had a lot of crosswinds and I thought the pilot controlled it and handled it and touched it down. I agree with what Graham tweeted. It was a little different.”