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Did Not Practice 

• WR Jerricho Cotchery (groin) – Tweaked it against Patriots on play Corey Brown dropped a would-have-been touchdown pass.
• TE Richie Brockel (shoulder) – Still no timetable on his return.
• C Ryan Kalil (knee) – Said Friday he’ll be ready for Week 1.
• C Brian Folkerts (ankle) – Struggled in spot start, especially after twisting ankle.
• OT Davonte Wallace (concussion) – Coach Ron Rivera said Wallace’s situation is similar to what QB Matt Blanchard dealt with last year when he missed nearly three months with a severe concussion.
• DE Arthur Miley (knee)
• DT Star Lotulelei (foot)
• DT Micanor Regis (groin)
• LB Jason Trusnik (calf)
• DB Colin Jones (groin)
• CB Charles Tillman (concussion) – Rivera, who said Tillman had the wind knocked out of him Friday night, said Sunday that’s what Tillman had told him. But the veteran CB did suffer a concussion in the first quarter.
• CB Melvin White (hamstring)

Full Practice

• WR Devin Funchess (hamstring) – Panthers face interesting dilemma: Give the rookie much-needed reps in the preseason finale or play it safe?
• TE Ed Dickson (groin)
• TE Brandon Williams (groin)
• OL Amini Silatolu (calf)
• DT Kawann Short (back)
• DE Charles Johnson (calf)
• CB Lou Young (hamstring) – His first practice since the second Sunday of camp.

Observations

• Funchess appeared to run better than he did in his return to practice last week. He was also involved in three plays that were reminders to temper expectations.

1) While matched up against CB Carrington Byndom, Funchess tried and failed to make a one-hand grab of a Derek Anderson pass in the end zone. It was the type of play Kelvin Benjamin made last summer when it was becoming obvious he wasn’t a typical rookie.

2) A few minutes later, Anderson and Funchess attempted to connect on a deep ball that landed long.

3) Late in practice, Anderson threw slightly high, but the ball hit Funchess in the hands before it fell to the ground.

• At least for this one practice, WR Corey Brown made good on his vow to stop trying to catch the ball with his body. He had a solid day using his hands and then stayed afterward to catch extra passes from Anderson.

• CB Josh Norman, who said he’d catch 5,000 balls this week after dropping an interception against the Patriots, was on the JUGS machine when practice started. After it ended, Norman and CB Bené Benwikere were the last two players on the field.

• With Tillman and White out, Teddy Williams took most first-team snaps across from Norman.

• With Kalil and Folkerts out, Mike Remmers and Chris Scott split snaps at C.

• LB Luke Kuechly practiced with a bandage on his left leg. Kuechly was cut when he got some of TE Scott Chandler’s cleat while making a second-quarter tackle.

• In red zone drills, TE Greg Olsen beat Kuechly and S Kurt Coleman to make a pretty over the-shoulder-grab of a Cam Newton pass.

Quotes to Note

• With eight cuts down, the Panthers have seven more to go by Tuesday afternoon.

“There are some things we’ve still got to look at,” Rivera said. “We have not made complete decisions yet with all the moves we have to make.”

• The Panthers entered each of the past two seasons with five receivers, so it’ll be interesting to see what they do for Saturday’s 53-man cutdown.

“We haven’t really picked a number yet – five, six or seven – but it is a good battle,” Rivera said. “Some of the young guys have really stepped up.”

• “He has taken the bull by the horns.”

• S Dean Marlowe has steadily improved since coming to Carolina in the spring. The James Madison product was one of the Panthers’ priority undrafted free agents, and with Colin Jones struggling with a groin injury, the door may have been open for Marlowe to sneak on the final roster. But Rivera pretty much closed that door while hinting at a practice squad invite:

“He’s a long ways away from where we need him to be, but he’s a young guy that’s got a chance,” Rivera said. “He’ll grow. A good year of seasoning, a good year of opportunity to watch and grow. I think he’s going to be a quality football player some day.”

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