[vc_row no_margin=”true”][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_row_inner no_margin=”true”][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_raw_html]

JTNDY2VudGVyJTNFJTNDJTIxLS0lMjAlMkYyMTg0OTY4MDklMkZNb2JpbGVBQUElMjAtLSUzRSUwQSUzQ2RpdiUyMGlkJTNEJTI3ZGl2LWdwdC1hZC0xNDQxNTk2MjA3NTkyLTIlMjclMjBzdHlsZSUzRCUyN2hlaWdodCUzQTUwcHglM0IlMjB3aWR0aCUzQTMyMHB4JTNCJTI3JTNFJTBBJTNDc2NyaXB0JTIwdHlwZSUzRCUyN3RleHQlMkZqYXZhc2NyaXB0JTI3JTNFJTBBZ29vZ2xldGFnLmNtZC5wdXNoJTI4ZnVuY3Rpb24lMjglMjklMjAlN0IlMjBnb29nbGV0YWcuZGlzcGxheSUyOCUyN2Rpdi1ncHQtYWQtMTQ0MTU5NjIwNzU5Mi0yJTI3JTI5JTNCJTIwJTdEJTI5JTNCJTBBJTNDJTJGc2NyaXB0JTNFJTBBJTNDJTJGZGl2JTNFJTNDJTJGY2VudGVyJTNF

[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner]

[gap size=”1.313em”]With the news cycle taken over by another day of Patriots talk, it’s likely every head coach in the NFL on Friday will get the question.

“Have you ever had headset problems in Foxboro?”

The Panthers haven’t played a regular-season game in New England since 2009, so when Ron Rivera was asked, he couldn’t say either way. But he also didn’t add any smoke to the latest fire circling the Patriots.

“It is a league problem. It’s wherever. Any time you’re using WiFi and internet and all that stuff, it can go out anywhere,” Rivera said. “We played in Buffalo when I was in San Diego and the whole system went down. Once that happened, we were basically back to hand signals.

“It was crazy because we had one guy on the phone telling us what was being seen and then we were trying to signal to the players at the same time.”

Like every team, the Panthers have backup plans for potential headset issues. They could go to hardwire, and if that doesn’t work, there are the trusty hand signals. Or they may go really old school.

“If it’s close enough to the bench, you can actually yell to the corner who can relay it to the middle linebacker,” Rivera said.

“It will go out right in the middle and not just here or in New England or in San Francisco, but it could go out in a critical time and you have to be able to communicate. So if something does happen, man, we’ll go right to it.”

In a league full of paranoia, teams constantly change signals. They put them on wristbands. They have dummy calls. They even use indicators like a third base coach to a batter.

But sometimes, all the secrecy and subterfuge can backfire.

“We outsmarted ourselves in the Super Bowl when I was in Chicago,” Rivera recalled.

“We were going to change out the wristbands every so often. Well, we changed them out and one guy didn’t get it. So we signaled the defense and he read the wrong defense and we gave up a big play.

“Sometimes you get so paranoid about it – for whatever reason – and it happens.”

[vc_row_inner no_margin=”true”][vc_column_inner width=”1/1″][vc_raw_html]

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

[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]