Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera during his weekly Monday afternoon press conference.

Update on Mario Addison's injury?

"Not as of yet. I believe he's getting whatever tests he needs done now. He does have some sort of shoulder sprain and I'll know more about it later this afternoon."

You managed to stay productive with the pass rush after all the injuries. How?

"A lot of it has to do with the unit itself. The D-line is playing very well right now. I think [Kawaan Short] sparks a lot of it. Star [Lotulelei] plays a very key role, talking about guys having to absorb doubles while other guys get singled and the play of the defensive ends have been good, seeing those guys get around the corner for us forcing guys to step up in the pocket too helps. There are good things going on as far as that unit is concerned."

Was 70+ snaps more than you hoped from Jared Allen?

"Yes. It is more than I hoped. It was something addressed already. Jared likes to get in a rhythm but it's a long season and we got some other young guys who need to continue to work and get more snaps. We've got to be aware of it and handle it better."

Having that many snaps wasn't in the plans for Allen, right?

"No, it wasn't planned. That's something I want to see changed. He's a veteran guy in great condition but we roll guys for a specific reason and I will say that he played strong in the fourth and was involved in plays."

What have you seen from Kawaan Short in the past two weeks?

"He's getting off on the ball very well. The coverage has been really good lately. Our secondary is rounding very nicely into shape. Some of things they're doing is taking things away and helping the pass rush as well. As I said earlier, the play of the unit has been very good."

What's the change in the mindset of defensive line?

"It's just practice and something we work on. It's something Sean [McDermott] talks about and emphasizes to the players. When you get down in those areas you want to force field goals and again it keeps points of the board. Our defense has done a nice job containing things and putting things in perspective, and just because they're down there doesn't mean they have to score touchdowns."

Back to Allen, what led to the decision of him playing so many snaps?

"It's a combination of things. He rotated out and as soon as he was ready then went right back in. It's something we have to consciously pay attention to. We have some good young football players and they need to continue to work and develop. It's a long season and we have 10 games left in the regular season. We have to continue to develop these young players."

What's it do for the defense when teams stay away from Josh Norman?

"When that happens, then there are certain things that you can do defensively, and you can do it with one player. Back in the day it was done with Deion Sanders and everybody talked about what he did for San Francisco, Dallas, Atlanta, and the Redskins. You can roll your coverage completely away from a guy and play man coverage and work doubles to the other side."

Did you think Sam Bradford had an opening to Zach Ertz in the end zone when Norman knocked it away?

"Yes. I thought he played it very well and was in position in a nice spot underneath. When the ball was delivered, he was able to make the play."

How do you coach Norman differently when he isn't seeing a lot of targets on the field?

"I think Steve Wilks handles him very well and has a great line of communication with him about these things. Josh gets anxious and wants to make plays and be involved. One thing that we do is try to put him on their best receiver at times. With these guys, it was a little bit difficult because they throw the ball to so many different people. When you come against a team with one primary target, that's where we've put Josh in the past. Until we come against a team that has a primary guy that fits his skill set then we'll match him up, and that's the hard part for him is finding that right matchup."

What's the reasoning for Bené Benwikere playing outside more than in recent weeks?

"It's the whole rotation with Charles [Tillman] and we rotated Tre [Boston] as well. We have to keep these veteran guys young. We can't put as many snaps on them as we have. It's all about development of young players going forward and making sure we preserve these guys going down the stretch. It's going to be important even more so with how the schedule lines up, which you guys know. I'm a little ahead of myself on that, but you think in terms of that as we go forward."

What's it say that the team didn't bring their best last night and could still get another win?

"It says a lot about our guys. We talk about being realistic. It's perception versus reality. When you break it down, and I encourage guys to watch tape on off-time and study themselves and see what they can get better at and that's why our guys walk away feeling that way. It's a huge plus because we want to stay focused and humbled on what we're trying to accomplish and see that we can play better. We continue to work hard and correct mistakes. On their big touchdown run, we had three guys out of their gaps, and that's why we gave it up."

Any concern about run defense?

"No that was one play. That really bothers me when you look at what we were trying to do. They had an opportunity to stop the play at the line of scrimmage and we didn't."

What have you liked with the offense, especially with 100 yards rushing for so many consecutive games?

"One of the big things is with our offensive line becoming solid. It's one of those things where running the ball effectively takes pressure off the quarterback. Secondly, it gives your offensive lineman a chance to tee off. Third, if you're effective running early then it wears people down a little bit. It's important to get after an opponent early on and set a tone. Nothing sets a tone more so than watching Jonathan Stewart or Mike Tolbert or Cam Newton slice through a defense and pick up a first down after a hard run. It gets everybody moving. We want to set the tone and be a physical team by nature. We're learning how to do that."

What are your thoughts on Newton only carrying four times?

"I'm fine with that. The less exposure he gets out there the better. When you're doing that successfully and rushing the ball, it takes the pressure off of the quarterback."

What led to the amount of plays over 20 yards by the offense?

"It was about the opportunities that were out there. We were put in a couple of second and third and longs that we were forced to come up with chunk plays. We weren't as good on third down as I would have liked to have been. We were 2-for-9 on third downs. The two that we hit were long plays. Those are things we have to be better at. That's disappointing as far third down is concerned. We were able to make things happen in those situations."

How much has Mike Shula changed his approach with Kelvin Benjamin out?

"I don't know if it's necessarily a change without Kelvin. One thing we would do in the past was move Kelvin around. Now there is no Kelvin to move around so now whoever he primary guy is, is the primary guy. Kelvin would go from the X or Z, and wherever he was, he was primary. Now not having him, you can't move him around. Now if you X is Ted Ginn, and your Z is Corey Brown, then that's your target, and that's where you start."

How pleased are you with Shula's calls?

"I've been pleased with him since Mike has started calling for us. I have a lot of faith in what we're doing. When you get a chance to sit down and talk with him and listen to his thoughts and listen what he's looking at, and I look at opposing defenses a lot to see what they're doing, and I hear Mike talk about it and hear other coaches talk about it, I'm excited about it. I think our approach is very good and having the ability to run the ball when we want to and when they know we have to. If you can do that then you give yourself the chance to win."

When Michael Oher was signed people wondered how he'd fare, is he exceeding expectations?

"Very much so. I know people are critical of him, but he's playing the hardest position on the offensive line. He typically goes up against one of the better two athletes on the opposing team's side of the ball. A lot of times we leave him out there singled up by himself. It's not like we turn the line that way all the time or the back is chipping his way or a tight end is next to him. He's on that island and has no issues. He doesn't complain. He's a tough-minded guy and does the best he can. He's had some success for us this year and we love having him on the football team."

Do you see similarities between Andrew Luck and Newton?

"We're a different style offense than what they're using up there. I think it'd be unfair to compare. Unless they're playing in the same offense, then that's the only time you compare anybody. It's apples to oranges in a lot of respects."

How do you manage the increased expectations going into a Monday night game?

"We try to make sure we focus on the approach. It's a one-game season; we focus on one game at a time then handling our success. There are a lot of people tugging and pulling and wanting to get a piece of our guys. We're kind of on the seam and I talked about becoming relevant, and we're becoming relevant, so a lot of people want to know about our guys. From my understanding, Thomas Davis got a lot of positive things said about him last night, and that's huge. Josh Norman has done the same and Cam has people talking about him as well. That's great but focus has to be on playing the games. As soon as you're in the limelight, you can be pushed out of it by not playing well. Our guys have to stay focused and keep that approach."

How do you balance Thomas Davis not getting worn out and keep a balance to his reps?

"It's very hard to get him off the field. He wears me out every time we have to take him out. He stands right behind me, and I can feel him breathing down my neck trying to get back in. We take care of him in practice. He'll come in, and you can tell. We'll cut reps in practice on purpose like a vet day, but he doesn't want vet days either. I got up to Al and Sean and say make up some excuse to get him off the field."

Any update on Shaq Thompson and his availability?

"He's doing well. He took a big step today. They taped him up and had him run through some drills, as did Daryl Williams. They took them out and had them do some drills, which is huge. I believe both are assigned to individual work on Wednesday, and if they show up Thursday and feel good about themselves then we may have them available. Wednesday is the target day and the next day is important for how they reacted. We won't get an update on Mario Addison until later on."