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

Wednesday’s post-practice comments from Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera. 

Word on Kelvin Benjamin’s status?

“The early word is that it’s a sprain as of right now. They’re going to take him up to get an MRI, and that’s all I know.”

What did you see on the play?

“He went to plant and make a swim move and without any contact just kind of went down, so it was unfortunate. It’s one of those things that could have happened in any drill. It’s unfortunate it happened then.”

How does it affect the offense?

“Other guys are going to have to step up. We saw Bersin step up and make some plays. Boykin made some plays. So some guys just got to step up and take advantage of the opportunity. Hopefully, it’s some positive news we’ll get later today.”

Did you get any sense on stability of the knee?

“No, I have no idea. So far, preliminary it’s a sprain and until they see otherwise on the MRI, they’ll let me know going forward today.”

What did you hear from Cam when he went over to him?

“Cam was right there with his teammate telling him he’s going to be okay, and we’ll hold the fort down until you’re ready to get back up. It was positive, and everybody was trying to be positive. Hopefully, good news will come this afternoon.”

Did you see a dip in the offense after that play?

“The guys were down, but the thing I saw and noticed was that you saw guys like Bersin make some plays and Boykin make some plays. It’s good when guys step up and get opportunities, it’s good to see. I thought Byrd made a couple of nice plays and it’s unfortunate when a situation like this happens but somebody has to step up, and hopefully again it’s just for a short period of time.”

How much have you seen out of Devin Funchess so far?

“Unfortunately he tweaked his hamstring a little bit later on in practice, so he didn’t get to finish up, but hopefully we’ll get him back out there in the next few days. He’s done a nice job. He really has. He and Kelvin are different type players. Kelvin is a big, stout, physical guy where Funchess uses his size to position himself, and he’ll have to step it up and learn that style and technique of play.”

You don’t expect him to practice tomorrow because of it?

“Probably not, we’ll wait until [Ryan Vermillion] gets a chance to look at him, but I don’t think so.”

What happened with Funchess?

“I didn’t see it, they just came up and told me his hamstring got tight.”

Did you get what you wanted out of this practice?

“Most certainly, I was very happy with a lot of things that went on. They did some really nice things to us. They had a real good blitz period against us. Unfortunately, we didn’t protect it as well as we needed to. I like some of the things we did, and they did on third downs, our run and play pass was good. There were some really positive things. The really good thing was our guys saw different people and different things being done against them. I haven’t had a chance to watch the defensive side, but I was pleased with a lot of things on the offensive side. We had the unfortunate, one little skirmish, a few of the guys disagreeing a little bit. But if that’s we can do, and maintain the composure and have limited skirmishes then we’ll have a real good day tomorrow as well, so I’m excited about what happened today. I look forward to seeing the tape on the defensive side. I hope we’re getting a lot of positive out of it. I think we’re a good team, and so are they and it helps.”

You had both teams together before practice, what was the message?

“Coach Philbin and I have talked about this and we tried to stress to our guys that we’re here to work, not here to fight. We’re here to take advantage of the opportunity to get better. We both tried to make sure our players understand if coach Philbin said something our guys it was if I was talking and if I said anything to Dolphins guys it’s like he was talking. I really appreciated that approach and it really helps. As long as the players understand we’re trying to work together, it’s as if you’re practicing with yourselves, and we can get quality work out of it. It’s a good group and coach [Philbin] and I talked afterwards and with the exception of what happened with the O-line and D-line, we were very pleased with what we got from the guys.”

You said if players get in scuffles you’ll take them out, did those guys get removed?

“I don’t know. I wasn’t there when the situation happened so we’ll see and figure out what happened. Coach Philbin and I talked about it already. We’re going to go on and tomorrow is another day. We expect the same type of quality practice.”

How much did you watch O-line against D-line?

“I didn’t get to watch one-on-one drills because I was with the 7-on-7, but I did watch and really try to focus in on what happened. In the blitz period, it was a little disappointing. They came out and had a couple real good blitzes early, made a couple plays on their side. But that’s good because we’ll coach off of that and teach off of that, and learn from the mistakes we made, and we’ll get that fixed up.”

How did the line look against Suh?

“I tell you what, he’s something else. There are certain things they do to give him chances and man he can make some things happen. I thought Trai [Turner] battled him pretty well. I thought Kalil had to battle him a couple times. He predominantly lined up against the right side of our line. He is a special player, and I can see why Miami wanted to bring him. He helps to add more bite to who they are. I think defensively with [Cameron] Wake and that core of linebackers that can run. I think they’re a good football team. It’s good to see our guys get this kind of work. Last week it was Buffalo and that defense, and now it’s Miami and this defensive line. We’re going to continue to work and try to take advantage.”

What did you see from tipped passes Cam threw?

“Unfortunately when you’re doing a drill like that you can’t use certain techniques in terms of blocking. So we’re trying to be mindful of that, and their guy got up and knocked it down. The second one, Cam had the right read because it was hot, but he went to throw it over Wake, and he has about a 48-inch vertical, my gosh, and he made a great play. That’s one of the things where Cam has to know he’s got to get it to the side or get it over the top of him. He made the right read, it was a hot, and we make the hot throw, it’s a first down. You got a guy like Wake up there making plays.”

How much of a plus is it having extra film from a different team?

“It’s tremendous, not necessarily about an opponent but just about all the different things we did offensively, defensively and special teams. I was real pleased with the work on special teams, a couple of our weaknesses showed up and there are a couple of things we need to get better at, so I was real happy about that. We’re gonna have some quality film to coach and teach off of and learn from.”

Same setup tomorrow?

“Pretty much, it’ll be a little more situational tomorrow, we’ll work a short yardage period, a goal-line and red zone emphasis, stuff like that so tomorrow will be situational football. The rest of the day today will be a normal day, we’ll do our normal meetings and walk-through tonight for meetings as well.”[line][vc_raw_html]

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

[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]