Bené Benwikere had never missed significant time away from football until he had to deal with one of the game’s trickiest injuries.After the rookie cornerback suffered a high ankle sprain in the first quarter of the Panthers’ Week 5 win over the Bears, he hoped he would be out three-to-four weeks. Instead, he missed the next six games.“I really have no clue why it took so long,” Benwikere said. “I guess the healing process, it wanted to take so long.”Benwikere will finally make his return Sunday against the Vikings. His absence isn’t the sole reason the Panthers haven’t won since Week 5, but they have sorely missed their No. 1 nickel corner.“We’re talking about a guy that has great vision, tremendous vision, a good feel for playing inside on the slot. He showed it early for us. He flashed for us, and he trained at it all during training camp,” coach Ron Rivera said. “We should do some things a lot better. We should put ourselves in better position, and I’m excited to see how much better we should be with him on the field.”Benwikere practiced in full Wednesday, as did fullback Mike Tolbert and guards Andrew Norwell and Amini Silatolu.Norwell, who tweaked a hamstring against the Falcons in Week 11, should be well enough to start Sunday at left guard. Silatolu is the front-runner to take over Nate Chandler’s spot at right tackle.Receiver Philly Brown and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei were the only Panthers who didn’t practice.Brown was sent home after he showed up to work feeling sick. “It’s hopefully a 24-hour thing,” Rivera said.Lotuelei stayed inside to run in the indoor pool. He’s likely at least a week away from returning to play on the ankle he sprained in Week 10 against the Eagles.