Monday will mark three weeks since Carolina Panthers safety Dean Marlowe felt a "tweak" in his hamstring during a training camp practice.

Monday will also be two weeks since coach Ron Rivera said Marlowe's recovery wasn't going "as fast as I wish (it) would."

And Monday will be one week since Rivera said he hoped Marlowe would finally be ready to return to practice the next day.

That didn't happen, and on Sunday, Marlowe again worked on the side with trainers while his teammates practiced.

So how serious is this strain?

"It's not bad at all. It's just a nagging type of thing," Marlowe assured afterward.

"Today was the best that I've felt since it happened."

That's news the Panthers need at their thinnest position. Safety's been a mess since Trenton Robinson (pec), Travell Dixon (chest) and Marcus Ball (undisclosed) were dinged up last week in Tennessee.

Despite returning to practice on Wednesday, Dixon was held out Friday against the Patriots, leaving only three safeties to get through the night. So when Kurt Coleman and Tre Boston finished up their time with the starters, the other safety alongside Colin Jones was Brian Blechen, who played the position in college before converting to linebacker last summer.

Running short on bodies, the Panthers tried out at least four safeties on Saturday, including veterans Donte Whitner and Stevie Brown, who left town without contracts.

There's been speculation the tryouts were also a shot across the bow at Boston, but in truth, they had little to do with who's starting at free safety.

"You see how hurt we are," Boston said. "I knew it wasn't anything personal. It's just our team needs a third safety."

Marlowe was supposed to be that guy, but if he can't get on the field ... 

"We'll see," Rivera said when asked if the Panthers would continue safety shopping. "We like who we have, but with some of the injuries we have we most certainly have to look. You want to make sure that short list is a positive one."

If they didn't like what they saw in Whitner and Brown, the Panthers could find someone worth adding in the next week. Two rounds of cuts will chop more than 1,000 players from rosters, and the casualties should include a few dozen safeties.

In the meantime, the wait on Marlowe continues.

"I'm in no rush to get back so I can mess around and screw myself up again," he said.

"We have to open up, run, cut and do everything. It takes a little bit more time to recover than other positions. That's why we're probably taking a lot longer to heal up."