6 short stories from Wednesday in San Jose
It’s an obvious storyline.
10 months after experiencing the biggest heartbreak of their professional lives, the Carolina Panthers have returned to the scene of Super Bowl 50.
Well, not exactly.
They’re staying at a different hotel and they won’t step foot in Levi’s Stadium during their stay in the Bay Area this week. But they’re practicing at San Jose State, which is what they did ahead of their loss to the Broncos.
So as his team gets ready for its weekend trip to Seattle, can coach Ron Rivera help but not think about went wrong back in February?
“It’s practice,” he quipped. “It’s not as dramatic as you want to make it out to be. It’s practice.”
Let’s pause a moment for:
Anyway, if Rivera isn’t thinking about the past, he’s mentally stronger than most. Because as much as guys want to move on, it’s probably tough to completely block out thoughts of what could’ve been.
“We’d be lying if we said driving past the stadium or being back here doesn’t make you go, ‘Man, we blew that shot,’ tight end Greg Olsen said. “But that’s life.”
And … one more pause, please:
From Allen Iverson’s classic quote to this from former Panthers wideout Steve Smith:
89 is a rare player who can talk in the third person using just his jersey number, but Trai Turner tried it Wednesday.
“They asked 70 to do it and 70 stepped up,” he said when asked about sliding from right guard to tackle during Sunday’s loss in Oakland.
With Daryl Williams now nursing his sprained ankle in a walking boot, Turner is expected to stay at tackle against the Seahawks. At 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, he has neither the height nor the arm length most teams prefer at the position, but in the Panthers’ current “catastrophe,” he’s their best option heading into a matchup with one of the NFL’s elite defensive lines.
“Some guys think tackles are 6-6, 6-7. I think 6-3’s cool,” Turner said with a smile.
“It doesn’t matter what team (you’re facing). You’re going to be able to call out a guy that can run the edge. You’re going to be able to call out a three-technique. You can call out a nose. It’s the NFL, so just come out here, practice real hard and get ready to ball out on Sunday.”
If you’ve finally accepted the Panthers’ likely fate this season, perhaps what Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said on a conference call with Carolina-based reporters will get your hopes back up.
Or perhaps he just said what he’s supposed to.
Some highlights:
“We see them still as a terrific team.”
“They’re a very talented football team.”
“They’re a very dangerous team.”
“It’s a very difficult challenge and we have great respect for them.”
“The style of offense and all is very challenging for us.”
“Of course they’ve got the banged up front, but other than that, this is a very good looking team.”
And other than that, Mrs. Lincoln …
Few would argue Luke Kuechly isn’t the best inside linebacker in the league. A better debate would be who ranks directly behind him.
Seattle’s Bobby Wagner is a good choice. He tops the NFL with 118 tackles, a category Kuechly led until he suffered a concussion two weeks ago.
“It was definitely a scary moment, especially when you see a tough guy like that in the amount of pain that he was in,” said Wagner, who worked out with Kuechly ahead of the 2012 draft.
“I text him here and here and check on him to see how he’s doing like when he got hurt. I checked on him. Same thing, he checks on me every now and then, asks me how my family is doing.”
Kuechly was at practice Wednesday, but in a baseball cap. He’s not expected to play against the Seahawks.
The locker next to Newton’s at Bank of America Stadium is essentially used to house his ever-growing collection of customized cleats. Almost directly across from that is Olsen’s locker, which adjacent a big, wooden laundry basket.
“I don’t do the Cam thing, a new pair every day,” Olsen said.
“I’m pretty routine about my cleats. I’ve worn probably two pairs the last two seasons.”
Which is why he wanted to start breaking in his newest pair as soon as possible.
Designed in partnership with Nike, Olsen’s custom kicks are part of the NFL’s “My Cause, My Cleats” campaign that will allow more than 500 players to spotlight their off-the-field concerns this weekend.
Olsen’s cleats are red and blue — the official colors of congenital heart disease awareness — and feature a logo for his HEARTest Yard initiative.
“This isn’t really my thing,” he said, “but I felt like for the cause and for the greater good, it was something I’d make an exception for.
“It’s pretty cool that it’ll be on a Sunday night game, not just for our program, but congenital heart disease in general,” he said. “It’s a great platform for us. We’re thankful for that.”
The Panthers are hoping to help get athletic departments affected by Hurricane Matthew back on their feet.
The organization has awarded a total of $250,000 of flood relief grants to 23 North and South Carolina high schools. The money is designed to replace equipment and repair infrastructure damaged in the storm that dropped torrential rain on the Carolinas in October.
“The Carolina Panthers hope this grant funding will enable schools, and the communities they serve, to return to a sense of normalcy by helping fund critical repairs and equipment and infrastructure replacement for high school athletic programs,” said Panthers director of community relations Riley Fields.