The Panthers are 2-0 for the first time in six years. Their defense has shown signs it may be better than the unit that led a playoff run last season. Their offense scored 44 points in two weeks with two different quarterbacks, one who hadn’t started in four years, and the other who’s currently nursing sore ribs and an iffy ankle.But a player who wasn’t even at the stadium during Sunday’s win over the Lions remains the biggest story, something that likely won’t change this week, and who knows how many more.”Yeah, you get tired of it,” center Ryan Kalil admitted Monday, after agreeing to talk to reporters he knew would pepper him with questions about defensive end Greg Hardy, who was deactivated shortly before Sunday’s kickoff.”There’s nothing for us to do about it. We don’t have to make those decisions. I’m glad we don’t have to make those decisions,” Kalil said.While head coach Ron Rivera claimed he made the decision to take Hardy out of the lineup, it’s hard to imagine he didn’t receive relatively forceful encouragement from some above him before he made the call. Yet Rivera is currently the team’s de facto spokesman.Owner Jerry Richardson made an emotional statement against domestic violence last week, but he’s been quiet since that night. General Manager Dave Gettleman does not talk to the media during the regular season.When Hardy arrived at Bank of America Stadium on Monday afternoon, he ignored reporters that had staked-out his arrival. He also was not available to the media last week after he curiously missed Wednesday’s practice.So for now, Rivera and Hardy’s teammates have been left to weather the storm of controversy swirling around the team by themselves.Minutes after Sunday’s win, the first question Rivera took had nothing to do with what happened on the field during the previous three hours. Instead, it was about Hardy.On Monday, Rivera faced another line of questioning in front of suddenly curious local TV news reporters and a live audience on NFL Network.”We’re in a situation where we’re going to go through this week and evaluate the circumstances and situation. In light of a lot of things that have happened, we’re going to continue to gather information,” Rivera said. “This is a fluid situation, and we’ll see what happens.”In other words, it’s going to be another week where the growing outside attention essentially ignores the Panthers’ strong start.Many believe the team deserves what they’re getting since they declined to discipline Hardy for not only embarrassing them back in May, but also because they did nothing after a judge found him guilty two months later.Of course, it’s a lot easier to throw rocks at the Panthers for how they have or haven’t handled Hardy than it is to have to make the decisions in a very sticky and public legal situation with many, many eyes following your every move. And that was before TMZ awakened millions who hadn’t focused so much of their attention and anger on the league.Since then, pressure — both warranted and not — has piled up on the Panthers. And much of the media knows what part of the fire to stoke.An ESPN “Outside the Lines” report contained court testimony from Hardy’s accuser, but didn’t include other details that would have left nearly anyone who sat inside the courtroom through the 10-hour trial with serious questions about the credibility of both sides.Same with this piece. And this one.Pointing out those examples isn’t an attempt to argue Hardy’s innocence. Instead, they’re reminders of the many layers to all of this, many which are being filtered out in an attempt to grab viewers and clicks.On both Sunday and Monday Rivera said, “We’re doing the best we can.” Hindsight and cynicism have made many question if the Panthers truly did their best this summer, or even if they’re doing it now.Only a handful of people know what happened between Hardy and his accuser. The Panthers had planned to let a jury decide, but as Rivera has also repeated, “The climate has changed.”Ultimately, the climate is full of unfortunate.It’s unfortunate the lives of those directly involved in that mysterious night will never be the same.It’s unfortunate a large portion of fans across all sports only see the players they root for through team-colored glasses.It’s unfortunate the public’s need to be angry while playing judge and jury is being fed by a portion of the media hungry for page views.It’s unfortunate we have so little patience for those making decisions we’re not qualified to make, even though we don’t have nearly the same information to make those decisions ourselves.And it’s unfortunate the attention focused on the Panthers this week will have little to do with players who actually deserve the spotlight a Sunday night prime time game and an unbeaten start should afford them.

BBR NUGGETS

• Breaking down Sunday’s snap counts. — BBR
• Eric Adelson asks: Is Cam Newton NFL’s most underrated QB? — Yahoo Sports
• Thomas Davis lost a bet. — Twitter
• Coach Ray Rivera? — Twitter
• How about coach Jerry Richardson? — Twitter
• Great shot of Kelvin Benjamin’s one-handed catch, and of the people who saw it up close. — Carolina Huddle