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

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

How does your offense change without Kelvin Benjamin?

“I don’t know if it changes that much. We drafted Devin Funchess for a reason and this is one of them. We want to have a big, quality receiver and Devin gives us that still. We got Ted Ginn back with the speed; Corey Brown is continuing to develop. We have the vet in [Jerricho Cotchery], and we got some young guys really fighting and battling and doing a good job. It’s not going to change what we do. We’re going to do the things that we do.”

You’ve said Devin Funchess picks things up quickly. How will that help him take on a bigger role?

“That should help a lot. He is really a solid young man and he knows two positions. He’ll concentrate on Kelvin’s and really work to handle that spot for us. It’ll be by committee, we’ve got a couple other guys who can do some things that will fit that position for us very well. As I mentioned, Ted Ginn with that great speed, we saw it again today over here in the two-minute drill. He and Cam communicated and he got vertical.”

Devin’s timeline for return from hamstring injury?

“Probably not going to be up this week, but hopefully we’ll get him back on the football field on Monday, and we expect to get a lot of guys back on Monday.”

And you expect to have Brandon Williams back then?

“Yes, we expect to have Brandon back on Monday. They’ve had them doing a lot of things over here. We didn’t want to push it; he’s in a good place right now. We’re in a good place with the health of our tight end position so we thought we’d give him a few more days to make sure.”

Will the tight ends have a bigger role in the passing game now?

“That was a big reason we wanted to make sure re-signed Ed Dickson last year because he and Greg [Olsen] give us a very good combination at that position. Getting Brandon [Williams] healthy and having Richie [Brockel] as a solid blocker for us. We have four quality tight ends.”

Do you feel like you need to add a WR?

“No. We feel really good about what we have. We’ll see, and that’s why we have three more games to make a decision. We got plenty of time, but we have to be patient.”

Were any of Kelvin’s other ligaments affected?

“No, that’s the best thing from my understanding right now. You never really know until the surgery gets done, but I think we’re expecting that it should be a pretty good process.”

Do you think the turf here played any role in the ACL injuries on this field?

“No. I don’t think so. When you watch it on tape, the one I noticed with Kelvin is that he shifted his weight, and that’s when that happened. The [Louis Delmas injury], he was in a back-peddle and when he went to turn and went through his transition is when that happened. I don’t think it had anything to do with the turf, though. I really don’t.”

Stephen Hill also went down on this field?

“When you see Stephen’s, the slow-motion is ugly. It was unfortunate, and it’s sad because these are quality football players that got hurt, too.”

How do you make sure team doesn’t lose hope?

“We talked about that last night. I made mention of it to the players and we talked about the opportunity created. We don’t want these kind of things to happen but when they do, somebody has to step up and take advantage of it. It’s not about us being one player as it is being a team.”

Do you rally around Cam Newton more with Kelvin out?

“No, we rally around the guys on the field. Whether it’s another wide receiver or two other guys, the running game, offensive line. This is about a team. I really appreciate who we are as a football team.”

What did you think of Cam’s camp?

“I thought Cam had a great camp. He had his moments where he gets frustrated with himself and that’s the best part is that he’s his hardest critic. That’s the thing I love about him is that he’s realistic, and he’s probably up there right now fuming about things that he missed as opposed to things he does well. That’s one of the things that I think helps him. It’s who he is and his desire to want to be the best.”

How did the offensive line do in the one-on-one drill today?

“Some of our young guys really battled in there. Trai [Turner] had a good day. The tough thing for Trai is dealing with Ndamukong. I mean he’s special, I got an opportunity to watch him. When he first came out we didn’t study him because we knew he was going to be drafted first or second, but what I really got to do was watch him yesterday and he was unbelievable. I don’t care who the guard was, he was winning. Then today I got a chance to really watch him and thought he did some really good things. Got to watch Cameron Wake against our right tackles and that was great for those guys to get that kind of quality work. I’ll tell you what, though. I thought Daryl Williams really stepped up. He realized and recognized he has the ability to play against top line players and he did a nice job.”

How would you summarize these two days of joint practices?

“It was very productive and I’m very pleased with it. We had the good tempo that we were looking for, and the intensity level was up. That’s what happens when you bring in another team to scrimmage. One of the things I truly appreciate was the way Coach Philbin, his coaching staff and players handled it. We talked to our players about making sure we took advantage of the opportunity. We didn’t come here to be disruptive and fight; we came here to improve and get better as football teams. I think both teams accomplished that and I think this will go a long way for all of us.”

What did you tell players would happen if they did get in a fight?

“We told them if you get thrown off the field, it’s basically like you got thrown out of a game and all of the consequences that come with being thrown out of a game for fighting.”

Are you happy with training camp progress?

“I am happy with it. We took a step and got better with it as a football team. We got a chance to grow and as I told the guys, camp is over here in Wofford, but it’s just getting ready to begin once we get back in Charlotte.”

You want to improve in consistency and what else?

“I’d just like to see that. Again that covers all the bases. It’s about being able to control the clock and control the ball on both sides. It’s about not making mistakes, or giving up big plays. It’s about making big plays. We have to continue to work that and try to limit a lot of things. I do want to see us improve our third down on both sides. Our efficiency looked terrible. We were both decent in the red zone last week. We were two-for-three on defense and two-for-two on offense, so we got better on offense in the red zone.”

There was record attendance at camp, is that noticed?

“Yeah, the players do notice it. It’s about the energy that the fans are bringing, whether it was Fan Fest or just out here. To have this kind of support show up on a daily basis tells the players that you’re doing things and becoming relevant, and people appreciate that.”

Is the plan to have your starters play through the first half Saturday?

“Yes, the target is 20-25 plays. If we haven’t gotten 20 by the third quarter (laughs), they may come out, OK. The target is 20-25 into the middle of the second quarter. If we hadn’t, maybe we’ll get lucky and get a two-minute drill for the offense but that’s pretty much it.”[line][vc_raw_html]

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

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