Just as the Panthers were heading off for their bye week break on Tuesday, the team made a flurry of roster moves. One veteran was released to make way for a couple players, an offensive lineman went on injured reserve, and a guy the offense sorely missed was activated.
Speculation is WR Jason Avant was released because of comments he made after the Panthers’ narrow loss to the Falcons. The timing certainly looked bad, but head coach Ron Rivera claimed that’s not true, and a league source confirmed it was purely a football decision.Avant did not have a catch against Atlanta, and he had just two receptions for 16 yards in his last four games. The 31-year-old, who was never all that fast, has lost much of his speed, and he was struggling to gain separation from receivers.
QUOTES TO NOTE
Rivera on Avant’s post-game comments:
“I have no idea what he said. This has got nothing to do with it, and that needs to stop right here, … I’ve not heard it, and again, the move was only made with this in mind.”
WR Jerricho Cotchery on Avant’s release:
“He’s a brother for me. I knew him before he got here, and I knew what he would bring to this locker room, and he did all of that and more.”
Rivera on Panthers’ inability to stretch the field with their WRs this season:
“One of the things that really illustrated it was the Philadelphia game, as much man coverage as we got. And then going into [the Falcons game], you see how much man coverage you get. That’s tough because that changes what you’re trying to do because of what they’re doing.”
Rivera on releasing Avant to get rookie WR Philly Brown more reps:
“When you have veteran guys that play a lot in front of younger guys that have potential, sometimes you stunt their growth. This was something we felt we needed to do to get Philly an opportunity to be on the field a little bit more.”
Avant’s release clears the way for the much-faster Brown. But why did it take the Panthers 11 games to make a move to put more speed on the field?“We had guys that had speed. They didn’t pan out. They weren’t the guys that we were hoping they would be,” Rivera said.Unfortunately for the Panthers, they put their faith in receivers like Tiquan Underwood and Tavarres King. When that didn’t work, they were left with Brown, an undrafted rookie.He played well in Week 3 against the Steelers, catching seven passes in place of an injured Cotchery. But when he returned, Brown’s reps were scaled back.He had just four receptions from Week 4 until Week 7, when he suffered a concussion while returning a punt against the Packers. Brown then missed three games before he put himself back on the receiving radar against the Falcons.[gap size=”10px”]
QUOTES TO NOTE
Rivera:
“We need to get Philly on the field. He got opportunities later in the [Falcons] game, and he made some plays. It changed some of the things that they did against us, or tried to do against us.”
WRs coach Ricky Proehl:
“He adds a different element, he adds that speed factor, he can take the top off. He does similar things that Ted Ginn did for us last year.”
Cotchery:
“Young guys are going to have to step in and make some plays. Philly showed he could do that the other day, so I know Philly’s ready.”
Rivera on replacing Avant with Brown:
“You look at the receiving corps; there’s nobody like Kelvin [Benjamin]. Cotch, Avant and [Breton] Bersin are very similar in style of play. So when you put those guys out there, there’s nothing different. Now you’ve got Cotch, you’ve got Benjamin, and you’ve got Brown out there. Now all of a sudden it’s different. There’s three different guys and three different styles, and that’s what was created Sunday. Going back and evaluating — and I mentioned that I was going to look at some things — looking at these things, this was something I felt that we needed to do because I think it gives us somebody who’s a little more dynamic, a little different in terms of style of play.”
Former Appalachian State quarterback/cornerback De’Andre Presley was moved up from the practice squad to the active roster.When the Panthers shifted Presley from defense to offense this spring, they had real hope he could earn a roster spot as a slot receiver and a return man. But he developed a stress fracture in his leg, and surgery forced him to start the season on the physically unable to perform list.Perhaps it’s because the Panthers don’t have many speedy guys on their roster, but Presley has stood out as perhaps the quickest player on the practice field.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Rivera:
“He and Philly have the same type of skill set. They’re quick, fast guys. Great hands, great concentration, and I’d like to see if we can create an opportunity for De’Andre to go out there and return punts as well.”
Rivera on why Stephen Hill remains on the practice squad:
“Just knowing our system, that’s probably the biggest one. We like him, we think he’s got opportunities and he’s going to have his opportunity, but the other guy we wanted to take a look at was De’Andre.”
Because of the surprising timing of Avant’s release and the pile of questions it created, Rivera dropped in this bit of news nearly 12 minutes into his Tuesday press conference. Right tackle Nate Chandler has been lost for the rest of the season.He’s been dealing with a right knee injury for a few weeks, and according to Rivera, Chander’s knee swelled up “like a ballon” after Sunday’s game.Guard Amini Silatolu and tackles Chris Scott, David Foucault and Mike Remmers will compete to fill Chandler’s spot.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Rivera:
“He went and got an MRI, and then last night, the doctors had a chance to look at it. They basically gave us an update that this is one of those things that’s going to take some time, … he’ll have surgery to repair it.”
Fullback Mike Tolbert has been practicing for a couple weeks, but he hasn’t been eligible to play in games.Tolbert suffered a hairline fracture in Week 3, and was then put on injured reserve with a designation to return. That forced him to sit out at least eight weeks before he could come back.He’s been ahead of schedule, and he’ll play in the Panthers’ Week 13 matchup at Minnesota.
QUOTE TO NOTE
Tolbert:
“You’ve got to have your role players, you’ve got to have your star players playing like stars, you’ve got to have your offensive line blocking great, your running backs running good, your receivers catching, and tight ends doing what they do. But at the end of the day, you’ve got to have an attitude about it. Hopefully, with me coming back, they’ll see the type of attitude that I bring, and it’ll be infectious around the team.”