« Moose's comments didn't rile former team | Main | Harris toots his own horn (sort of) »
September 10, 2008
Robinson: 'Maybe, maybe not'
Panthers kick/punt returner Ryne Robinson, who's been out since early training camp with a knee injury, says he's about "80-85 percent" healthy, but isn't likely to play Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
"Maybe, maybe not," said Robinson. "If I'm not good enough to be 100 percent, then I won't go."
Robinson practiced on a limited basis Wednesday.
"After today's activities, I'll be ready to go soon," he said. "I liked what I saw today. I mostly did some cutting and some running, some more movement stuff. Maybe I'll ramp it up (Thursday) and come in feeling great. Maybe they'll tape me up and I'll be able to go. But it'll be up to me and the trainer."
Rookie running back Jonathan Stewart returned kickoffs in last week's season-opening victory against the San Diego Chargers, averaging 21.0 yards on four returns, with a long return of 27. Mark Jones averaged 5.3 yards on three punt returns (his longest was 10 yards). -- David Scott
Posted by Observer Sports on September 10, 2008 at 03:39 PM | Permalink
Comments
Otah practiced; Wharton and Diggs did not. Otah said he'll play against the Bears. Wharton and Diggs are "day to day."
-- David Scott
Posted by: David Scott | Sep 10, 2008 3:55:19 PM
What about Rosario? He is going to be able to play Sunday??
Posted by: Will | Sep 10, 2008 3:59:03 PM
I wonder if DJ Hackett is feeling okay. He mentioned that he was a bit woozy after that hit that caused the fumble. And he appears to be a bit frail,for a 6'2", 208 lb stud. Though he did make a decent play afterwards.
Posted by: DJ's Momma | Sep 10, 2008 5:10:12 PM
Little bit of a tangent and not related to this article, but I wanted to see what you guys thought. I was very impressed with our O-line against the Chargers and our offense as a whole. You could definitely see a huge improvement from last year and all the hard work from the coaches and players has paid off so far. I'm sure having Jake back helps alot as well.
But, one of our problems from last year, the D-line, was not very impressive in rushing the passer. Granted, it was against a very good offense, and we limited their run game very well, but I don't care how many "hurries" we supposedly had, we didn't force any interceptions and had only one sack. In the preseason it seemed like we tried a more aggressive and creative blitz scheme, and I didn't really see too many blitzes vs. the Chargers. I liked that we were letting Peppers roam alot, but he dropped back in pass coverage quite a bit and didn't look as good blitzing the QB as he did in the preseason. It seemed Rivers was always able to get the ball out in time for a completion and he had 3 td's against us. We're gonna need a better rush than that if we're gonna be in the Super Bowl.
Posted by: Christian | Sep 10, 2008 5:20:49 PM
Christian,
Having re-watched the game, I checked for our pass-rush on every passing play. A lot of what minimized any effectiveness of the Panthers' down linemen was the quick release of Rivers. He took 3-step drops on most of his passes. And when he took longer than that, he often rolled away from Peppers' side of the pressure or he simply had great pocket awareness and moved up and away before one of the other defenders could get to him.
Also, on a couple of occasions, even when we got to him, Rivers still managed to complete the pass. Peppers knocked him down on one pass-rush right up the middle and Rivers still got the ball out to Gates just before he arrived. We hurried him a couple of times and we sacked him once. But it seemed obvious to me that San Diego game-planned very well for the Panthers.
They primarily wanted to keep us busy with the run...i.e., LT...and get the ball out quickly when Rivers chose to pass. I think we did a good job of game-planning for them, too, though. Our offense dominated time of possession in the first half, so we limited their opportunities. We stacked up LT pretty good...if you call 21 rushes for 97 yards good. But the way I look at it is that it could have been much worse. And on about 5 or 6 of the passing plays, it was clear that Peppers was dropping back into coverage to cut off the passing lanes. Sometimes that worked and sometimes it didn't.
But, in the grand scheme of things, we tried to make it so Rivers had to beat us through the air by taking away LT. We did reasonably well. But let's be honest...the offense won this game for us in the closing seconds. They wouldn't have had that opportunity without Gamble's fumble return TD, but still, the offense kept Rivers and LT off the field a lot in the first half. And they had enough at the end to pull it out.
Lastly, regarding the lack of INTs, there were two close pick-offs in the early going when Rivers was trying to find his rhythm. It took awhile, but he finally found it in the second half. But that doesn't mean we don't have capable guys in the secondary trying to pick it off. Rivers was just pretty efficient with the ball. And he's one of the better QBs we'll face all year. And LT's probably THE best RB we'll face all year.
That's why it's so nice to get this win. Hopefully, it takes some of the pressure off the rest of the schedule. Although it would be nice to take Chicago down, too, given how well they played against the Colts. They're our next big test. And after that, it's on to Minnesota.
Sorry for the long ramble,
--Neil
Posted by: NSpicer | Sep 10, 2008 6:20:13 PM
I was looking for some picks by our D too, but Phillip Rivers is very good so we have to wait for some picks.
Posted by: robbyc | Sep 10, 2008 7:48:54 PM
It's a great win, though I don't feel takes any pressure off - in fact there is more pressure to perform consistently as the team did in this game week to week.
Posted by: rayray | Sep 10, 2008 10:12:30 PM
Post a comment
Advertisements
