TAMPA, Fla. -- For a second straight week, the Carolina Panthers' punt-return team was involved in a bizarre play. But this one, near the end of the first half of Carolina's 28-21 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, didn't go the Panthers way.
Sunday, Carolina's Dante Wesley drilled Tampa Bay returner Clifton Smith -- who Wesley said hadn't called for a fair catch -- before he caught the ball. Wesley was ejected from the game and Smith didn't return either after sustaining a concussion.
Angry Tampa Bay players charged Wesley and surrounded him after the play. As Wesley's teammates ran to help, a bench-clearing fight appeared to be unfolding. But things quickly cleared up.
Wesley, who spent the rest of the afternoon in the locker room watching the game, said he mistimed his hit on Smith.
"He never fair-[caught] the ball, so I was just trying to play," Wesley said. "It's not like I tried to deliberately hurt anybody. That's not even me. It just so happened that I hit him. My prayers go out with him."
Last week, in a victory against Washington Redskins, the Panthers recovered a muffed punt after Carolina's Quinton Teal blocked the Redskins' Byron Westbrook into teammate Antwaan Randle El, who had called for a fair catch.
Wesley said in watching film of Smith, it often appears that he's going to signal for a fair catch, then doesn't.
"The first time we punted, he kind of fake fair-caught the ball," Wesley said. "I was kind of slow reacting to it."
Wesley, a backup defensive back who has been a regular on special teams for most of his nine seasons with the Panthers, hopes he won't be suspended or fined for the play.
"I hope not," he said. "You can check my record. I've never really tried to hurt anybody. I've never tried to take a cheap shot on anybody. That's not even me."
Linebacker Jon Beason was confident the Panthers would score on their final, winning drive.
"I had the towel on my head and my legs were crossed [on the bench]," Beason said.
The first half was a bad one for field-goal kickers. The Panthers' John Kasay had a 52-yard attempt blocked -- his first miss of the season. Tampa Bay's Shane Andrus came up short on a 43-yarder.
