Carolina Panthers' DeAngelo Williams still 'a couple of weeks' from returning
Carolina Panthers all-time leading rusher DeAngelo Williams is still “a couple of more weeks” away from returning to practice, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Monday. Williams suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 4 at Baltimore and hasn’t played since.
The prognosis of Jonathan Stewart is more positive for Carolina. Stewart is expected to practice Wednesday after being inactive for Sunday’s 37-37 tie at Cincinnati.
Stewart was considered a game-time decision with a knee sprain, but he joined a list of Panthers’ players who have been deemed game-time decisions by Rivera on Friday just to sit out on Sunday.
Despite having missed four games for Carolina this season with a hamstring and ankle injuries, Williams is still the second-leading rusher on the team with 106 yards on 25 carries. Stewart has missed three games and he’s the third-leading rusher with 88 yards on 29 carries.
Fozzy Whittaker rushed nine times for 25 yards Sunday before leaving the game after re-aggravating his quad injury. Darrin Reaves had eight carries for 15 yards, but both backs played well in blitz protection.
Cam on the run: Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula had himself in a mental pickle after Sunday’s tie.
Quarterback Cam Newton rushed for 107 yards on a career-high 17 carries after having just 14 carries in his previous four games combined. Did the Panthers run him too much?
“I feel like I ran him too much, and yet I didn’t run him enough,” Shula said.
The Panthers have been cautious with Newton, who had offseason ankle surgery and whose recovery from that was delayed by cracked ribs in the preseason.
Carolina had not been ready to “unleash” Newton, as Rivera called it. And Shula questioned if Newton would have been healthy enough the previous week to rush the ball 17 times.
“If you asked him he’d say yes,” Shula said. “(But) on a conservative side probably not.
“He’s talented and he’s still not 100 percent. I think he made it through OK so I hopefully he’ll keep getting better.”
Newton had two rushes for 6 yards at halftime. That was in part because of Carolina getting just three possessions in the first half, including one three-and-out. Shula and the Panthers coaching staff talked at halftime about allowing Newton to run the ball more after installing more run plays for the quarterback that week in practice.
Newton rushed 11 times for 70 yards in the fourth quarter and overtime period. Reaves was Carolina’s only other ball carrier, and he had four rushes for 7 yards in that same time frame.
Injury update: Left guard Amini Silatolu has calf strain in his left leg, an MRI revealed Monday.
Silatolu doesn’t know how much, if any, time he will miss. He suffered the injury in the first quarter Sunday.
In other injury news:
Overtime rule: In the 40 years since overtime was created in the NFL, 20 games have ended in a tie.
Inevitably, after each tie, there are questions about whether the NFL should evaluate its rules on tied games. The most common suggestions are teams play until someone wins, or that the NFL use college rules, where teams line up at the opponent’s 25-yard line at the start of each possession.
Rivera has no problem with the way the NFL handles overtime games.
“I think the way it’s set up is fair,” Rivera said. “I just think that you play the game the way it’s supposed to be played, you play it to a certain point and it’s over, unless it’s the playoffs, which this team has had some history (with). I think what happened (Sunday) is all part of the game.
“It’s easy to say, oh you should do it like they do it, but why? This is how the game is, this is how the game is designed to be played. Now all of a sudden we’re going to change the rules. Why don’t we just play like that all the time? Everyone starts at the 30-yard line, or whatever the rule is, and you get to score there and there’s no kickoff and you just start there again.
“The game is designed a certain way. I kind of like the way it is the game is about the kickoff, the return, punting the ball. And I think that’s what the (college) overtime takes away.”
Rivera reiterated his confidence with deciding to kick a field goal on fourth-and-1 in overtime rather than going for it. He said it was a long 1 yard – closer to 1 3/4 yards – and the Panthers do not have a fullback on the roster with Mike Tolbert hurt and Richie Brockel on injured reserve.
“But I’m still confident because we’re still in good position,” Rivera said. “The half-game could end up being the difference. That’s the way I look at.”
The NFL treats ties as half wins. If the Panthers end the season with 10 wins, 10 1/2 wins would count toward their winning percentage, which would be .656 rather than .625 for 10 wins.
In 2008, the Eagles had a 13-13 tie with Cincinnati late in the regular season, and Philadelphia finished at 9-6-1. Three other NFC teams finished with nine wins, but the Eagles’ half-win gave them the sixth and final playoff spot in the NFC.
This story was originally published October 13, 2014 at 5:42 PM.