PLAYER NOTES
–TE Greg Olsen reported no problems in the aftermath of his first game back from a foot injury. Head coach Ron Rivera said he sees no reason for restrictions on his snaps in games, but it will be normal for some of his practice time to be limited.
–DT Kyle Love has been dealing with a shoulder ailment since the Washington game, but it’s not anything that should necessarily keep him out of games right away. However, he was held out of Wednesday’s practice, so his status is being evaluated throughout the week.
–RB Christian McCaffrey made 10 receptions in a home game last year against Philadelphia. At the time, it set a team record for catches in a game by a running back. He has since broken that mark.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: DT Vernon Butler. Here’s a former first-round draft pick who has been developing gradually. He hasn’t often made a big impact, but there are signs of him coming along. He had a critical face-mask penalty in the Redskins game, but that kind of distracted from some of the good things he did during that game. Still, the Panthers lost gap control on rushing plays last week and it will be up to Butler, among others, to turn that around.
GAME PLAN: The Panthers will want to get a rushing attack going again and that might also help establish a physical presence. Involving tight end Greg Olsen is usually part of the script and his mobility looked fine in his first game back from an injury. Quarterback Cam Newton didn’t go to wide receiver Torrey Smith until a late drive last week and he might look for him more often this week.
On defense, applying a better pass rush is among the priorities. There hasn’t been a consistent push from the front, though that also took time to develop last season. The Panthers need to do better in general at the line of scrimmage because they gave up too many chunks of yardage on the ground last week to the Redskins.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Panthers S Eric Reid vs. Eagles TE Zach Ertz. The Panthers are still getting Reid up to speed with the team as this will be just his third game since signing. He was caught out of position against the Redskins last week a couple of times early in the game, but the Panthers can’t afford those situations that put them in a hole. Head coach Ron Rivera said the staff is still monitoring Reid’s conditioning. Ertz was strong in last year’s meeting, scoring on a pair of touchdown catches, though those were his only receptions in the game. This season, Ertz is second in the NFL with 48 receptions and first among tight ends in receiving yardage with 480.
–Panthers TE Greg Olsen vs. Eagles secondary. The Panthers might want to find more action for Olsen in the passing attack in his second game back from an injury. Olsen, who has 53 career touchdown catches, didn’t play last year against the Eagles when he was dealing with an injury. His presence can be big for the Panthers. Carolina found TE Ed Dickson, who’s no longer with the team, for a big play in the fourth quarter of last year’s meeting. The Eagles’ secondary has taken time to return toward the high level it played last season, but they mostly kept Giants QB Eli Manning in check last week.
