–Panthers center Ryan Kalil exited after the final home game and acknowledged that he indeed will follow through on plans to retire at season’s end.
That means he has one game remaining in a career that spanned 12 seasons.
“A lot of good memories here, with a lot of great guys,” Kalil said. “Lot of great coaches. … Very blessed to be able to play as long as I did, and can’t really find the words to describe it.”
Kalil has been considered among the team leaders for several seasons. He said he’s glad he decided when it was time to call it a career and didn’t have that decision made for him.
He’ll try to make the most of the career finale at New Orleans.
“I think the best thing that I can do is approach it like I would any other week,” he said. “That’s the way I’ll get the most of it.”
–Quarterback Kyle Allen said his NFL debut was special even though it lasted only briefly when he filled in for injured Taylor Heinicke before his teammate returned to game action.
Allen was 4-for-4 passing for 38 yards in the Atlanta game when summoned in the second quarter.
“You get it going and play with confidence,” Allen said. “Over the years you build up this confidence that you know what you can do as a player and you know what you can do when you have confidence in the players around you.”
The rookie, who played collegiately at Houston and was undrafted, had been signed from the practice squad a few days earlier. He’ll start the finale Sunday at New Orleans.
“I’m going to keep coming to work every day whether they call me, cut me, they bring me back,” Allen said. “I’m going to come and I’m going to do my thing every day. I think it’s a testament to my mindset. I appreciate them trusting me. I appreciate them giving me that opportunity to go out there.”
–Defensive end Julius Peppers has shied away from discussing his future with retirement a possibility.
“We still have a game left to play,” Peppers said of the season. I’ll save that answer (about my future) for a later date.”
Yet Peppers, 38, kept some of the mystery out there.
“It’s always disappointing whenever you don’t make the playoffs,” he said. “But there’s always next year.”
In the home finale, he recovered a fumble, giving him 21 career fumble recoveries (and 10 as a member of the Panthers).
BY THE NUMBERS: 37 – That’s the team-record number of completions for a single game set last week in the loss to Atlanta. The feat was accomplished by Taylor Heinicke (33) and Kyle Allen (4), so they’ll be in the team record book.
