Peppers' effectiveness limited by injured hand

By Darin Gantt - daringantt@carolina.rr.com

CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers was able to play, but not nearly as much as they needed, or as effectively, Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins.

Peppers, who broke his right hand two weeks ago in New Orleans, was again limited to mostly passing downs.

That gave rookie Everette Brown his first NFL start and left the Panthers much smaller up front. They were already without defensive end Charles Johnson, who started and played run downs in Peppers place last week.

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Peppers was playing with a large cast protecting his right hand, as he did last week. That limited him to rushing from the right side, putting him against Miami left tackle Jake Long. When he did line up on the left, he took an awkward stance with his left hand down and was flagged for a neutral zone violation.

Early on, Long stonewalled him, several times pancaking him helplessly to the ground. While the first overall pick in 2008 does that to many people, it was clear Peppers wasn't himself, and is having a hard time compensating for being one-handed.

SMITH TOUGH IN TRAFFIC — Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith was involved in a car accident Thursday on the way to the game, but was fine afterward.

While early reports had him T-boned on his way here, a team official said the damage was minor enough that he drove the car to the stadium. He was a few moments late for pre-game warm-ups, but showed no ill effects.

BROWN IN TOWN — Even though he went on injured reserve this week, Miami running back Ronnie Brown made the trip.

But it wasn't for moral support of his teammates, he was here to see local foot specialist Dr.Robert Anderson.

That's why there was little use in Dolphins coach Tony Sparano trying to hide Brown's condition this week: A) because the injury was sufficient serious to remove mystery and B) because Anderson's one of the Panthers' team doctors.

Anderson's actually checked out a few of the Panthers' opponents the week before they played Carolina and was once called in to see a player moments after his name was included on the game-day inactive list, 90 minutes before kickoff.

EXTRA POINTS — Johnson topped the team's inactive list, taking one of their better situational players off the field. Johnson was held out of practice all week with a pectoral strain. He actually started last week in place of Peppers. Mostly, Johnson's their designated inside rusher, sliding to defensive tackle on passing downs. He's second on the team with 3.0 sacks.

Also inactive were injured fullback Brad Hoover and safety Charles Godfrey, offensive lineman Duke Robinson, running back Mike Goodson, wide receiver Kenny Moore, defensive end Hilee Taylor and third quarterback A.J. Feeley. …

Wide receiver Charly Martin, just promoted from the practice squad this week when left tackle Jordan Gross went on injured reserve, made his NFL debut Thursday, playing special teams.

He was given uniform number 83, which will draw immediate comparisons to Pat Jeffers. Since he played in the kicking game, there's no way to confuse him with Keary Colbert.