Kemoeatu injury a serious setback for Panthers

By Darin Gantt - daringantt@carolina.rr.com

SPARTANBURG -- The Carolina Panthers can only hope it's not an omen.

In the first 30 minutes of the first practice of a camp at which they're thin at defensive tackle already, the biggest one went down in a heap.

Nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu suffered a torn right Achilles tendon early Monday morning, and will almost certainly be lost for the season. Team officials said the exact course of treatment isn't known, and while he's expected to go on injured reserve, they won't announce that until they know what comes next.

He was injured while running a pursuit drill, with no contact and no one near him.

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney cringed when the words “worst-case scenario” were mentioned, but it's close.

“You never like to lose anybody to an injury for any amount of time,” Hurney said. “We also know it's the reality of it. It's training camp, and injuries happen. That's why we put so much effort into trying to have depth on our roster. That's the focus.

“We have some young guys there that will have to step us. We'll look at this and figure out what our next step will be in the next few days.”

The list of potential replacement defensive tackles is neither long nor illustrious, including Dewayne Robertson, Brian Young, John Thornton, Darwin Walker, James Reed, Ellis Wyms, Antwan Lake and Langston Moore. However, most of those guys are more pass rush types than true nose tackles.

The best option might have been former Eagles big man Hollis Thomas, but he signed with St. Louis last week.

Kindal Moorehead is out there, but according to a source close to the former Panther, he needs back surgery and isn't expected to be able to play this year.

What is known is how little the Panthers can afford to lose a player of Kemoeatu's stature.

They saw the impact of his absence last year, as the New York Giants ran for 301 yards in the first game he missed with a problem in the same ankle. Fellow starter Damione Lewis left that game with a shoulder injury, and the Panthers were left with a huge hole up the middle.

“It's like night and day,” linebacker Jon Beason said of playing without his bodyguards. “That New York game, it was bad. However you look at it, it's embarrassing. We know we're a lot better than that. To allow a team to rush for 300 yards is unacceptable.

“Missing those two guys up front really makes you say, ‘Hey man, you want to get something to eat?' Let's hang out and get you guys feeling good.”

At this point, no one knows who the other guy will be.

Of the five backup defensive tackles on the roster, only Nick Hayden (two games, one start) has any NFL experience. And he was only called up late in the year when Kemoeatu was injured, after spending the first 14 weeks on the practice squad.

In the short term, Kemoeatu's spot as the space eater on the inside has been taken by undrafted rookie Marlon Favorite — who wasn't even a full-time starter at LSU. He's been right behind Kemoeatu on the depth chart all spring, but said he was still a little startled to be running with the starters on the first day of camp.

“It's a shocking experience; You've got to be ready, that's what my coaches are telling me,” Favorite said. “All I can do on my part is go out there every day and get better, not really play attention to how the situation might be. Just keep Maake in my prayers, obviously this was devastating for the whole team. Just continue to work filling his shoes and do what I have to do to make the team better.”

That Favorite wasn't drafted was a mild surprise, considering he was one of the most sought-after high school linemen in the country. At LSU, he was surrounded by similar talent (such as current NFLers Glenn Dorsey and Ricky Jean-Francois), and they would often rotate starting assignments on a weekly basis.

He's listed at 6-foot-1 and 317 pounds, but he looks shorter than that. His squatty frame helps him anchor against the run, and he looks like no one they'd ever use on purpose on passing downs. But he is smart, and he is an effort guy, so he's got a chance to not only make the team but to help them.