Season likely over for Pro Bowl tackle Gross

By Darin Gantt - daringantt@carolina.rr.com

CHARLOTTE -- For eight games, the Carolina Panthers held their breath.

On Sunday, they finally had to dip into their offensive line depth, and they almost certainly will have to the rest of the year.

Left tackle Jordan Gross went down in the second quarter with a broken right ankle, and he likely will be placed on injured reserve today.

Panthers coach John Fox wouldn't elaborate on the prognosis, but it seems like the ridiculous end of optimism to think that he could return this year.

“It hurts, not only the football player, but the man,” quarterback Jake Delhomme said. “I think you saw the reaction of all of the guys on the team. Jordan is special. He's a leader, a top-10 pick. He was placed the first minicamp at tackle, and he hasn't left.”

Gross has only missed one other start in his career, last year versus Kansas City after a concussion against Atlanta.

During Sunday's game, the Panthers moved left guard Travelle Wharton out to left tackle and brought in second-year guard Mackenzy Bernardeau to fill Wharton's spot.

“It's going to be tough,” Wharton said of losing Gross. “He's a leader, man, and not only in the offensive line room, but for the team.

“It's something that's hard to swallow, but guys are just going to have to step up.”

That's fine on one hand, as Wharton has 33 starts at left tackle in his career. But Bernadeau has barely played on downs from scrimmage in his career — only as a short-yardage fullback and a tackle eligible prior to his quick entry.

Assuming Bernadeau stays in the starting lineup, it leaves the Panthers without a backup center, as none of the other reserves on the team (Geoff Schwartz, Garry Williams or Duke Robinson) have any experience in the pivot. That would mean another shuffle if anything happened to center Ryan Kalil, since the other three backups have guard and tackle experience.

The Panthers needed to be stout up front, because the offseason saw their once-solid depth evaporate.

Geoff Hangartner left for a starting job in Buffalo. Frank Omiyale headed to Chicago for the same. Even Jeremy Bridges, a salary-cap cut, provided good work when they needed him. Between them, those three logged 56 combined starts for the Panthers. But in part because of the mammoth contract they had to give defensive end Julius Peppers, they were forced to go into the season without a backup who had made a single NFL start.

“The thing that's comforting to me is that Travelle Wharton has played tackle at a high level for us. He'll slide right in,” Delhomme said. “Mac Bernadeau is a young kid we like. Same thing happened last year with Frank Omiyale and Hangartner. They had to step in, and they parlayed it into some good contracts for them. I think this is something Mac will enjoy, and Coach (Dave) Magazu will do a good job of getting him ready.”

Bernadeau, a seventh-round pick from tiny Bentley College in Massachusetts, played a key role late in the game, as running back Jonathan Stewart followed his block downfield on the game-clinching 45-yard touchdown run.

“That was a great run because we practiced it a lot, and I love pulling around the edge,” Bernadeau said. “Once it was called, I was just going to run as hard as I could. So I ran out and saw my guy there and the next thing I knew Jonathan Stewart was running down the field. It was a great feeling because obviously you want to help make a big play like that.

“Everybody came up to me and were telling me it was time to step up and that we need you here, and I knew that.”

As for Gross, the Panthers will have to find a replacement.

But Sunday, they had to fill in fast, meaning the time to grieve was short.

“All kinds of emotions go into it when you see someone down,” Wharton said. “The thing about it is, you just keep playing. You just keep playing harder. You play harder and you play faster. For us, it's ‘I'll give him a call in a few minutes,' but you keep playing.

“You always keep them in your mind, but you've still gotta go out there and play football.”