Wesley: Vicious hit on Smith was unintentional

By Darin Gantt - daringantt@carolina.rr.com

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Carolina Panthers gave Tampa Bay an opportunity at momentum when special teamer Dante Wesley made an uncharacteristically dirty play near the end of the first half.

Wesley was ejected from the game after his vicious hit on Buccaneers return man Clifton Smith, who was knocked out, and didn't return to the game because of a concussion.

The hit triggered a melee near the Bucs sideline, as players from both sides streamed to the middle of the field before game officials eventually regained control.

“It wasn't like I deliberately tried to hurt anybody or nothing like that, that's not even me,” Wesley said. “So it just so happened, I hit him. My prayers are out with him. I would never try to hurt anyone, I was just trying to make a play.”

Smith had faded back to field a punt and gave what might have been construed as a fair catch signal. Wesley said that from watching tape of Tampa Bay's special teams, the Pro Bowl return man rarely accepted a fair catch and would use decoy signals to try to throw coverage teams off.

From that point, he said he “mistimed” his hit, although he clearly left his feet and led with his shoulder into Smith's head and neck. Afterward, Smith couldn't talk to reporters in the Tampa Bay locker room, but he watched the second half from the sidelines wearing sunglasses.

Panthers coach John Fox didn't defend the action — which would have been impossible — but he did testify for his eighth-year special teams mainstay.

“I know the kid and I know the kid's character, and I know he would never do anything like that intentionally, anything cheap,” Fox said. “It's unfortunate, but it happens. I'm sure he'll learn from it.”

Wesley certainly will be fined and could be suspended, though the league generally takes a few days to determine such punishments.

“I mean, I hope not,” Wesley said when asked if he expected a stiff punishment. “You can check my record for years. I've been playing this game for eight years. I've never really tried to hurt anybody, never tried to take a cheap shot on anybody. That's not even me.

“One thing you can always say is that I'm a hard player, I try to play aggressive and play hard on the field and that's pretty much it.”

He also admitted some concern at being immediately surrounded, as the play happened closer to the Bucs sideline, and it was a few moments before any of his teammates were there to extract him.

“I felt like really the refs could have controlled that situation,” Wesley said. “I was trying to see what the ref called on that, and then their whole team just come and surround me. I just wondered if the refs were going to call them for something. I didn't know how to react. ...

“Nah, I wasn't really worried, but I was looking around like where are my teammates at? I didn't see nothing but a sea of white. I'm wondering like, are the refs going to come call a penalty, come get them off of me or something?”

MORE PRESSURE — The Panthers continued to apply good pressure on the passer, with four sacks of Bucs quarterback Josh Johnson.

Combined with the five in last week's win, it almost makes up for their underwhelming four-sack start through the first three games.

Defensive end Julius Peppers had two more (matching last week's total), giving him five for the season. Charles Johnson also had a pair, and they got consistent pressure from rookie Everette Brown as well.

“He's just taking over,” linebacker Jon Beason said of Peppers. “It's great to see him be as dominant as he is.”

The Panthers limited the Buccaneers to 245 yards of total offense and just one touchdown. The other two scores came on a 97-yard kickoff return by Sammie Stroughter and an interception taken back for a score in the fourth quarter by safety Tanard Jackson.

“Everybody's raised their level,” Beason said. “You could see, when you watched the film, there's not a letdown by anybody. Things are improving, and we just have to keep getting better.”

A RARE MISS — Kicker John Kasay had a 52-yard field goal attempt blocked in the second quarter, his first miss of the season.

He entered the game perfect on four field goal and five extra point attempts, and had hit 18 of his last 19 against Tampa Bay prior to the block by guard Davin Joseph.

He tried to hit the ball low, as there was a strong wind blowing in from the pirate ship end of the stadium. Bucs kicker Shane Andrus had previously left a 43-yarder short into that gale, so Kasay was going for a low trajectory that cost him.

EXTRA POINTS — Rookie Mike Goodson was a healthy scratch, after missing last week's game with the lingering effects of a concussion suffered in Dallas. He had practiced all week, but was on the eight-man inactive list.

That left last week's special teams hero Kenny Moore to handle kickoffs, and he averaged a pedestrian 19.7 yards on three attempts. Cornerback Captain Munnerlyn handled punts, and had a 34-yarder on his only return. ...

Former starter Nick Hayden was inactive as the Panthers elected to go with scrap-heap pickup Antwon Burton as their third defensive tackle.

Also inactive were running back Tyrell Sutton, offensive linemen Garry Williams and Duke Robinson, defensive end Hilee Taylor, cornerback C.J. Wilson and third quarterback A.J. Feeley.