Panthers know injuries are part of the game, can't excuse losses

By Darin Gantt - daringantt@carolina.rr.com

CHARLOTTE -- The easy thing to say, and the thing you most often hear from football players, is that injuries aren't and can't be an excuse.

But the reality is that it's exceedingly rare for a team to improve when star players start dropping, and that injuries take a psychological toll on the guys on the training table and the guys left behind.

Good luck getting many people to acknowledge that.

“It's competitive, and you've got to buck up and get it done,” Panthers coach John Fox said when asked if he had to guard against letdowns when star players went on injured reserve. “Nobody comes and rescues you; nobody feels sorry for you. It gives guys opportunities, and this is a profession, and your interview is every week on that tape.

“We'll have to have guys step up, and I'm sure we will.”

That's the bootstraps mantra you'll most often get from coaches, management and some players. After all, acknowledging that one guy makes a huge difference takes away from the “ultimate team game,” concept that professional football is built upon.

But at the same time, it's reasonable to believe the Panthers might have pass-protected better in last week's loss to Miami if Panthers left tackle Jordan Gross hadn't been sitting at home with a titanium rod and plates attached to his broken right tibia and fibula. Maybe 32-year-old running back Ricky Williams might not have looked like a younger version of himself if linebacker Thomas Davis had been there to challenge him.

“You lose a good player or a great player, there are times you do find yourself saying, ‘Man if this guy was there, he would have made that play,'” Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith said. “That's always going to be the case.

“You always are going to play the what-if game, especially if that particular player has made that play numerous times, so you think he'd have had that. It does play a role, mindset-wise.”

Smith's simple admission is rare, as most don't even want to touch that line of thinking. When quarterback Jake Delhomme was asked a similar question, he brought the more popular idea to the front.

“I don't think there's any doubt you can use that (as an excuse), especially if guys aren't playing very well,” Delhomme said. “That can be a crutch to say, ‘We don't have the same team.' But that don't matter. That happens. Other guys are stepping in and fighting their tail off.

“If you look around the league at teams that have been struggling, there is a whole lot more finger-pointing than there is here, which is pretty much none. Guys are busting their tail, but for some reason we're not getting it done. It's a crutch, but not one we'll use.”

The Panthers have eight guys on injured reserve already, with Gross, Davis, nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu and backup quarterback Josh McCown highlighting the list. Their absences show the ripple effect injuries can have on a season.

Over the years, the Panthers have shown a clear pattern: When they stay healthy, they have a chance. In 2003, when they went to the Super Bowl, their highest-profile injuries were to backups such as Kavika Pittman, Damien Richardson and Melvin Tuten. The next year, when those names were replaced by Smith, Stephen Davis, DeShaun Foster and Kris Jenkins, the fortunes changed, and a 7-9 season was about the best they could hope for.

This year, Kemoeatu going down on the first day of training camp set off a chain of moves, which included trading next year's fifth- and sixth-round picks for defensive tackles Tank Tyler and Louis Leonard. Along the way, Leonard joined Kemoeatu on IR, necessitating the addition of veteran free agent Hollis Thomas (who just had been cut by the now 1-9 Rams).

It was the same way with the New York Jets, who lost nose tackle Jenkins on Oct. 18 with a torn ACL. That blew a hole in the middle of a defense that looked particularly salty early in the year, and they haven't approached that level since.