Panther standout defensive end Charles Johnson said Monday he believes he is "definitely" going to play Sunday despite a right groin strain.
Johnson (shown above, sacking St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford) told reporters Monday that he had had treatment on the injury "all weekend," which he suffered with 1:08 left against Tampa Bay In Carolina's Thursday night win.
"I feel like 100 percent I'm going to be on the field," Johnson said. Of course, 100 percent to a player doesn't automatically mean 100 percent to doctors or trainers, but coach Ron Rivera said he was optimistic Johnson would play.
The Panthers did not have a real practice Monday, but Johnson participated in the walk-through. He said of his weekend: "I wasn't hobbling, but it was sore."
Johnson, who grew up in Georgia and went to the University of Georgia, has always said the Panthers' two games every year against the Falcons are special to him.
"You always get up for anybody," Johnson said. "But Atlanta? There's just a little extra sauce on it."
Johnson's best individual game came against the Falcons in 2012, when he sacked Matt Ryan a team-record 3.5 times in a game the Panthers ended up losing on a last-second field goal. Johnson leads the Panthers in sacks this year with six.
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8 comments:
Thank God! I was worried he may play for the Falcons. jkjk
Very good news that he's not badly hurt. But I hope they are cautious and maybe rotate CJ instead of having him aggravate the injury and possibly lose him for a long time. They could probably take care of the Falcons without him playing the whole game anyway. Atlanta looked terrible yesterday against Arizona.
We need to be careful with Atlanta. Not only do the Panthers "get up" for the game, it seems Atlanta always "gets up" for the game as well.
Better questions is why were any starters in the game with 1:08 to go or 3 mins for that matter? Rivera is getting better, hopefully he'll pay attention to the clock and pull the starters next time.
Yea - this game is a big deal to a few of the players including Johnson and Newton. I think they both grew up Falcon fans and still pull for them other than the Panthers so this is personal.
uh, so did we
Um, we looked awful against AZ too
The smart move is to rest Charles Johnson until he has to make the trip to San Fran.
The Cats won't need him against the Dirty Birdies this week, so why play him? The Falcons Offensive Line is just that...Offensive!
It really doesn't matter, anyways. The Panthers are not going to be able to clinch the 6th Seed and the final NFC Playoff spot in 2013.
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