Ron Rivera’s comments about offensive line encouraging

The Carolina Panthers coach remains optimistic….

The offensive line is a major problem, that much we know. Even still, the Carolina Panthers want to remain optimistic about the position. Tuesday, head coach Ron Rivera spoke to the media and reiterated his faith in regards to the position.

"“We’re still in the middle of training camp,” said Rivera. “We’ve got a number of guys that have opportunities. We’ll get those guys back because none of those were season-ending, thank goodness. Now it’s just a matter of time and we’ll see how it all unfolds.”"

For one, Rivera is doing the right thing by backing his offensive line. Although they may be injury plagued, they still have players who are more than capable of getting the job done. Rivera  has been really high on Taylor Moton, who has played solidly throughout the course of camp.

"“We’ve been able to move him around, and he’s seemed to adapt very nicely. And then we’ve got a group of young guys that have all stepped up. I mean, they’re competing. This is gonna be a real tough decision on a lot of these young guys, ’cause they’re competing right now and that’s very pleasing to see as a coach.”"

Blaine Clausell has seen more activity within the last couple of weeks and with all the injuries to the offensive line, that probably will increase as time goes on.

Rivera will have a lot of work to do trying to patch together an offensive line that he can put out for the opener against Dallas. It may not look pretty, but in a way this may turn out to be a positive thing. This will give the younger players an opportunity to get game experience and be able to compete. Especially as the team looks to get younger, this is something to be encouraged about in a tough situation. Developing depth is a very good thing.

At least for the beginning of the season, the injuries to the lineman will have to be something that is closely monitored. Especially if there is a chance that one of them could come back that would be ideal (so long as they do not risk further injury and are rushed back). Any help right now is needed on the line.

Rivera’s comments were encouraging for the fact that, if nothing else, he expects the lineman to come back at different points in the season. I do appreciate his optimism. However, there is no denying that this is a very tough situation. From what I can tell, Rivera acknowledges this, and is doing the best he can with what he has been given.