Carolina Panthers veiled injury disclosures remain to start 2019

Carolina Panthers remain historically secretive regarding injury designations.

Finding the true diagnosis of a Carolina Panthers injury may be more difficult than locating a needle in a haystack. Ever since coach Ron Rivera took over in Carolina (2011), he has been historically tight lipped about injuries, regardless of their impact on the roster. From backups and reserves to franchise quarterback Cam Newton, the Panthers have never been a team to volunteer injury related information.

A majority of the time Rivera is protected by the mantra of not wanting to jump to a conclusion or perhaps he’s waiting on pending medical test results for conclusive results to be determined. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing and often is a respected response, especially from within the locker room, but fans and the media both also typically deserve some type of explanation.

Linebacker Luke Kuechly became the latest subject of questions following his removal from a pile up last Wednesday. Due both to his impact on the roster and questionable medical history, the reasoning behind his removal raises a laundry list of questions. After suffering multiple concussions during his career, anytime Kuechly leaves the field and returns – either on the sideline or elsewhere – without a cast or crutches, chances are fans are going to assume it was concussion related.

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Thursday was a “vet day” for many players and Kuechly was included but he also sat out team drills at an exciting Fan Fest at Bank of America Stadium on Friday. Finally, he returned to 7-on-7 drills Sunday, but remained absent from full 11-on-11 practice.

Obviously without having played a single preseason contest and with nearly a month before games that count, the Panthers are going to err on the side of caution with any player – especially a cornerstone of their defense. Rivera indicated that Kuechly didn’t enter the concussion protocol but also never revealed a reason behind his departure.

Despite the Panthers historic secrecy behind injury issues, hopefully Kuechly returns full force and isn’t limited at some point before the regular season. Due to his recent participation, even though he may not take part in the upcoming preseason game, his full return by that point doesn’t appear to be in jeopardy.

Even if Rivera or anyone associated with the Panthers won’t tell us why.