Panthers
Panthers RB Rico Dowdle has played well in RB Chuba Hubbard ‘s absence over the past two weeks, recording 234 total yards in Week 5 and 239 total yards in Week 6. Hubbard hasn’t been surprised by Dowdle’s success after the running back looked great in training camp.
“To be honest, none of this really surprised me,” Hubbard said, via Kassidy Hill of the team’s site. “Rico’s a great player. I mean amazing player. He’s shown it throughout camp every time he’s been here. He works hard. The opportunity came, he made the most of it, and yeah, like I said, it’s not a surprise.”
Panthers HC Dave Canales has been impressed by Dowdle and mentioned that he had a strong practice on Wednesday.
“He looked great,” Canales said. “He looked great last week (when) he started to ramp up. Today he looked awesome out there running around. He’s got a real focused look in his eyes, he’s hungry and he can’t wait to get back out there. “
As for how Carolina will split carries when Hubbard returns to the lineup, Dowdle said that is up to Canales.
“All that stuff is left up to the coach, and then the only thing we can control is going out there and producing at a high level. That’s all we really have to control. We are pretty close and there’s no hard feelings either way.”
Panthers DC Ejiro Evero said that losing OLB Pat Jones II is a huge blow to the defense because of all the roles he was able to fill for the unit.
