Panthers coach Matt Rhule spent a good hour Sunday watching Teddy Bridgewater test his sprained knee, consulting with general manager Marty Hurney and his assistant coaches and going back and forth before finally deciding to sit Bridgewater rather than risk further injury by playing him at less than 100 percent.
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The decision as to who would start in Bridgewater’s place was already made: Rhule, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz agreed Saturday that P.J. Walker was the choice if Bridgewater couldn’t go.
That left Will Grier, the Charlotte native and the Panthers’ third-round pick in 2019, as the odd man out Sunday — and perhaps much longer.
Walker, the former undrafted free agent who shined in the XFL’s brief second act, completed 24 of 34 passes for 258 yards and a touchdown in the 20-0 shutout of Detroit. Walker also threw two picks from inside the Lions’ 10-yard line that might have lost the game against a better team.
But Walker, who played for Rhule at Temple, looked confident and mostly threw the ball well in his first NFL start. He connected with DJ Moore on a 52-yard completion that fueled a 10-play, 95-yard touchdown drive and gave the Panthers all the points they would need.
Walker received an assist from an inspired defense and a smart game plan from Brady, who started the game with several safe, short passes for Walker. But Walker was not overwhelmed and seemingly took a tighter grip on the backup job, though Rhule isn’t saying that, yet.
“I haven’t thought about whether he’s the clear No. 2,” Rhule said Monday. “I think if Will would’ve played in the game, Will would have played really well. Will was really good last week, as well.”
Things happen in football and circ*mstances change all the time, usually due to injuries. But the fact that Rhule, Brady and Peetz went with Walker makes it pretty clear where Grier’s place is in the pecking order with the new staff.
Rhule may have tipped which way he was leaning last week when he said he wouldn’t let a player’s draft status influence his decision making, saying such thinking “is what ruins organizations.” He also said he could make a fair evaluation of Grier without seeing him in a game, adding that the former West Virginia standout has a “fantastic future,” which may or may not be in Charlotte.
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Latest on Teddy, CMC
There were a couple times Sunday when the Panthers’ starting quarterback and their All-Pro running back were next to each other on the sideline. Bridgewater was wearing a headset, and he appeared to be discussing the play calls with Christian McCaffrey, who, like Bridgewater, was also in team-issued workout gear. What made the scene most striking was the fact that the Panthers were leading by three scores.
Walker said having Bridgewater involved was a big boost.
“Every time I came back to the sidelines, he did a great job of showing me what he saw,” Walker said. “He showed me everything from the pictures he saw to what he was thinking, so that helped me just have that same eye from the sidelines as well. Just to have that extra eye out there.”
The decision to sit Bridgewater weighed heavily on Rhule after the quarterback “prepared like a monster” last week to rehab his knee so he could face the Lions. “This is my eighth year of being a head coach,” Rhule said. “That was probably the hardest individual decision I’ve had to make in terms of game day.”
This week shouldn’t be as difficult in terms of Bridgewater, who was medically cleared to play against Detroit. Rhule said he expects Bridgewater to be ready Wednesday when preparations begin for Minnesota, the team that drafted Bridgewater in the first round out of Louisville in 2014.
Rhule did not sound as optimistic about McCaffrey, who’s been sidelined for two games with a separated shoulder after missing six games earlier in the year with a high ankle sprain.
“We’ll see if he can do anything Wednesday,” Rhule said, “and just continue to take it week by week, see how he feels.”
Whitehead getting phased out?
Middle linebacker Tahir Whitehead’s playing time had been decreasing all season before bottoming out Sunday, when he was one of only two Panthers players in uniform who didn’t play (Grier was the other). Whitehead was questionable with a rib injury and was kept on the active list in case of emergency.
Jermaine Carter started in Whitehead’s place and played well, finishing with a season-high 31 defensive snaps and four tackles despite adjusting to a new defensive look. Carter, a fifth-round pick in 2018, said he’s still getting used to playing behind a three-down front after playing mostly in a 4-3 his first two seasons.
Carter pointed to the Vikings’ second offensive play — when he stopped Adrian Peterson for a 3-yard gain — as evidence of his increased comfort level in the scheme.
“I had a run fit where I knew exactly where I had to be and when I had to be there,” he said. “It was a play where I had to check two different gaps and just do my job. I did my job at a high level and I was able to get Adrian Peterson down on the ground.”
Carter, who started five games in 2019 in Ron Rivera’s final year in Charlotte, is not going to remind anyone of Luke Kuechly or Thomas Davis size-wise. But the 225-pound Carter, who’s generously listed at 6-1, said he used his short stature to his advantage.
“I’m not the tallest guy out there on the field. But I’m definitely not the weakest, so I’m not easy to be tossed around,” he said. “I know how to use my body weight. I know how to lower my center of gravity, and I think that helps me. With my size, I’m able to slip some blocks that bigger linebackers aren’t able to. That’s something I’ve always had to do my whole life.”
Carter started in Week 9 at Kansas City in place of an injured Jeremy Chinn, lining up at strongside linebacker in the base defense and at the weakside spot in nickel. Against the Lions, Carter played middle linebacker behind both the three- and four-man fronts.
“When you have a guy that versatile, you can use him. And I thought he played really well (Sunday),” Rhule said. “I thought he had tremendous quickness. He ran two gaps. So he’s a guy that to me as you look at the team and evaluate the way you’re doing things, he’s come really far. He’s playing his best football right now.”
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As is his custom, Rhule declined to get drawn into a discussion of Whitehead’s season, saying: “I’m not going to do a bunch of year-long guys in review.”
Person’s extra points
• I may start a Rasul Douglas “quote of the week” feature. The cornerback from East Orange, N.J., always calls it like he sees it, often with colorful language. This week the topic was Rhule’s “process,” a subject the coach often talks about at length. When Douglas was asked about it Monday, he summed it up well:
“It’s just like fun. Guys are having fun. Guys are flying around. Guys are laughing. It looks like when you’re a kid, like how we played when we were kids playing football. It don’t look like business. It’s like, all right you having fun? I’m happy he’s making a play. He’s happy to be making a play. A team thing.”
Rasul Douglas says his favorite Thanksgiving dish is a mac-and-cheese and yams mashup.
"When you mix those two together, you get a real good taste."Thanksgiving meal questions – a tradition like no other.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) November 23, 2020
• The Panthers became the first team to record a shutout for a quarterback making his first career start since the Patriots blanked Houston 27-0 in Jacoby Brissett’s starting debut in Week 3 of 2016. Brissett only completed 11 of 19 passes for 103 yards, but ran for 48 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown.
That same week, Walker — then a senior on Rhule’s last Temple team — threw for 268 yards and two touchdowns in a 48-20 win against Charlotte. The 49ers’ quarterback that day was Kevin Olsen, younger brother of former Panthers tight end Greg Olsen.
(Top photo of P.J. Walker: Jim Dedmon / USA Today)
Joe Person is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Carolina Panthers. He has covered the team since 2010, previously for the Charlotte Observer. A native of Williamsport, Pa., Joe is a graduate of William & Mary, known for producing presidents and NFL head coaches. Follow Joseph on Twitter @josephperson
