The Carolina Panthers may be forced into some shuffling up front, and Dave Canales isn’t ruling anything out.
After Thursday night’s 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Panthers head coach said the team is taking a hard look at every option along the offensive line as it tries to stabilize a battered unit.
"Yeah, we'll look at all those opportunities and we're evaluating them every week to kind of see who can help us and what's the best unit to put out there," he stated. "But we certainly can do better-and it's not just the o-line. That goes all the away across the offensive side to be able to find a version of football to be really effective and be balanced."
The need for answers was obvious against Green Bay. Bryce Young was sacked six times and faced pressure on nearly half of his dropbacks, often with no real chance to let the play unfold.
Injuries made matters worse. Starting left guard Damien Lewis was sidelined by a knee issue, and then his replacement, Corey Bullock, left early with a quad contusion.
Canales was also asked about Brady Christensen, who has missed the entire season with a hamstring injury. The coach sounded optimistic about where Christensen stands now.
"Brady's doing great," he replied. "He's one of the possibilities that can be in the mix for this conversation as well."
Christensen’s value is obvious for a group in need of flexibility. He has NFL experience at all five offensive line spots, and with the Panthers searching for answers, that kind of versatility could come in handy anywhere along the front.
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Todd Walsh will step in as interim defensive coordinator beginning in Week 9, giving the Panthers a new voice in charge of a defense that has been under heavy scrutiny. For a team trying to stabilize its season, the move puts the spotlight on whether a midstream reset can fix the issues that have been dragging the roster down and whether the front office is prepared to keep making changes if the response does not come quickly. [Read more 🡒]