Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart continues to struggle with injuries that have severely derailed his once-excellent career, and his latest knee injury has already caused him to miss games against the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears. Stewart hasn’t practiced in quite some time, and he was listed doubtful for last week’s game against the Bears before unsurprisingly being ruled out. He was never expected to play last week, but he is still closer to returning than DeAngleo Williams, who needed a hard cast for his injury.
Cat Crave
The Charlotte Observer’s Jonathan Jones reports that Stewart was not spotted in pads today, meaning that he didn’t practice. Per Jones, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera wasn’t optimistic about Stewart playing this week against the Cincinnati Bengals when asked by reporters on Monday. The fact that he isn’t practicing today isn’t surprising, but it certainly doesn’t make things more optimistic. He has to have a good practice on Friday in order to play against the Bengals, otherwise the Panthers will have another lousy performance on the ground (the Bengals run defense is clearly superior to the Bears unit).
Jonathan Stewart has carried the ball 29 times for a paltry 88 yards in three appearances this season, and he’s been both injured and ineffective to start the season. A perennial disappointment, J-Stew showed in the preseason that he still has the talent, but it honestly doesn’t matter anymore.