Dennis Daley Seems Doubtful for Week Two
Dennis Daley missed the Panthers' week one matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders due to an ankle injury, and it is looking like he will miss his second consecutive week. "I don't have much hope that Dennis will play," Panthers head coach Matt Rhule told reporters.
Daley has not been able to practice this week, which is very telling about the severity of the injury. Fortunately for the team, Michael Schofield is healthy and ready to start at guard once again against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. When Matt Rhule was asked about Schofield's status as the starter, this is what he had to say:
""Oh yeah, Mike [Schofield III] will be back out there. I thought for us to give up one sack, for us to have 128 yards rushing and not a lot of plays - we had 28 plays in the first half. I'm excited to get those guys back out there and have another week with that offensive unit and work together, gelling, I'm excited to get out there this week."
One of the highlights from last week's loss was the offensive line's performance despite Daley's absence. The team only gave up one sack against a solid Raiders defensive line. For what it's worth, that one sack was allowed by Schofield.
Unfortunately, one of the biggest stories to come out of that game was the fourth and one in Carolina's last possession. The offensive line could not get a push, especially on the interior where Daley was (and still is) unavailable, and the Raiders won the game 34-30. Russell Okung discussed about this bad moment with the media and what it means for the Panthers offensive line moving forward:
"Fourth and one at the end of the game with all the expectations to gain a yard and we didn't do it, I think that's pretty telling as to what we accomplished as an offensive line. Again, the standard is extremely high and we need to convert that, drive the ball down the field, score, and win our team the football game. We've got a lot of work to do, we're going to have a challenging week amongst ourselves and hopefully go out there Sunday and put a good product on the field."
The offensive line will be tested without Daley once again this Sunday. Schofield's performance grade was a 56.5 via Pro Football Focus, so he will need to play better to give the Panthers a greater chance at upsetting Tom Brady's Bucs.
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