Carolina linebacker Jon Beason is most of the way back from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in Week One of last season, but he’s not all the way back. And because of that, the Panthers are forcing him to take it easy at Organized Team Activities.
Beason says he showed up to OTAs expecting to do everything, but the medical staff has restricted what he can do.
“I think they’re just protecting me from myself,” Beason told the Charlotte Observer. “Practice is practice. But to me you come out and compete. You try to win every down and you play the game a certain way. I think that had a lot to do with it, too.”
Ideally, the Panthers would like to have Thomas Davis starting at strong side linebacker, Beason in the middle and first-round rookie Luke Kuechly starting on the weak side. But Beason isn’t all the way back just yet, and Davis still has a ways to go in recovery from his third ACL injury. Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Beason is further along than Davis.
“I’d like to believe when we get to training camp, we can put Jon in full-go at that point, and Thomas, we’ll ease him back in,” Rivera said.
Easing injured players back in is the wise course of action, even if it’s not always what the players themselves want.