It will be another week without running back DeAngelo Williams for the Panthers.
Coach Ron Rivera said Thursday that Williams is not sufficiently healed from his ankle injury to play against the Seahawks this Sunday. That will make four straight games on the sideline for Williams, who also missed two games earlier in the season.
Rivera also said that the team hoped Williams would be able to return for their Week Nine game against the Saints and intimated that the decision to hold him back was so that the team was sure he’s ready to return.
“We could put him out there and say, ‘Well, we were 95 percent close,’ and all a sudden something bad happens and now you’re back to 65 percent. DeAngelo is the same way. We’re being very smart with this, very calculated,” Rivera said, via ESPN.com.
On the banged-up offensive line, the Panthers expect left tackle Byron Bell and right tackle Nate Chandler to play but the outlook is less rosy for guards Trai Turner and Amini Silatolu.