Ron Rivera is a hopeful guy. You can’t help but admire him for it.
But after having his hopes dashed a week ago thinking middle linebacker Luke Kuechly was about to be cleared through the league’s concussion protocol, the Panthers head coach said again today he thought Kuechly would be back soon.
The former defensive player of the year has been out since a Week One concussion against the Jaguars, and was not cleared by the independent neurologist last week.
“Hopefully, in the next couple days, they’ll be able to get that thing taken care of, so we’re pretty optimistic,” Rivera said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. “But you know how I am.”
It was last Monday when Rivera said “hopefully we’ll have good news tomorrow,” but was a bit more measured after Kuechly failed his test, saying last Wednesday: “I learned my lesson, I tried to give you guys what I thought I knew on Monday, and apparently, it was a little too much.”
To be clear, we would never suggest Rivera has anything but Kuechly’s best interest at heart. He’s shown himself to be principled and honest. But this also shows why it’s a such a good thing for players that the decision is not in their hands or a coach’s. Brain health isn’t like a knee sprain, and it’s easy for someone to see Kuechly standing on the sideline and think “he looks fine” and presume he could be closer to clearance.
The Panthers have a bye this week, and return to action in Week Six at Seattle, which begins a more difficult stretch of the schedule for a 4-0 team.