The Panthers are going to be woefully thin in the secondary, but also down an important piece up front when they play the Giants.
After starting safety Charles Godfrey was placed on IR this week, they also declared Quintin Mikell out for Sunday’s game, along with cornerback D.J. Moore, according to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer.
That means they’ll start Mike Mitchell and undrafted rookie Robert Lester (who was promoted from the practice squad this week) at safety, with special teamer Colin Jones the only reserve. It’s barely better at cornerback, where starter Josh Thomas (concussion) and James Dockery (thumb) are listed as questionable. If Thomas can’t go, they might start veteran Drayton Florence, who was signed this week as injury cover.
The worse news may be that defensive tackle Dwan Edwards is what coach Ron Rivera described as “very, very questionable” with a hamstring problem.
The Panthers have known their secondary was going to be a mess for months, but taking Edwards out of the equation depletes what is supposed to be the strength of their defense.