Next man up for hurting Lions
It's next man up for Carolina and Detroit with both teams missing key players
Neither the Detroit Lions nor the Carolina Panthers will be putting their best roster foot forward on Sunday.
Both clubs are scrambling to fill holes due to injuries prior to the NFC contest at Bank of America Stadium. Game time is 1 p.m.
“That's what I love about our room,” Lions running back Adrian Peterson said on Friday. “You have a lot of guys dialed in, and if this situation happens, you just have to go in and do what we practice all week.
“Nothing has changed with some of the injuries we have. There has been plenty of games when I've played hurt and you grind through it.”
After being relegated to the backup role behind rookie D'ANdre Swift last week, Peterson is back as the starter with Swift, who had 149 combined yards last week in his first NFL start, out with a concussion.
“It's like the next man up,” Peterson said. “It's an unfortunate situation, but we have to have a `next man up' mentality until he's healthy.”
Swift isn't the only Lion sidelined on offence. Receiver Kenny Golladay will miss his second straight game with a hip injury, while slot receiver Danny Amendola is out with a hip injury suffered last week against Washington.
Meanwhile, quarterback Matthew Stafford has been limited all week in practice with a right thumb injury suffered against Washington. Reports called the injury a partially torn ligament, but Stafford refused to go into detail.
“I'm not going to confirm anything,” said Stafford, who is listed as questionable. “Everybody out there is playing with something, so there's no excuse for playing poorly. Just go out and play the best to your ability and try to help us win. That's what I'll try to do if I can get out there.”
Carolina is also struggling, with star running back Christian Mccaffrey (shoulder) set to miss his eighth game this season, while quarterback Teddy Bridgewater ( knee) is listed as questionable after being limited in practice all week.
“I love Teddy,” said Lions defensive end Everson Griffen, who had Bridgewater as a teammate when he played in Minnesota. “I can't wait to see him. I hope I get to hit him a few times. He's playing great ball, too.”
Mike Davis will again start in place of Mccaffrey, while Lions head coach Matt Patricia said his club is preparing for Bridgewater but can react to any change to backup P.J. Walker or Will Grier.
“We have a phenomenal scouting department,” Patricia said. “We have a lot of information on these guys through the course of the year about what they have been and the evaluation of who they are as players. We'll certainly go through whatever tape you can find available, and kind of get that assessment and see if that still stacks up and is accurate to where they are now. From there, you try to project: `How does it fit in to the schematics of what they're doing offensively?' And you try to do your best to prepare for that.”
A win gets Detroit back to
.500 heading into the club's U.S. Thanksgiving Day home game against Houston (2-7) on Thursday, but the club has struggled to put games away against lesser teams like Atlanta (3-6) and Washington (2-7).
“Obviously, we started off pretty good a couple of games, but it always ends up a dogfight towards the end,” Lions linebacker Jamie Collins Sr. said. “We have to continue to start fast and start finishing strong.”
Carolina has plenty of receiving weapons in Robby Anderson, D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel, but the Lions want to force the Panthers to have to throw to win.
“They can run the ball well, and we have to make sure we go out there and dominate play,” Griffen said. “They run well, (so) stop the run and execute on the pass.”