The Panthers added a kicker after ending up without one Sunday.
Matthew Wright, who was in Carolina for the preseason, signed to the practice squad Tuesday, the team announced. The Panthers are expected to elevate Wright to the active roster for Sunday’s game if needed.
The Panthers didn’t have a kicker after Eddy Pineiro experienced hamstring tightness in pregame warmups. Kamu Grugier-Hill kicked off to open the game, but the Panthers were shut out 26-0, so they didn’t have to use punter Johnny Hekker for extra points or field goals.
Wright signed with the Panthers on Aug. 8 with Pineiro dealing with a minor injury in training camp, but the team cut Wright out of the preseason.
He has spent time on the practice squads of the 49ers, Falcons and Patriots this season, but he hasn’t appeared in game.
Wright is 40-of-46 on field goal attempts in his career, during stints with the Steelers, Jaguars and Chiefs.
The NFL fined Panthers owner David Tepper $300,000 for his “unacceptable conduct” in Jacksonville during Sunday’s game.
“All NFL personnel are expected to conduct themselves at all times in ways that respect our fans and favorably reflect on their team and the NFL,” the NFL said in a statement.
A video posted on social media Sunday showed Tepper throwing a drink into the stands from his open-air suite at EverBank Stadium following an interception thrown by Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young.
Tepper finally responded with a statement after the NFL announced the fine, but he did not apologize for his action.
“I am deeply passionate about this team and regret my behavior on Sunday,” he said in the statement. “I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose. I respect the NFL’s code of conduct and accept the league’s discipline for my behavior.”
On Nov. 26, Panthers beat reporters heard Tepper yell an expletive as he exited the locker room following a Week 12 loss. He fired coach Frank Reich the next day.
The Panthers have had six consecutive losing seasons since Tepper paid $2.75 billion for the team in 2018, and he has fired three head coaches in-season since 2019.
It’s widely expected that Sunday’s game with the Cowboys will be Ron Rivera’s last as the head coach of the Commanders.
Rivera has has been with the team since 2020, compiling a 26-39-1 record. But he’s also guided the team through a string of off-the-field controversies stemming from former owner Dan Snyder.
In his Tuesday press conference, Rivera was asked if he feels like he’ll have left the organization in a better hands than when he found it — if new managing partner Josh Harris does indeed make changes.
“Well, I’d like to think we’re in a better place,” Rivera said, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “[That’s] probably a fairer way to say it. I most certainly do appreciate my time here, and we’ll see what happens. And again, we’ll focus in on what’s coming first on Sunday, and that’s getting ready for Dallas.”
In 13 seasons as a head coach between the Panthers and Commanders, Rivera has compiled a 102-102-2 record. His teams have been to the postseason five times, though he hasn’t won a playoff game since 2015 — when Carolina went 15-1 before losing to Denver in Super Bowl 50.
Panthers wide receiver Jonathan Mingo’s rookie season has come to an end.
The Panthers announced on Tuesday that they have placed Mingo on injured reserve, so he will not play against the Buccaneers on Sunday. Mingo has a foot injury.
Mingo was a second-round pick this season and he appeared 15 — 14 starts — of the team’s first 16 games this season. Mingo had 43 catches for 418 yards in those appearances and is behind Adam Thielen in both categories and DJ Chark in receiving yards.
The Panthers filled his roster spot by signing guard J.D. DiRenzo off of the practice squad. They also signed veteran running back Mike Boone to the practice squad.
It’s been two days since video emerged of Panthers owner David Tepper throwing a drink onto fans at EverBank Stadium before storming out of his suite.
The NFL has acknowledged awareness of the video, but has said nothing more. The Panthers have declined comment. The Jaguars, at whose stadium the incident occurred, had nothing to say.
On Tuesday morning, PFT asked both the Panthers and the NFL is there’s anything to add. Neither the team nor the league provided further comment beyond what they’ve already said, which is basically nothing.
If there was going to be a denial or an explanation/excuse, it surely would have surfaced by now. In a world that moves at the speed of tweet, two days is two weeks. Maybe two months. Maybe two years.
At this point, it’s fair to conclude Tepper did what the video shows he did. Why hasn’t he said anything about it? He’s worth $20.6 billion. He owns an NFL team. How can he remain silent on this?
His lawyers might be telling him to say nothing, since anything he says can and will be used against him, if/when he’s sued for assault and/or battery. But nothing he says will change what he did, unless he has a semi-plausible defense.
There’s no harm in apologizing for something like this. There’s plenty of harm in remaining silent. And there’s apparently no one on the payroll who can persuade him of the importance of truly being sorry — and of saying so.
