With cornerback Corey Thornton out for the rest of 2025, the Panthers are bringing in another defensive back.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Carolina is signing Robert Rochell off of Dallas’ practice squad.
Rochell, 27, has appeared in two games this year for the Cowboys, playing 16 special teams snaps.
He has familiarity with Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, as Evero was the Rams’ secondary coach/defensive pass game coordinator in 2021 — Rochell’s rookie season.
Rochell has appeared in 50 games with five starts over the course of his career with the Rams, Packers, and Cowboys.
The Panthers turned to rookie Corey Thornton after cornerback Jaycee Horn suffered a concussion in Monday night’s loss to the 49ers, but Thornton won’t be an option if Horn misses more time this season.
Thornton left later in the game with a leg injury and Panthers head coach Dave Canales said on Tuesday that Thornton will miss the rest of the season with a broken fibula.
Thornton made the Panthers as an undrafted rookie and has appeared in every game this season. He had 14 tackles, three passes defensed and a forced fumble in that action.
Cornerback isn’t the only spot where the Panthers are thin on defense heading into this week’s game against the Rams. They are short on healthy linebackers and safety Tre’von Moehrig will miss the game while serving a suspension unless his ban is overturned on appeal.
On Monday night, the Panthers abandoned a running game that generally was working. If you’re confused about that, you’re not alone.
On Tuesday, running back Rico Dowdle tweeted an emoji that generally reflects confusion.
In a press conference with reporters, coach Dave Canales was asked whether he has spoken to Dowdle about it.
“I have not,” Canales said.
Does he plan to?
“Not right now,” Canales said.
There’s not really much to say. The facts speak for themselves.
Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard got a total of nine carries. And it’s not as if they were bottled up. Dowdle had six carries for 38 yards, which equates to 6.3 yards per carry. Hubbard had three carries for 16 yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry.
It ended up being a missed opportunity for the Panthers, who could have taken over first place in the NFC South at 7-5 and asserted themselves as a viable postseason contender.
Earlier today, we pointed out that the Panthers missed an opportunity to keep the point that made the third-quarter score 17-10 while ensuring the next drive would have started at the San Francisco 25.
We missed an opportunity to point out another opportunity the Panthers missed.
As a head coach with another team observed this afternoon, the Panthers could have tried an onside kick from the 50. Failure of the attempt would have most likely resulted in the 49ers getting the ball somewhere between the San Francisco 35 and 40.
(For those who play Madden, that was a very common move after any roughing the kicker fouls after a PAT — before the new formation was adopted.)
Last year, the Panthers wouldn’t have been able to do it, because the team trailing couldn’t attempt an onside kick until the fourth quarter. This year, the team that is trailing can try an onside kick at any time.
Which raises another point: Why is the onside kick limited to the team that is trailing? After a 15-yard penalty on the try, the kicking team should be allowed to try an onside kick from the 50, if it wants. Regardless of the score.
Looking at it more broadly, any team should be allowed to try an onside kick, whenever it wants. There’s never been, in the history of the game, a rule that limits options based on the score.
Regardless, the knee-jerk decision by the Panthers to take one point off the board and attempt a two-point conversion from the one (with a pass from shotgun formation) seemed to disregard the flexibility they would have had on a kickoff from the 50. They could have ensured that the next drive would have started from the 25, and they could have rolled the dice on an onside kick that wouldn’t have given the 49ers a short field, if the onside attempt had failed.
The Panthers passed on a chance to take Isaiah Simmons in the first round of the 2020 draft, but they have now added the linebacker to the organization.
The team announced on Tuesday that they have signed Simmons to the practice squad. Simmons went to the Cardinals at No. 8 after the Panthers selected defensive lineman Derrick Brown with the seventh pick.
Simmons spent the offseason and summer with the Packers, but was released in late August. He had 21 tackles and a forced fumble with the Giants last season and has 329 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five interceptions, nine forced fumbles, and three fumble recoveries for his career.
The Panthers lost Claudin Cherelus to a concussion on Monday night. Trevin Wallace and Christian Rozeboom both missed the game with other injuries, so depth was needed at the position heading into Week 13.
