CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera will not rush Star Lotulelei back for Sunday’s opener at Jacksonville if the starting defensive tackle isn’t ready.
Rivera said on Monday that if Lotulelei is experiencing any soreness in the right foot that sidelined him for all four preseason games “we won’t risk it.’’
“It’s a long season,’’ Rivera said on Monday. “We can’t be hasty with guys. We’ve got to be smart about it. As we learned last year, it comes down to the last week.’’
The Panthers are on track to have both starting cornerbacks, who have been dealing with concussions.
Charles Tillman was released from the concussion protocol on Monday. Josh Norman has one more step in the concussion protocol to pass before being cleared.
"And he should clear that by tomorrow or Wednesday morning," Rivera said.
Rivera also is optimistic he will have starting center Ryan Kalil for the opener. The four-time Pro Bowl player missed the final two games with a sprained knee. He worked on the side on Monday while starting right tackle Mike Remmers took first-team repetitions at center.
"We’re headed in the right direction, so we’re excited about it," Rivera said.
Lotulelei has not practiced since suffering a stress reaction the first week of training camp. He arrived at practice late on Monday with head trainer Ryan Vermillion, who put extra padding in the right cleat.
Lolulelei spent the rest of practice working on the side with Vermillion.
If Lotulelei can’t play, the Panthers will go with a four-man tackle rotation of Kawann Short, Colin Cole, Dwan Edwards and Kyle Love.
Lotulelei said that rotation played so well in the last two preseason games that he doesn’t feel the urgency to rush back.
"The plan is to see how he is [Tuesday] morning and see how he reacts to the work," Rivera said. "If he reacts well, we’ll take it up another notch tomorrow with the trainers and then we’ll see how things go Wednesday morning."
