Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.
On injuries: Did not participate - Tyler Brayton (ankle), Brandon LaFell (hamstring), Louis Leonard (elbow) and Jeff Otah (knee). Limited participation - Charly Martin (concussion), Matt Moore (concussion), Jordan Senn (ankle) and Tyrell Sutton (shoulder).
On if quarterback Matt Moore was cleared by a neurologist to practice: Yeah, I'm not going to go through all the exacts. Matt was limited in practice today, and he'll be day-to-day moving forward. That's about the extent of it; I'm not going to go through every test he got.
On how Moore looked in practice: I thought he looked just like normal Matt. He didn't look terrible after the concussion in the game actually. Again, those are areas that aren't my expertise. There is no "Dr." in front of my name, and I'll leave that to those people.
On if he would describe Moore's concussion as mild: I don't have that little "Dr." in front of my name, so I'm not the right person to ask.
On if Moore is feeling better from his perspective, not medically speaking: Yeah, he seemed fine. Like I said Monday after the game that he felt much better, so he's feeling fine.
On if Moore will play against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since he practiced today: I'm not going to get into who's going to play and who's not going to play, whether it's the quarterback position or any other position until we trot out there on Sunday.
On if Moore will start if he is healthy and ready to go: Yes. But that's a big if, and we're day-to-day.
On the home opener being special: The fact that you've got a division game and the home opener, there is a lot at stake, just like all these games. But being a home opener in front of our own fans and being that it's a division opponent, I think adds a little extra.
On what the offensive line needs to do to correct its struggles: I'd say as a team we struggled in the second half, and four giveaways don't help that situation. I don't know that in those giveaways the offensive line was completely the culprit; we take it as a team. There is definitely some room for improvement in the offense in that phase. I'm not panicked about our o-line play whatsoever.
On if he is concerned about the Panthers' running game: In this league, sometimes the defense can stack the box and make the running game pretty hard going. It's not a mystery to us. But in a first game there are things that you haven't seen, in particularly when you have a new defensive coordinator, that sometimes aren't as easy to expect and whatnot when you don't have a real book on all the things they've done. I'm not panicked about the run game either. We actually averaged pretty good per rush. I'm not too freaked out about it at this point.
On if the Panthers have worked out their communication issues in the secondary: Much like the offensive line, I'm not too panicked about it. For a first game, we had some execution issues. But that's to be expected in the first game, in particularly on the road in a loud environment. That's something that we'll continue to try to improve on this season.
On re-signing kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd: We had an injury at that position. We got one kick out of Todd Carter in the Giants game, and we needed to find somebody that could do that. Rhys was available; we're familiar with him. It's always good having that English accent in the locker room.
On the Buccaneers: They are pretty similar on defense. As far as what they've added - new people on the defensive line, a couple of high draft picks and some acquisitions in free agency. The back end is pretty much what it has been, both at corner and at the safety position and some of the linebackers. (Head coach) Raheem (Morris) started calling the defenses in our second outing last year, and he's remained doing that this year. So there is some familiarity there on both sides.
Offensively, the o-line is intact, the running backs are intact, the quarterback is intact, the tight ends are intact. The real difference is outside at the receiver position. They've always been one of the better teams on special teams in the National Football League, in particularly on blocking kicks - both field goals and punts. They led the league in that area last year. So a very similar but different Tampa Bay team.
On how Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman has improved since his rookie season: He looked very good last year. Yardage wise, it (321 yards at Carolina - 12/6/09) was one of the best games of the season against us by a quarterback. He's definitely got the talent; he's got size; he's got a strong arm. He is a good, young talent. The difference in the game last year was the interceptions. He looked pretty good in the first game against Cleveland. There's not a lot of preseason tape, because he did have a broken thumb. So he's working back from that, but he looked very effective this past Sunday against Cleveland.
