Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.
On injuries: Did not participate - Sherrod Martin (concussion), Jeff Otah (knee), Steve Smith (ankle) and DeAngelo Williams (illness). Limited participation - Jamar Williams (neck).
On the challenge of facing Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers: He's a great player. He was a great player here and he's a great player there. He's been consistent with that. He's been to multiple Pro Bowls; they just don't hand those out for showing up on Sundays. He's a great player, and we'll have to deal with him.
On if the Panthers have an advantage game planning against Peppers knowing so much about him: I don't think any more than what he knows about us. It's just who is going to execute the best on Sunday.
On newly acquired wide receiver David Clowney: He's a pro. He's a veteran guy that we know a lot about; we did coming out of Virginia Tech. We were looking at him when we saw he was available and thought he had a good first day.
On the development of rookie quarterback Jimmy Clausen from his first start to his second: I thought the real positive was he made a really, really big play on fourth-and-four that gave us an opportunity. Unfortunately, we came up short. But plays like that. We did not turn the ball over at all offensively. That had been a bug-a-boo for us prior to that. So we did good with the ball security. I thought overall he made some good throws and some good decisions. I think he got better from his first game to his second game.
On wide receiver Steve Smith's potential absence creating opportunities for the Panthers' young receivers: We've got a lot of young guys already at that spot. There are guys that are developing and getting better. David Gettis was on the other end of that fourth-and-four play that was a great route adjustment and a great toe touch going out of bounds. Those guys are going to get better every week, and that's what our job is.
On how the wide receiver position changes without Dwayne Jarrett: We've got young guys there, and luckily we've got a couple of guys that have stepped in - Brandon LaFell and David Gettis and we still have Armanti Edwards developing. With the addition of David Clowney, that gives us a veteran guy. It was time to move on, and we'll go from there.
On how close rookie wide receiver Armanti Edwards is to being ready to play in a game: Not having a rep in a regular season game yet, I can't really answer that. But we have practice out here, and he's getting better. He knows his assignments; he can play more than one position, so he's definitely an option.
