Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.
On injuries: Did not participate: Charles Godfrey - ankle, Brad Hoover - ankle, Jonathan Stewart - Achilles, and DeAngelo Williams - knee. Limited participation: Julius Peppers - hand and Dante Rosario - knee. Full participation: Tony Fiammetta - concussion, John Kasay - groin, and Muhsin Muhammad - knee.
On how running back DeAngelo Williams got hurt: He kind of tweaked his knee. It's something we'll evaluate day-to-day and see where it brings us tomorrow.
On defensive end Julius Peppers' hand injury: Like most injuries, I'm not too exact on any of them.
On what can be accomplished when the team has to practice indoors like today: We had to adjust our schedule a little bit because we had a little travel time. There are a lot of people that have those types of facilities here. We have a couple options, and that (Charlotte Sports Center) was probably our best one for today. It's not a full field, but we can get enough movement. We've got some young players that need to see the visual looks. It's a little bit better than working upstairs on the club level as far as just (having) a walk-through. So they get a little bit bigger field than that to look at it. It's a lot of wear and tear on a body to go out when it's real windy and rainy, especially for your skill people as far as the ball gets heavier, the wind is pretty severe. Sometimes that's a fairly sloppy environment for practice. I think it's a good place, and we appreciate them letting us use it. I thought we got a lot of work done today.
On if he would like to have an indoor practice facility at Bank of America Stadium: That's not really my lane, so we make do.
On being without linebacker Thomas Davis for the rest of the year: He went down in the game (against New Orleans). It affected us, but we had guys jump in and do a pretty good job. He was, obviously, playing very, very well. He was one of our better football players on defense without a doubt. He'll be missed. But we'll have to have somebody step in and carry his shoes, and everybody else will have to pick it up around him.
On linebacker Landon Johnson: Thomas did miss the (Buffalo) game, Landon stepped in and I thought did an excellent job. We've got a few guys that we have options with and we'll evaluate that as we go through this week in preparation for Atlanta.
On Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan: They've got a good football team. They're sitting 5-3. They went on a little bit of a losing spell and bounced back this past week against Washington. We lost a close game to them, 28-20, at their place. Like all division opponents, typically they're all tough games, and I think it's been that way, at least in the games we've played in our division thus far. I'm happy that we have them here at our place, and we'll need to play well.
On Falcons running back Michael Turner getting his feet back under him by rushing for more than 300 yards in the last two games: I thought he had his feet back under him when we played them last time. That's the way I saw it. He's a fine player. They've got Roddy White that's an impact guy outside. Tony Gonzalez. They both are their go-to guys. Matt Ryan is a good, young quarterback, and they've got a good running attack, so that's usually ingredients to a good offense and they are a good offense.
On if he is worried about wide receiver Steve Smith's emotions bubbling over like they did when he got upset after being hit out of bounds following a catch against New Orleans: I think if I got hit on the sideline out of bounds I'd be upset, too. I was right there when it happened. I think the team we're playing had somebody get hit out of bounds and I think they were upset as well. It's part of the game; I don't think it was intentional, but these things happen.
On if he thinks Smith was yelling at Saints safety Darren Sharper and not somebody on the Panthers' sideline: I was standing right there. That's the way I saw it.
On if he would get involved in a sideline confrontation like Falcons coach Mike Smith did last week against Washington: I really can't comment; I didn't see it. It gets a little feisty on the sideline. But that's about as feisty as we get to get because they make us stay over there.
On if he looks as the second half of the season as a fresh start: It's really the only way to look at it. It's no different than halftime of a game. You can't look back and change things. Hopefully, you learn from it. All you can do is look forward, and that's where we are right now.
