CHARLOTTE – Pro Bowl right guard Trai Turner returned to practice Friday and has a good chance of playing Sunday against the Falcons.
Turner, who left last week's victory over the Buccaneers with a knee injury, is officially listed as questionable. Head coach Ron Rivera, however, said Turner might have been listed probable if that designation still existed on the injury report.
"He practiced well. Probably the biggest thing, more so than anything else, is how is he tomorrow morning?" Rivera said. "But he was full participation today, took all of his reps."
The other player listed as questionable, running back Fozzy Whittaker, isn't expected to be active. He has missed the last two games with a high ankle sprain, and Rivera said the Panthers could face a "big numbers crunch" when Whittaker is healthy because of the recent emergence of running back Cameron Artis-Payne.
In the wake of Kelvin Benjamin's trade to Buffalo, Rivera said he expects all five wide receivers to be active Sunday. Russell Shepard, Curtis Samuel and Kaelin Clay will handle the snaps in some capacity opposite of Devin Funchess, who will be backed up by just-added Brenton Bersin.
"Bersin, we threw him out there right away," Rivera said. "When Kaelin Clay came back, we did the same thing. We threw him out there the first day, and it was like he never left."
Clay handled punt return duties against the Buccaneers and could reprise that role this week, though Rivera said running back Christian McCaffrey remains an option.
