ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — The Carolina Panthers know what you're thinking.

Especially because it's Buffalo.

When kicker Eddy Piñeiro was announced as questionable in the second half of Saturday's preseason win with a right hamstring injury, it brought back too many frightening and familiar memories in this place or against this team.

But straight from the kicker's mouth, you can stand down.

"I'm fine," Piñeiro said with a grin in the locker room afterward. "All good. Thanks for asking."

Piñeiro said there was a little soreness, but he could have kicked if need be in the second half, which is good news. (He kicked into the net on the sidelines at one point during the second half.) And even if there is a little soreness, they have two weeks until the regular season starts.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales also used the word "fine" when describing his kicker, saying that parking him for the second half was precautionary.

"Just some soreness, we wanted to be smart with that," Canales said. "So that was just kind of more of a just err on the side of caution with that."

Piñeiro hit a 45-yard field goal just before halftime, and that was the extent of his day.

Punter Johnny Hekker kicked off in the second half as they experiment with new kickoff rules (that was apparently the plan regardless of Piñeiro's condition) and joked that he had plenty of range if he needed to try a long field goal.

"Get the ball to the 40-yard line, and let me give it a whack," Hekker joked. (The All-Decade punter has hit a 20-yard field goal and also an extra point in his career, both with the Rams.)

Of course, Hekker could laugh because A) Piñeiro is apparently OK, and B) he knows the history.

In 2021, then-Panthers kicker Zane Gonzalez was injured during pregame warm-ups in Buffalo on a cold December day, forcing the team to scramble at the last minute for alternatives.

A rushed tryout of position players, including backup quarterback PJ Walker (whose attempt at an extra point missed the net), linebacker Frankie Luvu, and others, ultimately led them to not kick much at all. Wide receiver Brandon Zylstra kicked off that day, they went for a lot of fourth downs, and the team signed Lirim Hajrullahu the following week since Gonzalez was placed on injured reserve.

The following season, Gonzalez suffered a groin injury during a preseason game at home against the Bills, and was placed on injured reserve.

The Panthers signed Piñeiro after that injury, and he's been here since. He played every game in 2022 but missed the final two games of last season with a hamstring injury.

When well, he's been one of the more accurate kickers in the league in recent years, hitting 90.6 percent of his field goals in his two years with the Panthers.

But because it was Buffalo, it was in the back of everyone's mind.

"He was fine. He was good to go," Hekker said. "I think it's just preseason precaution. You pair that with the history that this organization had with Buffalo and preseason, you hear about a little tightness, shut it down.

"I was excited to get the reps out there for kickoffs, take any potential strain off, just let him rest up. We got two weeks to get him right, and he's going to be back with the training staff we've got here."