CHARLOTTE – Week 7 means it's time for Panthers players to get a little rest and relaxation. After four straight wins, the team has certainly earned it.
Most of the players are using their time off as an opportunity to get away from the game for a few days – whether it's by taking a trip home, spending time with their family, or just winding down and relaxing.
Quarterback Kyle Allen said he plans on getting a little Me Time by taking a trip to California.
"I'm just going to go to the beach and chill for a little bit, nothing crazy," Allen said. "Something slight, get a little tan. Just need to bronze a little bit. I'm getting white out here."
While Allen is clinging to the warm weather as long as possible, fellow quarterback Will Grier is ready to embrace fall. Grier said he'll be sticking around Charlotte this week and getting in the autumn spirit by stocking up on cider and pumpkins.
Other players, like cornerback James Bradberry and kicker Joey Slye, will use the opportunity to go home and visit their loved ones. Slye said he'll head back to northern Virginia to see his girlfriend and parents before stopping by his alma mater, Virginia Tech, for their homecoming game on Saturday. Bradberry will be throwing it back even further than his college days when he returns home to Pleasant Grove, Alabama.
"I'm going to go back home and reset," Bradberry said. "Get to hang out with the family and friends, see my high school play, might grub a little bit."
Safety Tre Boston will be focused on family time, too. While he was away with the team in London last week, Boston's six-month-old son stood up for the first time. Now, Boston's ready to help him get on the move.
"My week will be spent with my child trying to work on him standing up. We're going to try to get him to walk in six months since I was a six-month walker," Boston said. "He has a great back pedal when I put him in the walker. I've got to get him going forward. Some fatherhood game planning this week."
However, it's not all R&R for everyone. When Sunday rolls around, tight end Greg Olsen will find himself suiting up in MetLife Stadium – only this time, he'll be wearing a three piece instead of No. 88. Olsen will be calling the Cardinals-Giants game from the broadcast booth for FOX.
"It's a very unique challenge," Olsen said. "I think people are very quick to be critical and criticize guys they hear broadcast a game, but I'll tell you, it's not easy. There's a lot going on, there's a lot of information to consume and to process and to be able to regurgitate it out in a live, fast action."
With his second-ever broadcast looming, Olsen has had a little bit more homework than usual during his time off.
"I started watching and studying some of the stuff just yesterday when I got home," Olsen said. "I've obviously still got some work ahead of me before Sunday, but I'm looking forward to it. I think it's going to be fun."
Long snapper JJ Jansen will be working this weekend, too. The stakes may not seem as high as a nationally televised football game, but they will be to Jansen when he's on the sidelines coaching his son's youth flag football game.
"I don't know who we play this week, just a bunch of six-year-olds running around," Jansen said. "That's the real football."
