Was going to post something tomorrow about how the Panthers’ season depends greatly on their starting offensive line and defensive tackles remaining healthy as the reserves at these positions have approximately zero NFL experience. Silly me, I thought the Panthers could get through at least a practice without a major injury.
Wrong. Starting defensive tackle Maake Kemoeatu tore an Achilles tendon earlier today. As John Fox said:
(He) was just running. Sometimes that’s a challenge
Kemo weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 350 pounds. The Panthers are currently trying to figure out if Kemo is done for just most of the season or, well, all of it.
What is certain is when Kemo and fellow starting tackle Damione Lewis were both out injured late last season, the Panthers simply could not stop the run. And not being able to stop the run is a very good way to lose a lot of football games.
