Carolina Panthers safety Sherrod Martin was fined $40,000 for a hit in Sunday's game at Cleveland, his fourth offense in the eyes of the league.

The amount of the fine shocked teammates, especially when you consider Tennessee's Cortland Finnegan and Houston's Andre Johnson were fined $25,000 for their on-field melee last week.

"The man hands them down and we've got to pay them," Panthers cornerback Richard Marshall said.

Martin was fined twice last year, then $5,000 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss from the opener this year. Boss was knocked out of that game and missed the following week with a concussion, but Browns tight end Evan Moore continued to play last week.

Giants tight end Travis Beckum, interviewed by the Newark Star Ledger, initially called Martin "the little dirt-bag safety," but backed away from that stance later.

When the newspaper asked Beckum to clarify the remark, Beckum said: "He's not a dirt bag. That's a dirt-bag move. Any head on head is a dirt-bag move."

Martin's developing a reputation, as the Boss hit was the first play on the video the league sent out to players this fall, emphasizing the new attention being paid to helmet-to-helmet hits.

But he said after the game Sunday he wasn't sure what he could have done on the most recent one.

"Everybody told me they thought it was a clean hit," Martin said Sunday. "Actually, I was going for the ball first and he was on his way down. I don't know what more they want me to do."

His $45,000 worth of fines this year equals nearly two weeks of his pre-tax pay, which is $23,235 per week. He makes the second-year minimum of $395,000. He didn't talk to reporters Wednesday, but teammates were astonished by the severity of the punishment.

"You're not going to stop playing the way you've been playing all your life," Marshall said. "You're going to play the way you've been taught to play and the way you've been taught to hit. If the fines are going to come, they're going to come. You've just got to keep playing."

Injury update

The Panthers practiced without four starters, and seven others were limited Wednesday.

Linebacker James Anderson (concussion), starting guards Travelle Wharton (toe) and Geoff Schwartz (back) and cornerback Captain Munnerlyn (shoulder) were out.

Cornerbacks Chris Gamble (hamstring) and Robert McClain (hip), quarterbacks Brian St. Pierre (shoulder) and Tony Pike (shoulder), safeties Marcus Hudson (ankle) and Jordan Pugh (hamstring) and running back Tyrell Sutton (ankle) were limited.

The latest rash of injuries left the Panthers with only two healthy cornerbacks (Marshall and C.J. Wilson), and only starter Jimmy Clausen and practice squader Keith Null at quarterback. Asked about Null possibly needing to play this week, an exasperated coach John Fox cracked, "he's been here for a long time compared to some of them."

Null was signed last Tuesday.

Petitti's back

To help with the shortage on the offensive line, the Panthers brought back tackle Rob Petitti, who was with them in training camp, and waived running back Josh Vaughan.

Petitti said he's been working out at home waiting for the phone to ring, but hasn't worked out for any NFL teams.

He said he considered playing in the UFL again, as he did last season, but stayed away in part because of the $150,000 transfer fee the upstart league wants to charge NFL teams to sign their players at the end of the season.

"I had an opportunity to go there, and they said if something happened they'd release me," Petitti said. "But you never want to get involved in a contract like that. ... Not saying the coaches aren't good guys, but sometimes it goes above them and they (the league) might not let you out of your contract."