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Carolina Panthers receiver Muhsin Muhammad missed Thursday's practice with what he said was a sprained MCL in his knee and said he doesn't expect to play Sunday at New Orleans.
"I'm not ready to play yet," said Muhammad. "My knee will tell me when it's ready. That's all I can go on."
Muhammad, who also missed last weekend's victory at Arizona, said the knee was hit from behind during the Panthers' game against the Buffalo Bills two weeks ago.
The last game Muhammad missed - before the Cardinals game - was in 2005 when he was with the Chicago Bears, and it wasn't because of injury. "They just sat out a bunch of starters that game," he said.
Notes
Kicker John Kasay also missed Thursday's practice with a groin injury. Others missing practice were: Fullbacks Tony Fiammetta (concussion) and Brad Hoover (ankle), safety Charles Godfrey (ankle) and tight end Dante Rosario (knee).
Coach John Fox wouldn't say how severe Kasay's injury is. If he can't play Sunday, kickoff specialist Rhys Lloyd could take Kasay's place. Lloyd has only kicked off in his three seasons in the NFL, although he made 16-of-23 field-goal attempts for the Frankfurt Galaxy in NFL Europe in 2007 and also kicked field goals in college at Minnesota.
Kasay hasn't missed a game since 2004, when he sat out two games with a calf injury.
Running back Jonathan Stewart (Achilles) and linebacker Landon Johnson (shoulder), both of whom missed Wednesday, practiced Thursday.
Fox has an 11-3 record against the Saints - and hasn't lost in seven games in Louisiana (6-0 at the Superdome, 1-0 in Baton Rouge).
Sunday will be a reunion between long snappers J.J. Jansen of the Panthers and New Orleans' Jason Kyle. Kyle played for the Panthers for eight years before signing with the Saints in the offseason. Jansen, who like Kyle is from the Phoenix area, has called Kyle a mentor.
Running back DeAngelo Williams became the Panthers' all-time leading rusher (3,352 yards) against Arizona, an accomplishment he continues to downplay.
"It's one of those things in a couple of years, or in five or six years, it'll be (teammate) Jonathan Stewart sitting here talking about breaking a record, or some other tailback," Williams said. "Records are really meant to be broken. That's why they're records."
Asked how long he expects to hold off Stewart, who is in his second season and has 1,196 career yards, Williams replied: "I don't know. I guess as long as they keep giving us the ball."
