Carolina Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart still calling himself ‘day-to-day’

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart won’t set any expectations for himself past Tuesday, but coach Ron Rivera indicated the team expects to have its top back for the playoffs.

Stewart called himself “day-to-day,” like he has since spraining his left foot against Atlanta in Week 14. He has missed the past three games, and he will have had more than a month off if he plays in the Panthers’ divisional round game on Jan. 17.

But Rivera said the plan is to treat Stewart during the bye week and get him back on the field starting next Monday.

“The biggest thing we have to be smart about is his conditioning,” Rivera said. “He’s been doing a lot of that as far as that’s concerned. We expect to work him back into it this week, and hopefully by next week he’ll be ready to roll. Got a lot of confidence in what we got (Sunday) as far as Cameron Artis-Payne is concerned. Again, what we can be as far as our running game, I have a lot of confidence in it.”

The Panthers have rushed for at least 100 yards in 27 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL and longest overall since the Pittsburgh Steelers did it in 43 straight games in the 1970s.

Stewart finished the season with 989 rushing yards, just missing out on his second career 1,000-yard rushing season. But he didn’t seem too let down by it.

“It’s always in the back of my mind I guess but I’m not upset about it,” Stewart said. “I think our offensive line did a great job during the regular season. We’ve been topping over 100 yards a game every game this year. We got the job done. Now it’s playoffs.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2016 at 4:44 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart still calling himself ‘day-to-day’."