Ahead of first game, Panthers re-sign Efe Obada, place Eli Apple on injured reserve
The Panthers re-signed defensive end Efe Obada on Monday and placed cornerback Eli Apple (ankle/foot) on injured reserve.
Apple, a five-year veteran who signed with the Panthers in May, has been dealing with nagging injuries to his foot/ankle and hamstring throughout training camp. The injuries have kept him out of several practices over the past couple weeks. Rookie cornerback Troy Pride Jr., who has filled in for Apple, will like start opposite Donte Jackson in Sunday’s season opener against the Raiders.
Carolina also has cornerbacks Douglas, Corn Elder and Stan Thomas-Oliver on the current active roster.
Obada, the defensive end, re-signed with the Panthers a day after he was waived Sunday. The initial move was made to make room on the roster for three players the team claimed on waivers — CB Rasul Douglas, DE Shareef Miller and OT Trent Scott. The other two players waived Sunday — OT Matt Kaskey and fifth-round pick S Kenny Robinson — have both been placed on the team’s practice squad.
The team has now filled 15 of the 16 available practice squad spots officially. Former Rams LB Clay Johnston, a “Hard Knocks” star and Baylor player under Rhule, is expected to fill the last spot. His father, Kent Johnston, is the Panthers director of player wellness.
When asked about Obada earlier Monday, head coach Matt Rhule said, “I love Efe. He’s a tremendous person and player.”
Obada, 28, came to the league as a member of the NFL’s International Pathways program, which gives athletes from other countries the opportunity to spend time and earn a spot on an NFL roster. In 2018, he became the first in the program to be active for an NFL game.
Robinson, a former XFL player, is the only Panthers’ 2020 draft pick not on the active roster. The former XFL player had an up-and-down camp. Rhule described him earlier Monday as someone with “a really good future ahead of him.”
The Panthers had a bonus practice Monday in anticipation of Sunday’s game. Teams across the NFL will have the unique challenge of facing opponents with no preseason tape available to study. Carolina has been preparing for Las Vegas by studying old film throughout the offseason.
“There are certainly some unknowns. People probably have a lot of unknowns about us and there’s certainly probably a lot of unknowns for them. We’ll work off the tape, our pro personnel department has done a great job with the advanced scouting and trying to do the best we can,” Rhule said. “My main message to our team was like, ‘Hey, let’s make this all about us. We’re gonna prepare for them but we can really control us, we control our effort, our preparation, do the best we can to make sure that we play our best game and then prepare as well as we can.”
Other injury updates
▪ The Panthers re-signed tight end Colin Thompson Monday. He had been released in Saturday’s cuts to the NFL maximum 53-man roster. In a corresponding move, the team placed wide receiver Keith Kirkwood (broken clavicle) on injured reserve. He can return in as soon as three weeks due to to new COVID-19 rules. Teams can bring an unlimited number of players off of IR.
▪ Starting guard Dennis Daley was not at practice Monday after straining his ankle Friday.
“I don’t really know how long to stay for Dennis. I don’t know if it’s day to day or even longer,” Rhule said.
▪ Tight end Ian Thomas has been dealing with a hyper-extended toe injury suffered in last Monday’s practice. He wore a red “injured” jersey during the open portion of practice and lightly participated in stretching. Rhule is confident he will be available for Week 1.
“I felt good about him, I mean I know they originally said that they thought maybe later in the week that they wanted to practice him, but just moving around he looks good, so I’m expecting Ian to go and be able to play. And if he can’t he can’t,” Rhule said. “Chris (Manhertz) will carry the brunt of the load, we can use an extra offensive lineman, Collin Thompson’s had a good camp, (practice squad tight end Giovanni) Ricci’s had a good camp. So we have some guys there, but it looks to me like he will be ready to go.”
Panthers vs. Raiders game, TV info
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Bank of America Stadium
TV: CBS
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 6:06 PM.
