Panthers need to give Will Grier the chance to start if injured Teddy Bridgewater can’t
Teddy Bridgewater suffered an injury at the end of the Carolina Panthers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week.
In football, injuries happen all the time. Players acknowledge it. Coaches reference it as an example of an excuse that they won’t publicly allow themselves to use.
But Bridgewater suffered an injury to his right knee. And for a player who’s career cannot be described without including a devastating left knee injury in 2016, the level of concern goes up a little bit with this one.
Bridgewater knew that his fourth quarter injury wasn’t as bad as it could have been because of what happened to the knee on his other leg. And that lack of severity has left him with a real chance to play in Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, despite being limited in practice all week.
Head coach Matt Rhule said Friday that the quarterback will be a game-time decision. If he is unable to go, the Panthers will either start second-year quarterback Will Grier or former XFL star P.J. Walker. Playing a healthy Bridgewater is the priority, but if he is unable to go, Grier should be the next up.
The Panthers signed Bridgewater to a three-year, $63 million contract in the offseason, but there is no lasting commitment at this point to the him being the answer at quarterback for years and years to come. Carolina would (and will) be right to be cautious with him.
“You look at (Bridgewater) here and he has this locker room, he has this organization, everybody on this football team believes in him and he goes out there and he executes,” Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady said. “I fully expect Teddy Bridgewater to continue doing this the rest of the season and in his career as a Carolina Panther.”
This is an evaluation year for the Panthers as a whole. That extends to for Bridgewater as well as the two backups. Carolina needs more film of Bridgewater to help decide how he fits into their long-term plans, and if he’s medically cleared to play Sunday — even at the last minute — then he should start. The next six games are important. If not this offseason, then next, the Panthers will be determining what they have in their quarterback room and whether finding someone in the draft should be on the table.
Grier and Walker split reps in practice and the week gave the Panthers a better view of who should be the No. 2 going forward. And the team should give Grier the opportunity to be the clear No. 2 or start if it is available.
Forget about Grier’s two starts last season as a rookie. They were at the end of an eight-game losing streak and concluded a a chapter in Panthers history. It’s almost not worth acknowledging those numbers exist. Grier has said he played poorly — he did — and that he did not understand how to be a backup like he does now.
Rhule spoke this week about how playing someone based on where they are drafted “ruins organizations” and that he doesn’t need to see Grier in a game to know what the team has in him. The reality is that Grier was a 2019 third-round pick by the Panthers out of West Virginia. The team invested highly in him compared to Walker, who signed a two-year, $1.6 million deal this offseason.
How Bridgewater looks Saturday in practice and before the game Sunday will be the deciding factors in whether he starts versus the Lions. If not, Grier or Walker are up. Or both. And if Bridgewater is active Sunday, it’s possible the Panthers have all three up and available on game day for the first time this year.
“All along I think I’ve felt good about where it’s headed, it’s just a matter of will we have enough time to get him to where he can be? I think it will truly be a game-time decision depending on how he feels and how I feel about how he feels,” Rhule said Friday.
The Panthers have two quarterbacks who have been treated equally this year, each backing up Bridgewater in five games. The fact that neither has truly emerged to this point is telling.
Walker has been in two games briefly this year, also in difficult situations. The case is there to be made why Walker should be the team’s backup and in line for his first start but the stronger argument still rests with Grier.
Both deserve a chance to show what they can do in normal game circumstances after a week of practice, and whoever performed best over he past six days should get the nod if Bridgewater sits with the knee injury. But giving Grier first crack at it makes more sense. A third-round pick was used on him just a year ago. That can’t be ignored.
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 1:00 PM.
