Christian McCaffrey ‘feels great,’ Matt Rhule thinks Panthers have excellent insurance
Just a couple of hours after he was deemed “questionable” for Sunday’s home matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey emphasized Friday that he was in tip-top shape.
McCaffrey, who missed the first two practices of the week with a quad injury, said he “felt great” a dozen times during an 11-minute press conference at Bank of America Stadium. The oft-injured playmaker was poked and prodded with questions about his health by reporters, but McCaffrey dug his cleats into the podium and refused to admit any discomfort.
Despite McCaffrey’s claims of wellness, the heavily used former All-Pro could see a lighter load on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. when the Cardinals come to town. McCaffrey is given a weekly rest during Wednesday practices, but his absence on Thursday raised a red flag to anyone who has followed his career closely. And due to his need for weekly maintenance, the Panthers could decide to expand their usage of backups D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard.
“They’ve been great,” McCaffrey said. “I think, obviously, watching Foreman run, he runs so hard. He’s fast, runs downhill, gets a lot of yards after contact. Chuba’s made so many great strides since last year. He’s fast, he’s quick, he’s smart. I think when you look in pass protection, too, and just mentally, how he’s made so much ground there, it’s exciting to see. But they’re both explosive, dynamic players, who bring so much to our team.”
McCaffrey has been a ball-hogging bell-cow for the Panthers through their 1-2 start to the season. While he’s collected 243 rushing yards, 57 receiving yards and a touchdown on 60 touches, that production has only accounted for half of McCaffrey’s workload. McCaffrey has also been a primary blocker in pass protection, as teams have routinely sent blitzers at quarterback Baker Mayfield.
The wear-and-tear of balancing McCaffrey as a playmaker and a pass protector has forced head coach Matt Rhule to give the running back a special weekly regime. With his history of shoulder, ankle and hamstring injuries, McCaffrey’s exclusive schedule is more about regular maintenance than rest and relaxation.
Rhule hopes that McCaffrey’s sidelining in practice will lead to special plays in games.
“We kind of have a separate plan for Christian,” Rhule said. “He takes a lot of hits during the game. Obviously, we talk about touches, but you look at the amount of times he needs to pass protect, those are hits. So, we practice him in a different sort of set schedule than anybody else. I’m excited to see him out there.”
Like the specialized workload, the Panthers can do other things to keep McCaffrey “feeling great” throughout the week. For example, Rhule and offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo could trot out a different running back for a series or two, every once and a while.
McCaffrey has played 84% of the offense’s snaps through the first three games of the season. Foreman and Hubbard, as a tandem, have averaged just seven offensive snaps per matchup.
The Other Guys
With McCaffrey out for the first two workouts of the week, Rhule and McCaffrey’s fellow running backs fielded questions about the backfield rotation. But like the running back himself, Rhule was optimistic on Friday that McCaffrey would be able to lead the charge against the Cardinals.
“We’re very hopeful that Christian will play,” Rhule said. “We had him go out there to see him today, he looked good today. Unless something comes up, I’m sure he’ll give it his best chance to go. So we’re very hopeful.”
Rhule’s hope for McCaffrey’s availability is one thing. His trust in the group behind McCaffrey is another.
And while Foreman and Hubbard have only combined for eight touches so far, Rhule has faith that either could step up if called upon this weekend or in the future.
“I look at it as we have three running backs who’ve started,” Rhule said.
Foreman started three games in place of Derrick Henry last season for the Tennessee Titans. During that trio of starts, Foreman produced 146 rushing yards, 78 receiving yards and a touchdown.
He finished last season with 566 rushing yards, three rushing touchdowns and 123 receiving yards, all which were career highs. He then joined the Panthers in free agency in March ahead of his fifth season.
So far, the workload has been limited, but Foreman has stayed prepared for games.
“I would say it’s frustrating, of course,” Foreman said Thursday. “Everyone wants to play. But at the end of the day, we’ve got to win. Last week, I didn’t really play much. So, I think, at the end of the day, the most important thing is going out there and getting wins, being a supportive teammate.
“When Christian comes off the field, I tell him what I see, talk about certain things, but at the end of the day, it’s like I’m always ready to go. I think that’s just the competitive nature in me, knowing that I can help this team in a lot of different ways.”
To his credit, Rhule is aware that he needs to get Foreman more involved. Unlike McCaffrey and Hubbard, Foreman is a north-to-south runner who can churn up yardage and burn the clock in a close game.
“D’Onta is an excellent back, and we got to get him in the game,” Rhule said Friday. “He’s been a great teammate, he’s kind of waited for his first opportunity — but D’Onta is a guy who can really help us. And I’ve seen what he can do. We need more plays to get more guys in the game.”
Situational football should also factor into the rotation that has been all McCaffrey all the time to this point. Listed as 6-foot-1 and 236 pounds, Foreman is two inches taller and roughly 30 pounds heavier than McCaffrey. Foreman can handle the goal-line and short-yardage work with McCaffrey nursing a quad injury.
“I’m bigger than those guys,” Foreman said with a smile. “That’s one thing. But I just feel like I can do a lot of different things. Catch the ball out of the backfield, I feel like I can run between the tackles. I don’t know, I just feel like I can do a lot of different things. I don’t want to compare myself to those guys, but those guys have their own way and I’ve got mine.”
The Panthers selected Hubbard in the fourth round of last year’s draft. While he’s mostly been used in special teams coverage and as a returner, the second-year running back has occasionally stepped in when McCaffrey has needed rest or worse over the past two seasons.
Hubbard started 10 games last season while McCaffrey sat through two different stints on the shelf. During two separate five-game stretches as a starter, Hubbard produced 514 rushing yards, four rushing touchdowns, 110 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown. While his play waned toward the end of his rookie season, Hubbard developed enough during the campaign to make the Panthers feel good about his future as a do-everything back.
But so far this season, Hubbard has faded into the background for the most part.
Hubbard had a crucial fumble to begin the Panthers’ Week 2 loss to the New York Giants, but Rhule was encouraged by how Hubbard bounced back in last week’s win over the New Orleans Saints.
“I thought Chuba had two key runs last game,” Rhule said. “Coming off that Giants game and the fumble, and that’s in his head, I was proud of him last week, because he’s an excellent special teams player for us — all the coverage units and all that stuff — but he got into the game last week and made two key runs. … I have a lot of confidence in Chuba.”
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With McCaffrey’s history of injuries, Hubbard and Foreman know they could be called on at any point. For now though, they are both just trying to support the top dog in the lineup.
“You’ve just got to be professional,” Hubbard said. “Everyone wants to play, everyone wants touches, but I don’t think that overrides the fact that we all just want to win. So, as long as we get that done at the end of the day, we can all put that other stuff aside. It’s just about the team.”
‘Feel great’ about Sunday?
Given McCaffrey and Rhule’s optimism about the running back’s status, it seems more likely than not that the Panthers’ top offensive weapon will play on Sunday against the Cardinals. However, the Panthers know they need to be careful with his usage, especially with rain potentially in the forecast.
While Rhule said stormy weather wouldn’t hinder McCaffrey’s usage, the Panthers would be smart to have a fallback plan if he were to tweak his quad injury or prove to be less effective with it.
That’s where Foreman and Hubbard should come into play. Both players know that they’ll need to go from zero-to-60 mph at a moment’s notice.
“It’s all in your preparation,” Hubbard said. “I think that’s the kind of culture we instill here. Prepare like you’re a starter, prepare like you’re going to play come game day, no matter what role you have. Whether you’re a starter, second-string, third-string, special teams — prepare to play. And I know I do that, I know D’Onta does that, C-Mac does it, everybody on the team does. So, that’s in our culture.”
“My body feels pretty good, but at the end of the day, I’m just prepared to play like I am each and every week,” Foreman said. “I’m always up every week, so I’ve prepared the same way. Unfortunately, Christian is down right now … It doesn’t affect or change the way I prepare for the game. Just going out there, and doing my job.”
So far, Hubbard and Foreman have gone under the radar on offense. However, one play can change everything, and either player could be asked to step up in the wake of another injury scare for McCaffrey.
“I never look at it as pressure,” Foreman said. “I look at it as an opportunity to go out there and play, and do what you do. I prepared for this moment through this whole training camp, OTAs and everything, so there’s no pressure. I look at it as it’s what I do. So, when I get out there, I feel like I’ll just put it on display.”
In order for Foreman and Hubbard to put their work on display, the Panthers would need to move away from the McCaffrey Express.
“We have a lot of guys we like,” Rhule said. “We’ll have to give those guys opportunities and I’m excited to see them get opportunities.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
