Carolina Panthers’ group effort keeps Cowboys’ Greg Hardy off stat sheet

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy was late coming out for the second half Thursday after he said he had an asthma attack at halftime.

For anyone looking at the statistics from the Carolina Panthers’ 33-14 victory, it was as if Hardy didn’t show up at all.

Hardy was held without a tackle, a sack or any type of defensive stat in his first game against his former team, which parted ways with him during the offseason in the wake of his domestic violence case.

Hardy started at right defensive end, where he was matched against Panthers left tackle Michael Oher, Hardy’s teammate in high school and at the University of Mississippi.

The Cowboys moved Hardy around more in the second half, trying him on the other side against right tackle Mike Remmers. The results were the same: No hits or pressures on quarterback Cam Newton and not much of an impact at all.

Oher said keeping Hardy off Newton was a collective effort involving everyone from center Ryan Kalil, who identified where Hardy lined up every play, to offensive line coach John Matsko, who worked with Oher on Hardy’s pass-rush moves during the short week.

“It was a lot of help. I wasn’t the only one who blocked him,” Oher said. “Everything comes into play with blocking a D-end. … Just playing with fundamentals really, and studying film. But he’s a heck of a player and it was tough all night.”

Oher and Hardy were jawing at each other after one first-half play before Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart stepped between them.

The only other intrigue involving Hardy was his late arrival to the field after halftime.

Hardy, who spent his first five seasons in Charlotte, has a history of showing up late – and sometimes not all – to meetings and practices with Carolina and Dallas.

He also has a history with asthma. He used an inhaler while stretching before the game and received oxygen on the sideline when he came out for the second half.

Hardy was complimentary of the Panthers (11-0), who went 12-4 in 2013 when he tied a franchise record with 15 sacks and went to his only Pro Bowl.

“I said it when I was there, I’ll say it now – they’re a very talented bunch. They have a great coach, they have a great everything,” Hardy said. “So long as they keep playing together and keep playing hard and worry about the next game – nameless, faceless opponents, man – they’ll continue to win.”

Oher was among the Panthers’ players and coaches who visited with Hardy after the game.

Asked what their message was, Hardy said: “All love. That’s about it.”

Oher, who played high school basketball with Hardy in Memphis, Tenn., said the two caught up briefly.

“I’ve been knowing him for about 10 years now, so we just said a couple things,” Oher said. “I haven’t seen him for a while.”

Hardy said there were “heated emotions” facing Oher, given their background.

But Hardy didn’t have much to say when asked what the Panthers had done to limit his production.

“They played better than we did,” he said.

This story was originally published November 26, 2015 at 10:32 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers’ group effort keeps Cowboys’ Greg Hardy off stat sheet."