Report: Greg Olsen could return for Carolina Panthers against Redskins
The Carolina Panthers are welcoming back one former Pro Bowler against the New York Giants with another reportedly possibly returning next week against the Washington Redskins.
The Carolina Panthers will be entering today’s game against the New York Giants as healthy as they have been at any point this season. The team is expected to have starting right guard Trai Turner return from a concussion that forced him to miss the last two games, while Curtis Samuel will be making his season debut.
However, next week the Panthers could also be getting another key offensive player back as Greg Olsen is expected to return versus the Redskins as long as there are no set backs this upcoming week in practice, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
#Panthers TE Greg Olsen (broken foot) won’t play today, but there is confidence that he’ll play Week 6 against the #Redskins if he has a good week of practice, I’m told. That would be 5 weeks from the original break.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 7, 2018
As Rapoport notes, this would be five weeks from Olsen suffering a broken foot in the first game of the season against the Dallas Cowboys. The concern at the time was that this was the same foot he broke last year that cost him nine games.
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However, the recovery has been much quicker this time around and Olsen was back practicing this week, although it was on a limited basis.
The past two seasons have been tough for the former Pro Bowl tight end. He has been an example of durability and consistency, missing only two games over his first 10 years. Those games came during his rookie season and prior to last year never missed a game with the Carolina Panthers.
At 31 years of age, and with the injuries the past two years, it is certainly fair to question how much Greg Olsen may have left in the tank. However, the good news is that this offense has more weapons than in previous years and this team won’t need to lean on him as much.
Next. Key Panthers to watch against New York Giants. dark
While he may not see as many targets as he did in previous years, he can still be a valuable weapon for Cam Newton, especially in the red zone.