Panthers coach Ron Rivera confirmed Wednesday that defensive tackle Star Lotulelei will not play against the Seahawks, the result of a fractured foot suffered in practice Tuesday. That’s a big blow for the Panthers, but it will mean a likely starting role for former Seahawk Colin Cole.
“He’s been such a solid stay force—he’s a space eater up inside, he handles the doubles very well—holds the point of attack, and he helps to allow our linebackers to run,” Rivera said on a conference call with Seattle-are reporters.
(A quick aside on Cole, he had one of the better one-liners when he played here. When a reporter noted that his neon green sneakers were really bright, Cole responded by saying, “They were white, but then my awesomeness bled into them.”)
That’s tough news, but by no means the only bad news Rivera received this week, because early Monday morning, Rivera’s Charlotte home caught on fire, forcing his family to evacuate.
“We were very fortunate,” he said. “The whole thing was kind of a scary situation, but at the end of the day nobody was hurt. I’m sure we had some damage, but truth of the matter is that we’re going to rebuild so we’re fine.
Then, in an ultimate only-a-football-coach moment, Rivera noted that, “It happened on a day off so it wasn’t disruptive as far as football preparation.”
Yup, the old, “at least my house burning down didn’t get in the way of game prep” line.
Rivera’s Panthers, like the Seahawks, come into this game on a roll having won five straight, but he knows that may not be an advantage this week: “We have to be honest—the Seahawks have momentum as well. They’ve done some really good things as of late and I expect this to be a good football game.”
Leading up to his team’s playoff opener against Arizona, Rivera made a point of talking about the Seahawks, but it wasn’t because he was looking ahead, but rather looking back to 2010, when another 7-win team made the playoffs and then won its playoff opener, with the Seahawks knocking off the defending champion New Orleans Saints.
“Believe me, that’s been all a part of the conversation,” he said. “I’ve had to deal with that for the last five weeks as we’ve started to get on a little bit of a roll and people talking it. I said, ‘The truth of the matter is, it doesn’t matter guys how you get in, just get in, and then see what happens.’ It’s what happened to Seattle a few years back—they got hot. They got hot, they won a game, that’s kind of the way we look at it. We got hot, we won a home field playoff game, but we just go from there. So it’s something that’s been talked about and that’s been mentioned.”
And finally, when talking about his opponent this week, Rivera didn’t just rave about Seattle’s defense like most opposing coaches do, he also said Russell Wilson should be getting serious MVP consideration.
“We have a lot of respect for who they are, we do know that they’re the defending champs, and we do know that they have a tremendous amount of good football players on their team,” he said. “Defensively, they’re as good as anybody if not better and I seriously think that their quarterback should be considered for league MVP. All he’s done is win as far as I’m concerned. And I love the running back—I really do. I think Marshawn is a solid football player.”
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