FLOWERY BRANCH – Carolina coach Ron Rivera, who's in his fourth season with the Panthers, has a 28-29-1 record overall.
After posting a 12-4 mark last season, the Panthers are off to a 3-6-1 start this season. The Panthers are set to host the Falcons at 1 p.m. Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.
Rivera spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday about his team.
Here’s what Rivera had to say:
Q: How are things going on the defensive side of the ball?
A: Things have been up and down. We've played inconsistently. I think that's one of the things that we are working on is trying to get back to being consistent. That's one of the biggest things that we've missed compared to last year is that there was a lot more consistency in the plays that were made. There was a lot of consistency in putting ourselves in better position. We just haven't been that this year.
Q: How much of it can be traced to missing Greg Hardy?
A: That's a part of it. He's a guy that impacts the way that people approach you. People have got to game plan for him and do certain things with protections. It would help to have him. We don't. So, unfortunately, we go on and do the best that we can without him.
Q: Is your pass defense much better than the stats suggests?
A: I think there is something to that. We've played better lately and we've played against some very good football teams, too. That's the other thing that everybody has to understand. All of our losses have come against teams that have winning records. We've faced a lot of good competition. We've played well at times. We just haven't played very consistently.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Q: How is Cam Newton doing health-wise?
A: He's healthy. He practiced today and took every one of his reps…. He moved around fine. I'm not sure what that was all about. Like I told the reporters yesterday, according to our doctors and our trainers, he's fine.
Q: How ban Newton help turnaround the offense?
A: I think the one thing is getting back to that consistent play. We've got to help him, too. Our protections have to be better, obviously. You give up nine sacks and he's not getting enough time to locate receivers that are open. We have to run the ball more effectively. We can't put the ball on the ground. I think again if we can do the things that we're capable of, get back on track, we have an opportunity to play well.
Q: How tough has it been for Cam with the lineup changes and injuries along the offensive line?
A: It's tough on the team. . . this year we've had a lot of injuries. The shuffling does take away from the continuity that you're trying to build. The communications that those guys have to have and the trust. We are trying to build that again. I think in time as we continue to plug away and work hard at it, I think we can put ourselves in a good position. On Sunday, we're getting ready to start our sixth offensive line.
Q: Has that hurt your normally strong rushing attack?
A: Part of it is that they've been hurt as well. Johnathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams have both missed a substantial amount of time as has Fozzy Whittaker and Mike Tolbert. We have not had a healthy bunch. That's been hard.
Q: How has rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin been developing?
A: He's coming along very well. He's doing a nice job. It's a lot of fun watching Kelvin Benjamin out there grow and develop as a football player.
Q: How has Thomas DeCoud been playing for the Panthers?
A: He's playing well. It's one of those things where the more familiar he gets with what we want to do and the more familiar that we get with him, I think it's going to be a good situation for both of us. I really like who he is as a football player and who he is as person. He's been first-class ever since he's been here and he's done lot of good things. It's an opportunity for him to play against his old team, which I know he's excited about. He's been a lot of help. He's been in everybody's ears talking about Atlanta as whole. He's just trying to give us any insight that he has.
Q: How’s former Saints safety Roman Harper fitting in?
A: Same way. It's one of those things where we had a need and those two guys were available. Both played the same position and both played a position of need for us, so we grabbed him as well. He's been a great pro for us in terms of helping us develop our young football team.
Q: What’s the plan to tighten up your coverage units after Darren Sproles had a punt return for a touchdown on Monday night?
A: It's something that we are focusing on obviously. The bad thing about the Sproles one is that we had guys in position and they just missed. You can't do that especially against that quality of a returner. We've got to be good. We have to make sure that we put the ball up in the air. Make sure that we have time to get down and get into position. We have to take the air out of it. We can't allow (Devin Hester) space and we know that. I know that. I've been around Devin enough to know that he's an explosive football p layer.
FALCONS FAN MAILBAG: We take your questions from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
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