SPARTANBURG, S.C.,None — It's not like it's anything new, it's just more obvious these days. Sports talk radio, TV networks that need to fill time with talking heads, Twitter... it all paves the way for knee-jerk reactions.
Over the past 24 hours, we've seen two glaring examples of fans needlessly freaking out about "news" coming from Panthers training camp.
"Steve Smith taken off field on a cart." As soon as those words hit the Twitter stream Tuesday, the doom and gloom from fans followed.
Obviously "Steve Smith" plus "taken off field on a cart" makes you pause. Smith's only the most dynamic player in franchise history and still represents the Panthers biggest down field threat.
But a deep breath and consideration of 89's history should come before any Panthers fan declares the season "over."
August 9, 2011: Panthers WR Steve Smith Injures Finger
Smith has a tendency to, and there's not really a nicer way to say this -- be a drama queen. You need more than one hand to count the times he's walked off with trainers over the past few years. He's spent more time with head trainer, Ryan Vermillion, than he has in the end zone.
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I'm not insinuating he hasn't actually been hurt in those situations, it's just creeping dangerously close to "The Boy Who Cries Wolf" point. It's more prudent to wait and find out what the injury is, than to scream "oh no, Steve Smith is hurt!"
But judging by Tuesday's reaction, many haven't learned that lesson. We're talking about a guy who took a cart off the field for a finger injury. We're also talking about a guy who's probably tougher than most guys on the Panthers roster.
Besides Cam Newton, Smith's still the most important offensive player on that roster. And perhaps, when he plays dead, that's just his way of reminding us all.
But that wasn't all the fun coming from Spartanburg on Tuesday.
The Panthers released their depth chart, which the NFL required from all teams. But what many haven't heard or read, or at least paused to hear or read, is that Ron Rivera is calling that depth chart "unofficial." Yet when many folks see Jimmy Clausen listed as the starting quarterback, they assume, he's the starter.
Today is August 10. The Panthers kick-off the regular season on September 11 in Arizona. I'm not very good at math, but I think that means we're still more than a month away from Week 1. And Week 1 is all that matters.
SLIDESHOW: Images From Spartanburg
If Jimmy Clausen takes the first snap in Saturday's preseason opener against the Giants -- that doesn't matter. If Newton takes the first snap Saturday -- that doesn't matter.
Do you want to read into it more than I will? Well, here's what Rivera said about his two quarterbacks going into Saturday's game: "We want to see how each guy looks with each offensive line. It would be unfair to have one guy with the ones, one guy with the twos, one guy play against a one defense, the other guy play against a two defense and say one looks better. So we're most certainly going to mix and match, and we have to so it's a fair competition."
There's no other way to read those sentences and not understand that the Panthers starting quarterback situation is still very fluid. It will be through at least week 3 of the preseason.
But I can tell you this with certainty: the Panthers do want Newton to start in Arizona. The question is: will he be ready?
Today's depth chart won't answer that question. The next four weeks will.
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