CHARLOTTE -- Perhaps the best sign Monday at Bank of America Stadium was that of safety Chris Harris running through the Panthers' locker room with a long, bouncy stride as he hustled to a position meeting.
But the true test on his sore knee will come not when he dashes around the ground-floor hallways, but how it responds as he darts around the practice field.
"It's feeling a lot better," Harris said. It's the cutting part I need to get down."
The knee has dogged him for a dozen days, when he banged his knee during what was "pretty much" a freak occurrence in practice.
"I was going in on the running back (Tyrell) Sutton," Harris said. "He saw me and got ready to cut and slipped, and just came right into me."
Harris returned to practice two days later and attempted to warm up prior to the Week 1 loss to the Eagles. But two attempts at limbering up ended with an agonized expletive and a toss of the helmet. He remained in uniform that day, but could only watch from the sideline.
"I was just trying to gut it out and go, but I re-tweaked it and that was that," Harris said.
He didn't practice at all last week, but described himself as "optimistic" about his chances of returning to the field by Thursday, when the team reconvenes for its first on-field session of the week.
"We'll see. I don't know. We're playing it by ear," Harris said.
"I'm getting closer and closer every day. I'm just taking it day by day. It's feeling a lot better this week than it did last week."
FULLBACK BRAD HOOVER is equally optimistic about his chances of playing next week, but spent part of Monday receiving massage treatment for the back spasms that sidelined him during Sunday's second half.
"It just depends on how (the back) progresses during the week," Hoover said. "Right now, I don't know, but I'm optimistic. I think it's just getting some swelling out. Once it unlocks, it'll be fine."
Hoover awoke Sunday with a stiff back, but still managed to play throughout the first half before succumbing as the discomfort intensified.
"I don't know which play; it just got progressively worse and worse," he said.
"I've never had my back lock up. I've been hit on the back, but nothing to the extent of this. I'll just see how it goes day by day."
For nearly a decade, Hoover has absorbed the hits that are part and parcel of the fullback position. But he does not think his back spasms are the harbinger of greater issues due to the accumulated collisions.
"I guess there's always some concern, but I just look at it as a fluke accident that happened," Hoover said. "I can't really pinpoint why it happened; it's just one of those things. Sometimes things happen and you have to deal with them."
BUT THE MOST SEVERE INJURY CONCERN is defensive tackle
The injury left Carolina with only two healthy defensive tackles:
Head coach John Fox did not know how long Leonard would remain sidelined, and also did not speculate on whether the injuries would force the Panthers to sign another defensive tackle.
"We'll evaluate that. We do have Nick Hayden, who wasn't active for the game due to an injury; we'll wait and see how his progress comes," Fox said. "Typically we only go into a game with three (defensive tackles active). We'll evaluate who's available and what our best move will be."
THE LONG WEEK afforded by next week's Monday night kickoff could scarcely come at a better time for the Panthers, who were also without linebacker
"The extra day (is huge) for us -- especially as a team," Harris said. "We've got a lot of owies, nicks and bruises."
It's also another day for preparation, which could only help the defense after it yielded four consecutive drives that netted at least 50 yards -- the first three of which ended in touchdowns. After a
Carolina recorded a pair of stops and allowed just one first down on Atlanta's final two possessions, but those stands were not enough to prevent defeat.
"We just need to get (the new defense) down as soon as possible," Harris said. "We need to get as close to perfect as we possibly can -- and soon, before it's too late."
