CHARLOTTE — Through the first four games of the season, the Panthers didn't have a more impactful defender than Frankie Luvu.
That's part of the reason he became something less than an every down player last week, because they'd like to be able to have that kind of impact all year long.
Luvu was listed as questionable on this week's injury report with a shoulder injury, and was limited in practice on both Wednesday and Friday. But he was also listed the same way last week, and returned after missing the previous two games.
"I felt good," Luvu said quietly, but with a smile. "Felt good coming back."
Luvu was effectively a full-time player in the first four games, playing 277 snaps, or 93.0 percent of the team total. That was more defensive snaps than he had played in any of the previous three seasons.
So when he came back against the Buccaneers last week, they kept him to just 44 snaps (66 percent of the team total), partially for his own good.
Interim coach Steve Wilks said early this week, "you've really got to help Frankie help himself," and said monitoring his reps was a combination of making sure he's healthy and pacing the hair-on-fire linebacker.
"Coming off the injury, we had a pitch count we wanted to give him during the game, and then we checked that, we communicated with him just to see how he felt, and he felt good, so we progressed moving forward," Wilks said. "It'll be the exact same thing this week. I don't want to have any setbacks or try to overload these guys coming off injury and all of a sudden lose them for three weeks.
"I think he understands the big picture. That's why I said we have to protect him from himself. Big picture-wise, we want him to be able to sustain and be able to play all year. He wants to play every down. That's just his makeup and his demeanor."
Of course, when Luvu has been on the field this year, he's made plenty of plays. In the first four games, he was responsible for defensive touchdowns in back-to-back weeks, forcing the fumble that Marquis Haynes Sr. returned for a touchdown against the Saints, and then returning a Kyler Murray interception for a touchdown against the Cardinals. Without him the following week, they allowed a season-high 37 against the 49ers, and faded late against the Rams.
While the Panthers caught a boost from PJ Walker and D'Onta Foreman last week in the win over the Buccaneers, it's still too soon to expect that kind of performance from their offense until they do it more consistently. So having Luvu on the field (and making high-impact plays) will be important in the weeks ahead.
Interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb talked about the importance of keeping multiple linebackers ready (Shaq Thompson played every snap last week, and Cory Littleton and Damien Wilson spotted in as well, mixing and matching the other linebackers.
"Our linebacker room is a diverse group of guys, diverse group of players, and they all have specific skill sets," Holcomb said. "Frankie missed a couple of games, so it was just kind of working him in. At the same time, we have some quality players in there in Damien and Cory, Brandon Smith is coming along for us, so just having different packages and doing different things to accentuate each guy's ability and also spread out the rep count."
That's hard in a sense for Luvu, because he plays at the same speed he did when he was primarily just a special teams player and a spot pass-rusher. But after Haason Reddick left in free agency this offseason, he anticipated a bigger role this year anyway, and is trying to keep himself able to play it.
"With Haason leaving and that, I got my mind ready that I was going to have a lot on my plate this year," Luvu said. "From the beginning of OTAs and training camp, I knew the more I could do, the more I could help this team. The way everything played out, me playing a lot was something I've always had on my mind.
"It's just working in slowly now. Sticking with the plan and what they have for me. The guys like Cory and Shaq and Damien, they do a good job also, and they're vets. So if a man goes down, they haven't missed a beat."
And while they like that depth, they also know what Luvu can do when he's on the field. So the goal is to keep him out there as much as is good for him and them.
View latest photos from Thursday's practice as the Panthers prepare to take on the Falcons this Sunday.

S - 25 - Xavier Woods

S - 29 - Kenny Robinson

DT - 54 - Daviyon Nixon


WR - 15 - Laviska Shenault Jr.


QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield

CB - 26 - Donte Jackson


DE - 53 - Brian Burns

LB - 40 - Brandon Smith


LB - 49 - Frankie Luvu
S - 25 - Xavier Woods


LB - 55 - Cory Littleton

QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield




WR - 17 - Rashard Higgins


QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield

LB - 57 - Damien Wilson

S - 29 - Kenny Robinson




S - 21 - Jeremy Chinn

DT - 71 - Phil Hoskins

QB - 14 - Sam Darnold

T - 70 - Brady Christensen


LB - 7 - Shaq Thompson


LB - 49 - Frankie Luvu

CB - 28 - Keith Taylor

DT - 95 - Derrick Brown



S - 29 - Kenny Robinson



QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield





DE - 90 - Amare Barno
LB - 91 - Delontae Scott

QB - 11 - P.J. Walker


CB - 8 - Jaycee Horn

QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield

QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield





























QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield

S - 29 - Kenny Robinson






CB - 32 - Tae Hayes

S - 21 - Jeremy Chinn

CB - 26 - Donte Jackson

T - 74 - Larnel Coleman


G - 63 - Austin Corbett


G - 64 - Cade Mays

T - 74 - Larnel Coleman


DT - 78 - Marquan McCall


RB - 33 - D'Onta Foreman

QB - 11 - P.J. Walker


RB - 20 - Raheem Blackshear


QB - 11 - P.J. Walker

QB - 11 - P.J. Walker

QB - 14 - Sam Darnold


LB - 55 - Cory Littleton
S - 42 - Sam Franklin

CB - 8 - Jaycee Horn


C/G - 56 - Bradley Bozeman
DE - 53 - Brian Burns

DT - 99 - Matt Ioannidis



S - 27 - Marquise Blair

WR - 88 - Terrace Marshall Jr.

DT - 92 - Raequan Williams



QB - 14 - Sam Darnold

T - 79 - Ikem Ekwonu

RB - 33 - D'Onta Foreman


S - 29 - Kenny Robinson


WR - 83 - Derek Wright


T - 79 - Ikem Ekwonu


QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield

QB - 11 - P.J. Walker

WR - 17 - Rashard Higgins

CB - 8 - Jaycee Horn

T - 79 - Ikem Ekwonu

LB - 50 - Chandler Wooten

CB - 36 - Gavin Heslop

LB - 7 - Shaq Thompson

DE - 53 - Brian Burns


LB - 7 - Shaq Thompson

WR - 2 - D.J. Moore



WR - 15 - Laviska Shenault Jr.

QB - 16 - Jacob Eason

QB - 6 - Baker Mayfield
QB - 11 - P.J. Walker
QB - 14 - Sam Darnold

DT - 95 - Derrick Brown


S - 25 - Xavier Woods

RB - 33 - D'Onta Foreman

K - 4 - Eddy Pineiro
