Panthers’ Davis Breaks Forearm, Says He’ll Play In Super Bowl 50
The Carolina Panthers are heading back to the Super Bowl. They’ll take on the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 on February 7th in Santa Ana, California. And according to outside linebacker Thomas Davis he’ll be in the lineup despite the fact that he left Sunday’s NFC Championship game with a broken forearm.
Davis broke the bone in his right forearm late in the first half of the Panther’s 49-15 NFC Championship Game rout of the Arizona Cardinals while making a tackle. He did not return to the game–though by halftime the Panthers were up 24-7 and faced little opposition as they blew the game open in the second half. Based on his comments he could have played had it been necessary. Head coach Ron Rivera said that Davis’ injury is similar to the one former Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith played with during the 2009 season.
Rivera also confirmed that Davis had surgery on Monday morning and that even his doctors are optimistic that he’ll be able to play in the Super Bowl: “My understanding is if everything goes well, it is most certainly something he’ll be able to play with. We’re excited about that possibility. He’s in recovery, doing well. The doctors feel real comfortable about it and we’ll see how he is once he gets here tomorrow and the trainers get a chance to look at it.”
Davis is not only a very important contributor to a formidable Carolina defense but a team captain and ’emotional leader’. Even before his diagnosis and surgery he made it abundantly clear that he planned to be in the lineup for Super Bowl 50–in his post game media availability he emphasized that “”I ain’t missing the Super Bowl. You better believe that.”
Rivera had a lot of other injury news to be happy about on Monday. Several situations that looked problematic after the NFC Championship game basically resolved themselves or turned out to not be as bad as first anticipated. Safety Roman Harper suffered an eye injury during the first half and didn’t return to the game. He consulted with an eye specialist on Monday but Rivera said that he didn’t expect his participation in the Super Bowl to be a concern. Fullback Mike Tolbert got his knee looked at as a precaution but Rivera dismissed his problem as ‘a little discomfort’.