Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart will miss another game this week with a lingering hamstring injury, but the team is expecting him to be ready for Week 6 against the New Orleans Saints.
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said on Saturday that he is “pretty comfortable” Stewart, who has already been ruled out for the team’s Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, will be ready to go next week, per Joe Person of the Carolina Observer.
Rivera says he feels "pretty comfortable" with Jonathan Stewart being ready for next week.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 8, 2016
Stewart hasn’t played since Week 2 against the San Francisco 49ers, but this is at least an encouraging development after Rivera provided a more pessimistic timetable for the Pro Bowl running back a few weeks ago.
Still, Panthers backups Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker have only rushed for a combined 89 yards in the two games since Stewart was hurt. Stewart’s absence will sting even more against Tampa Bay with Cam Newton also out due to a concussion.
With the Panthers looking at a Week 7 bye, they could still opt to play it safe with Stewart and hold him out through the bye week. Nevertheless, it appears that the 29-year-old is making progress, so they shouldn’t be without him for too much longer.
