Is Tillman Coming Back Too Soon?

[CollegePanther]

Carolina has kept pretty quiet about Peanut's status over the past few weeks. However, just a couple days ago it was reported that he has a partially torn ACL and may not return the entire season. 

Now, it seems like we're pushing him into the lineup to make up for Bene's absence. Here is a quote from Rivera's press conference yesterday:

“We’d like to have another week, at least, but with what happened with Bené, we’re trying to push him to make sure he’s ready,” Rivera said.

I'm no doctor and I don't know how comfortable he really feels, but going solely off of what has been said it really seems too soon. 

Being 13-0, it doesn't really make sense to me to push him into the lineup. Rivera also said he felt Stewart could play this week but would rather him be fresh for the playoffs. I don't see why Tillman doesn't get that same respect. He has played really well when healthy; so wouldn't it be better to have him for the playoffs than to have him go down in a mere meaningless game? 

I'm not saying all of this just to complain, I'm a big Tillman fan and I'd really love to see him finally get a ring this year. 

[t96]

If we find out he can't play very well through the injury this week then we'll have time to get a guy like Lou Young up to speed since it's unlikely Peanut would be any better in a couple weeks than he is now. If we find out he can play through it just fine then we're in good shape with him. I'm almost certain the training staff believes that the injury won't get worse with him playing now. As for the possibility of missing the season, that was pure speculation by media and people here. I don't think it was ever really a reality.

[Davidson Deac II]

Just a guess, but maybe they want to find out now if he is going to be able to contribute. 

[CollegePanther]

6 minutes ago, thomas96 said:

If we find out he can't play very well through the injury this week then we'll have time to get a guy like Lou Young up to speed since it's unlikely Peanut would be any better in a couple weeks than he is now. If we find out he can play through it just fine then we're in good shape with him. I'm almost certain the training staff believes that the injury won't get worse with him playing now. As for the possibility of missing the season, that was pure speculation by media and people here. I don't think it was ever really a reality.

Yeah our training staff is usually very cautious so I trust them but I just know that torn ligaments take time to heal and that if it was really torn, it probably wouldn't take much to re irritate it. 

[The Huddler]

I dont think we should rest him. If he can play, play him. This game against NYG is a huge game. We havnt reached our goal of #1 seed. Once he clinch that, then maybe give him a break. Plus, do you really want a rusty ass peanut that hasnt played in over a month to start in a huge playoff game? 

The answer is...

 

No  

 

he will be fine

 

Dude needs reps

[CollegePanther]

9 minutes ago, The Huddler said:

I dont think we should rest him. If he can play, play him. This game against NYG is a huge game. We havnt reached our goal of #1 seed. Once he clinch that, then maybe give him a break. Plus, do you really want a rusty ass peanut that hasnt played in over a month to start in a huge playoff game? 

The answer is...

 

No  

 

he will be fine

 

Dude needs reps

Fair enough. But then again he still has two more opportunities to remove the rust after this game. 

I think it's probably best I don't make these kind of analyzations at all though and just trust in the coaching staff. I mean we are 13-0, they must have some idea of what they're doing.

[chknwing]

smokescreen. duh.

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

Personally, I would rather finish the season with Tillman getting as much rest as possible and trying out some youth at the position.  However, we simply do not have the roster spots to allow for this.

At this time, I will take solace in the fact that Gettleman likely knows what he is doing.

[Cary Kollins]

smokescreen

[Nate Dogg]

If Tillman can't play after a month of rest an additional 2-3 weeks isn't going to change that. Time to find out where we stand and move on if need be.

[csx]

I trust this organization to do the right thing in regards to things like this. Nothing there to suggest they rush things. I believe they let the doctors and trainers do their jobs thoroughly.

[Nate Dogg]

58 minutes ago, thebigcat said:

I would rather we just continue to sit him until the playoffs as we'll need the biggest push then. If we can't win 2 out of 3 over the next three weeks without Tilman then we bigger problems

Not a great idea to trot a 34 year old corner out on the field for the 1st time in 2 months in a divisional playoff game. 

[ladypanther]

5 hours ago, csx said:

I trust this organization to do the right thing in regards to things like this. Nothing there to suggest they rush things. I believe they let the doctors and trainers do their jobs thoroughly.

Rivera will do the right thing. He just won't  tell the other team in advance what the right thing is.

[KJ89]

They know what they're doing.