Carolina Growl
Should John Fox be fired?
 
Fox sees no difference in Delhomme's play; Smith had concerns about being traded E-mail
Written by Steve Reed   
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 6:31 pm

   CHARLOTTE – Carolina Panthers coach John Fox made it pretty clear he’s not worried about quarterback Jake Delhomme, even though he’s tied for the league lead in interceptions with 10.
   When asked if Delhomme is doing anything different than in the past, Fox replied, “Probably no different than any other year. No different than maybe after our first game this year when everybody wanted to pin the Philly loss on him. Probably no different than when we were sitting at 0-3. As a football team - not just one guy - I don't think any of us were very good. I don't think me as the head coach was very good. I think top to bottom that was the deal.

   “I think over the last three weeks, and I'm counting the bye week as one of those, guys have worked very hard. A week ago, there was some (people) disgruntled over our run game. Guys worked hard, responded well and we got that working. This is a tough game played by tough people. You keep working until you get better. I don't think the passing game rests on one guy's shoulders.”
   Delhomme will start this week against Buffalo and Fox said he's not worried about the veteran's confidence level.
   “He's had enough good things happen for us to be 2-3,” Fox said. “There is not a guy out here that does this for a living that doesn't have to have extreme confidence. I don't really worry about his confidence. I think results help earn confidence, and we're working on getting better results. Again, it's not just one guy.”
   Fox also said Delhomme’s numbers past week – 9 of 17 for 65 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown – don’t concern him either.
   “Not when you run it for 267 (yards),” Fox said. “If you only had 55 yards total offense, that would be a concern, yes. But to score 28 points is enough to win in this league on a consistent basis. Had we done that consistently, our record would be different. I tend to try to find the positives rather than the negatives. I don't have my head in the sand. We've got work to do. They (players) don't have their head in the sand. We understand that.”

   SMITH TRADE RUMORS UNFOUNDED: Steve Smith said he received several text messages from friends around the country about the possibility of him being traded to another team, one of those being the Miami Dolphins, prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline.
   In fact, Smith received so many that he went as far as to contact his agent to see if there was any truth to them.
   “I heard multiple teams I was going to,” Smith said during the team's open locker session on Wednesday. “You hear the stories about waking up and being traded. You never want to be a guy who wakes up Carolina and hears there is a flight for you going somewhere else, so when you hear that you ask people. I asked my agent if there was anything going on. I got a few texts from different people in different states, so I had to make sure and investigate it.”
   When contacted about the rumors, Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said they were completely false.
   “We had no conversations with anybody about trading Steve Smith,” Hurney said.

   PANTHERS SIGN SAFETY: The Panthers signed free agent safety Keith Lewis to take the spot of Dante Wesley, who is suspended this week. He could help out this week on special teams.
    Lewis spent five seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, before joining Arizona this year. However, the Cardinals cut him after after training camp. Lewis played in 76 games and started 13 games (all in 2005 and 2006) during his tenure with the 49ers.
   Because Wesley is suspended, the Panthers don’t have to make a roster move.

    INJURY UPDATE: Four players sat out practice Wednesday including LB Na'il Diggs (ribs), FB Brad Hoover (back), K Rhys Lloyd (ankle) and RB Jonathan Stewart (Achilles). Coach John Fox said Lloyd injured his ankle while trying to make a tackle on Tampa Bay’s 97-yard kickoff return Sunday.

   FOX LIKES TYLER: Fox said he’s high on the team’s new addition, defensive tackle Tank Tyler, who was acquired in trade with Kansas City on Monday.
   “He's a guy that we feel like is going to help us, obviously to trade for him and give up a fifth-round pick,” Fox said. “He's a guy we knew a little bit (about) coming out (of college). As far as our evaluation, we watched him on tape there with Kansas City and felt like he could definitely help us, so we're glad to have him aboard and looking forward to working with him.”