Carolina Panthers tight end Greg Olsen's road to recovery from a foot injury has gone well so far.
Olsen reportedly "moved around well" during Wednesday's organized team activity, which marked the second day of OTAs for the Panthers. And he's apparently getting on-field work without much or any medical restrictions.
"I've been cleared for everything for a while now," Olsen told reporters, via Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer.
Olsen landed on injured reserve in early December, so he certainly had time to recover. His availability in 2019 will be a key for the Panthers' offense when considering he has missed 16 games, including seven in 2018, over the past two seasons.
When healthy, Olsen is one of the NFL's top tight ends as evidenced by three straight 1,000-yard receiving campaigns from 2014 to 2016 before the injuries.
While the Panthers have good news on Olsen's status, the team continues to err on the side of caution with quarterback Cam Newton, who underwent shoulder surgery in January and didn't throw Wednesday.
On Wednesday's episode of the RapSheet and Friends podcast, Panthers owner David Tepper shared his thoughts on Newton and where things stand at this point in the offseason.
"Cam has been working really hard this offseason, doing different types of training than he's done in the past," Tepper told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. "I think he has a good perspective on things and he is our quarterback, unquestionably, and he's the guy. I think new and improved Cam will be better than he ever was. That's what I'm looking forward to."
When asked about what could be different from Newton, Tepper remained tight-lipped, saying, "You'll see when you see. There's been different things he's been working on and I don't want to say just what but I'm very optimistic about what we'll see come the season with Cam."
Panthers head coach Ron Rivera told reporters there is no timetable on Newton, but Rivera did echo Tepper's sentiments by saying he is "very optimistic" that Newton will be ready by training camp, according to Bill Voth of the Panthers' official website.
Here are other injury news-related items we're monitoring Wednesday:
- Dallas CowboysPro Bowl linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is being held out of OTAs due to a pelvic injury.
- Atlanta Falcons defensive end Steven Means will miss the 2019 season after suffering a non-contact achilles injury in OTAs on Monday.
