Saturday evening, the Carolina Panthers activated recently signed cornerback Josh Norman and wide receiver Andre Roberts.
Roberts was expected to make a big impact on Carolina's special teams unit as the return man but has been sidelined since Week 1 with a knee injury. He was designated to return last week but wasn't quite ready to go for the Lions game. He's battled an illness this week on top of trying to get cleared with the knee but he's now officially good to go.
Carolina has rotated several guys at both return spots all season long and has had a mixed bag of results. Laviska Shenault and Chuba Hubbard split the kick return duties for a while before Raheem Blackshear took over. Blackshear has done a terrific job elevating the production on special teams, averaging 27.5 yards per kick return. On punt return, Shi Smith is averaging roughly 7.2 yards per return.
Over the last 10+ years, there haven't been many returners better than Andre Roberts. He averages 26 yards per kick return and 8.7 yards per punt return with three touchdowns in each phase.
As for Norman, interim head coach Steve Wilks told reporters Friday that he will play no more than 25 snaps and will rotate in behind starters C.J. Henderson and Keith Taylor Jr.
"I thought he picked the defense up well. Moving around. He's still trying to get into what I call game shape. His movement skills look good coming in and out of his breaks. We have to be smart as coaches most importantly listening to the training staff and the number of reps we give him within this game. I can't really say the number of reps that he will play. I know he will probably not exceed 25 max."
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