Jonathan Stewart tweaked ankle, expected to play against Cardinals

The Carolina Panthers are confident that Jonathan Stewart should be okay after tweaking his ankle against the Seahawks

The Carolina Panthers got a huge lift from the return of running back Jonathan Stewart. He made his presence felt early in the game with a huge 59 yard run on his first carry of the game. He finished the day with 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns as his Panthers were able to hold off the Seahawks. The Panthers were concerned that he might have re-aggravated the foot sprain that caused him to miss four weeks during the regular season, but they got some good news today.

Jonathan Stewart is an important part of the Panthers offense so getting him back against the Arizona Cardinals at full strength would be a huge boost to their chances of making it to the Super Bowl. He is also one of their best pass protectors. The Panthers will need to block well against the Cardinals front seven and Stewart will certainly help them do that.

Stewart narrowly missed his first 1,000 rushing yards season since 2009 with 242 carries for 989 rushing yards and six touchdowns during the regular season. Stewart’s size and ability to read blocks should help the Panthers neutralize the Cardinals aggressive defense.