Donte Jackson’s return will be a bright spot for Panthers. About that injured toe ...

Cornerback Donte Jackson returns to the Carolina Panthers for Sunday’s Denver game, hoping to get through a full 60 minutes.

Jackson is nursing a turf toe. If you’ve never had a toe injury, you probably think that’s no big deal and he should just toughen up. If you have had a big toe injury and then tried to play a sport where you run and cut a lot, you understand exactly what he’s been going through.

“Since Week 3, my toe has been killing me,” Jackson said this week.

Jackson is a starter when healthy and the Panthers’ best interceptor. But he has only played in 44.6% of the defensive snaps this season. He’s missed the past two games entirely and, before that, had four different games where he played 25 or fewer snaps, often starting the game, getting re-injured after a few quick cuts and having to leave again.

Even with that, Jackson still leads the Panthers in interceptions this season with three. And he swears his toe is better now. Jackson was asked this week in a Zoom video call how his toe was feeling. In a 22-second answer, the cornerback used the word “great” five times.

Long one of the Panthers’ most confident and fastest players, Jackson remains that way. He was also asked this week if he could play another position on the team if needed.

“I can literally line up at receiver,” Jackson said, “and the Panthers would not miss a beat.”

I don’t know about that, but Jackson’s return will give the Panthers a boost.

News, notes and stats

▪ The Panthers will face a challenge Sunday when the offense gets into the red zone. Denver’s defense is second in the NFL, trailing only Washington, in red-zone defense. The Broncos have allowed TDs only 47.7% of the time.

▪ One good stat for the Panthers: They have at least one takeaway in each of their past 11 games. And Denver quarterback Drew Lock has thrown at least one interception in each of his last seven starts.

▪ One bad stat for the Panthers: The defense is allowing 51.3% of third downs to be converted, which is second-worst in the NFL. Only Tennessee is worse.

▪ Before you start channel-surfing too much, remember this 1 p.m. game is the rare Panthers game to be televised by CBS.

▪ If you’re going to the Broncos-Panthers game, or you are just going to be uptown soon, check out the enormous Christmas tree on the corner of Graham and Mint streets. It’s a nice photo op.

▪ It’s crazy that these two teams met in the Super Bowl less than five years ago. Since then they have combined for exactly one postseason appearance — Carolina, in 2017.

Scott Fowler prediction

I improved to 7-5 on Nov. 29 by picking Minnesota to edge Carolina, 29-27. The Vikings won, 28-27. I feel compelled to mention that my pick of the Vikings was compelled by a coin flip.

Buoyed by that good luck, I picked the normal way this week — going with my gut, which has undoubtedly gotten bigger since Thanksgiving. Maybe that will help.

Despite some COVID-19 issues and no Christian McCaffrey, Carolina finds a way.

My prediction: Carolina 23, Denver 17

This story was originally published December 12, 2020 at 12:08 PM with the headline "Donte Jackson’s return will be a bright spot for Panthers. About that injured toe ...."

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

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Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription