This year most Eagles fans will/should have a eye on the Carolina Panthers this due to the fact that the Eagles currently hold the Panthers 1st round draft pick next year. Obviously the worse the Panthers are the better the pick will be and vice versa.
WR Steve Smith dealt a blow to one of his teammates, and perhaps a blow to the Panthers fortunes this season.
Receiver Steve Smith was suspended two games by the Carolina Panthers after a training camp fight with cornerback Ken Lucas.
Smith, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, will continue to practice when training camp resumes Monday and will be allowed to participate in preseason games, coach John Fox said Saturday.
Lucas, who left the practice field at Wofford College on Friday with ice over his left eye, has a broken nose, Fox said. Smith was kicked out of practice and sent back to Charlotte.
"What (Smith) did was wrong and we take very serious and he is being punished severely for it," Fox said.
Fights in training camp are pretty common, but rarely go behind pushing and shoving or wrestling around. Steve Smith reportedly punched Ken Lucas in the face causing his eye to swell up. That goes far beyond the acceptable level of frustration in an NFL camp. For his actions, Smith has been suspended for two regular season games.
Steve Smith remains one of the better recievers in football, the Panther's best playmaker, and loosing him for two games can only hurt the Panthers. That said, it's hard to argue that the Panthers didn't do the right thing. Smith was way out of line and this is not his first offense, clearly coach Jon Fox had to make an example.
For some Panthers fans, this was the last straw and they've had enough of Steve Smith's antics.