Jerricho Cotchery

When a guy suffers a high ankle sprain, he usually moves from “day-to-day” to “week-to-week.”

But for Panthers wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, the diagnosis might not be as dire as it generally sounds.

Via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review, Panthers coach Ron Rivera is hopeful Cotchery might play this week after suffering the injury early in their win over the Texans.

“The high ankle sprain does tend to linger,” Rivera said. “But just the fact that he was able to come back and play on it like he did before it got stiff, the doctors feel that hopefully he’ll be ready to go this weekend.”

Cotchery was hurt when teammate Ed Dickson fell across the back of his legs while he was blocking, and couldn’t put any weight on his ankle as he left the field. He returned briefly in the second quarter, but couldn’t continue. Rivera said in an emergency situation, he might have been able to return. The Panthers need all the help at WR they can get, but this could open the door for rookie Devin Funchess who hasn't had much to show through the first two weeks.