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CHARLOTTE — They were about to cart Brad Hoover off the field Sunday as the crowd politely applauded and the Panthers quietly worried. He rolled on the ground in obvious pain while his Carolina Panthers teammates looked on in amazement. The toughest guy on the team was about to be loaded onto the back of the meat wagon and carried off.

And then Hoover got up himself, staggered to the cart and sat in the front seat.

Carolina will move on without its fullback, something the Panthers haven't done in a long time, just one more thing for the team to deal with heading into this Sunday's game against undefeated New Orleans.

Hoover's ailment is described as an ankle injury, but it's more likely a high-ankle sprain, which is about one degree short of a broken leg. With his backup, rookie Tony Fiammetta, out with a concussion, Carolina is facing the best team in the NFC without one of the most important elements of the Panthers' running game — a sledgehammer blocking back.

Just when it looked as if Carolina had found a way to turn around its season, the solution became still another problem. It's likely the Panthers will play the Saints, and who knows beyond that, with a fullback committee of sorts. The head of that committee will likely be tight end Jeff King.

"We've been around Hoover a long time," King said. "Hopefully, we can simulate what he does."

What Hoover does isn't always clear, but when the team rushes for 655 yards in three weeks, it's a pretty good indication the fullbacks are playing a key role. Carolina might now be facing a game without its fullbacks in uniform. Wednesday it began to dawn on a lot of people just how important they are to the Panthers.

"We respect what he's done," King said of Hoover. "It's a big task for any of us to take on that role."

The role has been a key to the Panthers throughout their history, from the early days when Dom Capers built the franchise around defense and running. He considered Bobby Christian, who scored the first touchdown in franchise history in the Hall of Fame Game, to be the key to everything the offense did. A year later, when Carolina picked up Howard Griffith, the Panthers probably had the best fullback in the game.

As the years went on, and Carolina played with the likes of William Floyd and Scott Greene and Mike Dulaney and Nate Turner, and those seasons were forgettable. That's no coincidence.

"We ask them to do a lot," King said. "There's pass-rush pick-up and run game, obviously. He has a lot of reads on his plate. Hoov's done a great job for a long time. You don't run for as many yards as we have unless you have a good fullback and an offensive line. They go hand in hand. We'll have to pick it up this week. It's a valuable spot."

John Fox wouldn't let on what he's thinking for this week's game, a game in which the Panthers are going to have to run the ball to win. But the head coach hinted that Carolina will do what it has to do.

"You don't re-tool the whole offense at this stage of the game," he said. "You just ask new people to take on new roles. So it would probably be more in that direction. Obviously, I'm not going into detail on who those people are, just for obvious reasons."

The choices are obvious, however. King has done it before, and Fox has a history of putting solid players such as Nick Goings in that position when necessary. Carolina could use King or running back Jonathan Stewart or one of a handful of other tight ends or little-used running backs. The problem is, Stewart missed practice Wednesday with a recurring Achilles' tendon injury, making him one of eight players listed on the injury list.

That list included quarterback Jake Delhomme, whose chest injury seems to be healing. That's the nature of the game, he said. Carolina will play this week no matter who's hurt and who's playing where.

"It's the NFL," Delhomme said. "No one's going to feel sorry for you."

It's a game for tough guys, and the Panthers' toughest guy might be out for a while. The players all mentioned Hoover on Wednesday, and several said the Thomasville native is still the most inspirational player they have. They'll miss his blocks at the point of attack, and they'll miss his sideline screaming while the defense is on the field.

For a moment last Sunday, they all looked on in disbelief as Hoover rolled back and forth on the ground in more pain than anyone had ever seen him in. The injuries have mounted this year, and for the first time since he arrived here out of Ledford High School and Western Carolina University as a rookie in 2000, Hoover looks to be slowing. All fullbacks do, and the Panthers know that only too well.

But they've not had one like Hoover before. And that's why they were shocked when the cart motored onto the field to carry away their most rugged football player. At least until he brushed aside the trainers and emergency workers and lumbered into the front seat and rode off the field looking straight ahead.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com