news-record.com

CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Andre Neblett has been growing a beard for four months.

It's dark, thick and a little unruly. And, until Wednesday, nobody other than his teammates and coaches noticed it.

But Neblett and fellow defensive tackle Frank Kearse figure to draw a lot more attention the next four weeks after replacing rookies Sione Fua and Terrell McClain, who were both placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

The Panthers leaned on Fua and McClain, a pair of third-round picks, on the defensive interior for the first 12 games. Now they're turning to two unheralded players who have each spent several Sundays on the inactive list this season.

The Panthers have had success plugging young, unproven players, like defensive end Thomas Keiser, into holes on their defense and special teams the second half of the season. Coach Ron Rivera hopes Neblett and Kearse will continue the trend.

Rivera has been pleased with how Neblett has played off the bench since the Panthers waived veteran Ron Fields last month and increased Neblett's reps. The team also was encouraged by the play of Kearse, who had two solo tackles against the Buccaneers after he was inactive for eight of his first nine games with the Panthers.

Neblett was asked more questions about his beard Wednesday than he was about the Falcons. He said the grown-out style is popular in Philadelphia, where he went to college.

But he still has a ways to go to catch up with Pittsburgh defensive end Brett Keisel, whose beard has its owns Facebook page, with over 34,000 fans, and was a hot topic at the Super Bowl in February.

"I saw his beard," Neblett said. "He's got a pretty good beard over there."