Christian McCaffrey has one speed — full speed

McCaffrey’s talent has been historically utilized at a high clip across Carolina’s offense, and Rhule said that isn’t going to change because he’s coming off two injury-marred seasons.

Rhule said the Panthers are proud of their roster development, returning Chuba Hubbard and adding D’Onta Foreman, who performed well last season with the Titans in place of an injured Derrick Henry. And having a big back like Foreman gives them a chance to organically take some of the load off McCaffrey, since Foreman’s a legitimate short-yardage option.

But even though he likes the pieces behind McCaffrey, Rhule said the Panthers wouldn’t be playing him less because of them.

“Hopefully, some of the load can be dispersed because we want it to be dispersed, but we’re going to play Christian because we think he can impact the game,” Rhule said. “If he gets banged up at some point, we’re just going to work on getting him back. We’re not going to spend too much time worried about ‘Hey, let’s not get him hurt.’ To me, that’s equivalent to him not being on the field.”