Panthers’ wideout Steve Smith broke his arm while playing in a flag football game at his annual youth camp over the weekend. It was the same arm that he broke last season against the Giants.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Smith has already undergone surgery and will likely miss all of training camp, although he’s expected to be healthy by Week 1 of the regular season.

“Steve has talked to me and feels terrible about it,” says Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney. “Now his focus is on the rehabilitating process and getting back as quickly as he can.”

While the situation is certainly unfortunate, it’s hard to fault an athlete for injuring himself while doing something good for the community. It was a freak accident.

Someone that could benefit from Smith not being able to practice is promising rookie Armanti Edwards, who was taken in the third round of April’s draft. The former Appalachian State quarterback has impressed Carolina’s coaching staff in OTAs this offseason and could earn more playing time in the Panthers’ offense if he continues to turn heads in training camp and during the preseason.

Update: Check that, the Charlotte Observer is now reporting that Smith was actually playing flag football in an adult league – not at a youth camp. Rut-oh.

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The Carolina Panthers’ official website is reporting that receiver Muhsin Muhammad has announced his retirement. He’ll finish his career as the Panthers’ all-time leader in receptions with 696 and receiving yards at 9,255.

“Coaching Muhsin has been a pleasure,” said head coach John Fox. “He is the ultimate competitor, and you always knew he would give you everything he had. We shared some great moments, and his contributions were invaluable to the success we enjoyed. His receiving numbers reflect what kind of receiver he was, but he was also one of the best blocking wide outs to ever play in the NFL.”

“The first word that come comes to mind when you think about Muhsin is toughness,” said general manager Marty Hurney. “His competitiveness was contagious in our locker room. He was a dependable playmaker and a leader who brought very much to our team.”

I always felt that Muhammad was one of those players that never got his full due. He was a crafty receiver that always found ways to get past an opponent’s secondary, even during his final years when he had lost a step. He was the perfect complement to Steve Smith throughout the years (minus the three seasons Muhammad spent in Chicago obviously), and vice versa.

In other Carolina-related news, linebacker Thomas Davis is likely done for the year after he re-tore his right ACL during a recent OTA session. He tore the same ACL last November, but had been recovering ahead of schedule and was even recently timed at 4.47 in the forty-yard dash, which is excellent for a linebacker.

With Davis likely headed for IR, Jon Beason could slide over to the weak-side position with James Anderson starting on the strong-side. Panthers’ defensive coordinator Ron Meeks likes the action to flow towards the weak-side ‘backer, so Beason will get a ton of work this season. Either way, losing Davis was a huge blow to Carolina’s defense.

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Last week, ProFootballTalk.com reported that Panthers’ rookie Jimmy Clausen had already “pissed off multiple receivers” during a recent mini-camp and also claimed that Steve Smith “basically thinks Jimmy is a punk.”

Today, Charlotte Observer writer Charles Chandler denied the rumors cooked up by the hit-or-miss PFT.com.

Earlier today, Smith strongly denied having a problem with Clausen.

There was also a mention in the aforementiond item that Carolina tight ends were upset at Clausen for yelling at them. The most vivid memories I have of Clausen from minicamp were two passes he threw in red zone drills through traffic for touchdowns to tight ends Jeff King and Gary Barnidge. Both of those guys looked extremely happy. King even spiked the ball through his legs in a much more expressive gesture than he normally does.

A lot of people love PFT.com because of its rumor mill section. But the problem that I have always had with the site is that it rarely, if ever, cites its sources. So you don’t know whether or not the rumor is coming from a general manager, the team janitor or Mike Florio’s neighbor.

PFT.com is standing by its story, but I’m more apt to believe Chandler, who covers the Panthers for a respectable news outlet and who was actually in attendance during the mini-camp. Plus, as Chandler notes in his report, Smith isn’t the type to hide his feelings. He’s a fiery guy who wears his emotions on his sleeve, so if he did have a problem with Clausen, the whole world would probably know about it by now.

As usual when it comes to a rumor by PFT.com, this story is probably much ado about nothing.

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