Minter, Rucker welcome bye

 

	Mike Minter and Mike Rucker are all smiles heading into the weekend. (AP Photo)

They share one more thing in common. Both men are looking forward to this weekend, which started Friday for the players.

"I'll spend time with the family," said Minter, the Panthers all-time leader in tackles. "Both of my sons have championship games this weekend in football. I'll get to see them play. I'm looking forward to being there and cheering them on."

For Rucker, football isn't on the agenda. Not even the little league variety.

"I'm just going to sit back and relax," said the Panthers all-time sack leader. "Just get away a little bit and not really think about X's and O's for a couple of days. You don't want to get too far away from it, but you do want to relax for two or three days."

The bye week comes at a great time for the Panthers. With several players banged up, the extra week to heal is a godsend. And with the team working on a three-game winning streak, the mood at Bank of America Stadium is noticeably brighter than it was after the team's 1-2 start.

	Minter celebrates a close victory over the Detroit Lions. (AP Photo)

"We're 4-2, and that's what you go by," said Minter. "We have a ways to go to get to where we want to be, but we've won three games in a row and we're excited about that. We just need to keep it going. Get better at the things we've been struggling with, come back and keep it going."

"The last two years (our bye) has been the second week of the year," said Rucker. "That doesn't really help you out when it's two weeks into the season. At six weeks, it's much closer to the halfway point in the season, which is good."

The Panthers know they have their work cut out for them over the final 10 games. Five of those contests are division games. Two against Tampa Bay, two with Atlanta, and a rematch with New Orleans, a team responsible for one of Carolina's two losses.

"Our toughest games are definitely ahead of us," said Minter. "This is one of the toughest divisions in football. We just have to continue to do what we do and pile up as many wins as we can and at the end of the season, see where we are."

	Mike Rucker pressures Green Bay's Brett Favre during another tight victory for Carolina. (AP Photo)

The first game will be against a struggling Minnesota team at Bank of America Stadium on October 30. Rucker says the one thing the Panthers have learned during the first six games is that you can't take pity on anyone in the NFL.

"You can't take them lightly because we've been up and down," said Rucker. "We know what kind of ball we're capable of playing and I think they know what kind of ball they're capable of playing. What you don't want to do is give them any momentum. You want to start fast and finish fast."

That was the story of the Panthers 2003 season, when they went to Super Bowl XXXVIII. They won their first five games and their last three games that season, losing five of eight in between. This team can't afford to struggle through the heart of its season with so many teams in contention for the playoffs in the NFC this year.

The consistency that has eluded the Panthers this season won't be found on Sundays, according to Minter.

"It's about going out and doing it right in practice," he said. "You have to be consistent in practice. That's what the NFL is all about. Again, we're sitting at a good position at 4-2 during our bye week, where we can get some guys healthy. But we're not content with the way we've been playing. That's the biggest thing. We know we have to get better."