Veteran safety Jairus Byrd, the newest member of the Panthers, might turn out to be a dud.
Byrd’s balky knee might flare up again, or it could just be that Byrd will be a step too slow to keep up with Detroit’s Golden Tate this weekend and the other wideouts he’ll face over the next few weeks filling in for the injured Kurt Coleman.
Or Byrd may rediscover the ball-hawking skills that landed him the NFL’s richest free agent contract a few years ago and he’ll invigorate a defense that has been Peanut punch-less the last few weeks in terms of takeaways.