The task of beating the Arizona Cardinals got a little bit tougher for the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship with the most recent injury news. Panthers defensive end Jared Allen was ruled out by head coach Ron Rivera on Friday, and Allen apparently isn't too pleased with the decision.
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"Not happy, plain and simple," Allen said Friday via ESPN. "I am ready to rock. It's a coach's decision. Got to live with it."
Allen suffered a fractured foot in Carolina's 31-24 win over Seattle in last Saturday's NFC Divisional game in Charlotte. Allen claimed that he was able to play with the foot due to no risk being present to injure it further, but ultimately it is Rivera's call, who ruled him out. Rivera says after watching Allen not being able to practice in the snowy conditions on Friday, he made the decision.
"The thing I have to look at is the realism of it, the type of injury it is," Rivera said. "There's a tremendous amount of desire. Let's be honest. That's who the young man is. He's such a competitor, such a warrior.
"I didn't do this lightly. I really thought about it from the time I found out about the injury after the game until the last couple of days and tried to weigh all the information."
Jared Allen is the NFL's active career sack leader with 136. The next game Allen could potentially play in would be Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7 if the Panthers can get a win over Arizona on Sunday.
