Anthony Rizzuti, Panthers WireTue, November 25, 2025 at 9:59 PM UTC·1 min readCarolina Panthers running back Rico Dowdle, just like the rest of us, may be woozy from Monday night's head-scratching performance.
That outing, which ended in a disappointing 20-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, saw Dowdle get dialed up for just six carries. The sixth-year veteran entered Week 12 as the NFL's fourth-leading rusher, at 833 yards, yet was rarely called upon out of the backfield in what was Carolina's biggest game of the campaign.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSo, yeah, that might've caused a bit of confusion for Dowdle—who posted this on Tuesday morning . . .
Head coach and offensive play-caller Dave Canales, during his weekly wrap-up press conference later on in the day, was asked if he's spoken to Dowdle about his underwhelming role . . . and his emoji.
"I have not," Canales simply replied.
Canales did, however, take the blame for the curious approach.
"Gotta make sure that we come away with the run game going," he stated earlier in his media availability. "That's something that we believe in. We have two great backs—Rico, Chuba [Hubbard] looked awesome, the offensive line blocked really well, the combos were going. And wasn't able to get the run game going."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementDowdle and Hubbard rushed for a combined 54 yards on only nine carries—good enough for an average of 6.0 yards per attempt.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers HC Dave Canales is asked about RB Rico Dowdle's curious post after loss to 49ers
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