Loss of Kuechly tough for whole Panthers roster

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly was carted off the field late in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's 23-20 win over the New Orleans Saints, and was then evaluated for a concussion.

“That was a tough moment for the entire stadium,” Panthers tight end Greg Olsen said. "It’s tough. You could see it on his face that he was pretty visibly upset,” Olsen said. “It’s hard. It’s one of your buddies, one of your guys pretty shaken up. It’s tough. You just hope he’s OK. That’s really all we can do. The doctors will do what they feel is best.”

The Panthers have said that Kuechly entered the league's concussion protocol after taking what appeared to be a helmet-to-helmet hit on a tackle of Saints running back Tim Hightower.

“He was just telling us to keep fighting,” Panthers safety Kurt Coleman said before taking a long pause. “And that’s Luke. Luke is a fighter, and we fight for each other. We’re going to continue to fight for him.”

In the game, Kuechly recorded 14 tackles, a season-high for him, with eight solo and six assisted. He has 102 tackles on the season with one interception that came in Week2.