Eric Reid last saw game action of any kind on New Year's Eve, but the Panthers won't ease their new safety back into action.
Coach Ron Rivera said Reid will start Sunday against the Giants despite sitting out the NFL offseason, preseason and first quarter of the regular season as he waited in vain for a contract.
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Carolina signed him last Thursday ahead of its bye week, giving the 26-year-old only a handful of practices to get up to speed. He has been practicing with the starting defense, so the move isn't necessarily a surprise, but Rivera said he'll deploy his new acquisition with caution.
"We're going to keep an eye on him," Rivera said, via the team's website. "We'll see how he does the first couple series, try and gauge that and go from there. We really don't want to overuse him. We want to be smart about it — we want this for the long haul."
A Pro Bowl selection as a rookie in 2013, Reid started most of the last five seasons with the 49ers before becoming a free agent last offseason. As months went by with no interest from teams, he filed a grievance against the NFL, saying owners were colluding to keep him unemployed because he had joined teammate Colin Kaepernick in protesting racial injustice by taking a knee during the national anthem.
The Panthers host the Giants on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
