Panthers optimistic Luke Kuechly will return Week 6

The Carolina Panthers are optimistic that All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly will be available for their Week 6 game against the Seattle Seahawks.

Kuechly suffered a concussion during the Panthers' opening game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 13.

"Luke is still in the protocol, but hopefully in the next couple of days they'll be able to get that thing taken care of," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said Monday, according to the team's official website. "We're pretty optimistic."

Carolina is on its bye week, and is off to an unbeaten 4-0 start.

"Everything that he had to do, he did, but when he met with the independent, the independent didn't feel comfortable with it," Rivera said. "That's my understanding of what happened."