With the Carolina Panthers on their Bye Week during Week Four, most of the team got the opportunity to enjoy a precious day off and get away from football. Head coach Ron Rivera was among those who got away from football, serving as the grand marshal for Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. But alas, as Rivera spent time with the media prior to the start of the race, he found himself answering football questions. And he subsequently had good news concerning his team.

According to the Charlotte Observer, Rivera stated during his media availability in the speedway media center that the Panthers will have two of their injured wide receivers back for practice after the Bye Week: Rivera said for certain that Damiere Byrd would be back after missing two games with a knee injury, and also said that Curtis Samuel "should" return to the field after missing the first three games following a procedure on his heart.

"I think the Bye came at a good time for us. With a bunch of the guys banged up, we're gonna get a few other guys back on the practice field next week," said Rivera. "I know for one thing is we'll get Damiere Byrd back, then we should get Curtis Samuel back on the football field. Both guys that can help us. And I know that it gives Greg Olsen an opportunity to get another week healthier. Just looking forward to getting more and more guys back onto the field that have been nicked up."

Rivera also acknowledged that he admittedly gets nervous during Bye Weeks, given that he can't necessarily control what his players are doing with their free time. Nonetheless, he expressed confidence that he and his coaching staff have done their part to make sure everyone keeps their head on straight.

"You always get a little nervous, but hopefully we've done enough to make sure our guys understand that it's about behaving and keeping yourself out of trouble," said Rivera. "Because we've got so much football left to play."

Given the fact that the Panthers only had four of their six wide receivers at their disposal in Weeks Two and Three, the return of Samuel or Byrd would be extremely good news - let alone both of them. Samuel's return would be particularly welcome, given that he had a dominant preseason where he caught 10 passes for 180 yards. Both receivers can also serve on special teams, which would potentially give the Panthers more opportunities to use rookie D.J. Moore on offense.

News of Samuel's prospective return follows a post that he had made on his Instagram account last week, where he seemed to imply with a "Tick Tock" message that he could return to action sooner rather than later.