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Jyles Tucker leaves camp, is released by Panthers

Carolina Panthers v San Diego Chargers

SAN DIEGO - SEPTEMBER 07: Linebacker Jyles Tucker #94 of the San Diego Chargers rushes against the Carolina Panthers on September 7, 2008 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, California. The Panthers won 26-24. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Stephen Dunn

When Ron Rivera came to Carolina, he brought a lot of his old San Diego friends with him.

One of them’s gone today, however, as pass-rusher Jyles Tucker has left camp and has been released.

“It was something he had to. So we’ll leave it at that and go from there,” Rivera told reporters, via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. “It was strictly a personal instance. There’s nothing bad, nothing like that.”

The 28-year-old Tucker was working on a comeback, and the Panthers thought he might be a useful piece. As they tinker with mixing in 3-4 elements to try to gin up a little pass-rush, they’ve brought in players such as Tucker and Antwan Applewhite to fill in.

Tucker had 5.5 sacks in San Diego in 2008, Rivera’s first year there. But injuries slowed his progress then, and he was far from a lock to make the Panthers’ 53-man roster.

UPDATE: 1:20 p.m. ET: Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney told the Associated Press Tucker wanted to leave camp to get his weight up. He came to camp under 230 pounds, is listed at 255, and wanted to step away to focus on gaining more weight. Hurney did not rule out bringing Tucker back when he’s bigger.