Xavier

Woods

Safety Xavier Woods (hamstring) was listed as questionable and upgraded to a full partipant on Friday, suggesting he will play. Bell went down with his quad injury in Week 6 and will need more than a bye week to get back on the field. He was a DNP in practice all week, meaning any limited practices next week would be an upgrade.

The Panthers’ other starting safety, Xavier Woods (hamstring), was able to get in a limited practice. Bell missed Week 6 and the fact that he’s not out on the field after the Panthers’ bye is not a good sign for his status on Sunday. If he were to miss time, it would be an upgrade for the Texans passing attack.

Woods has been Carolina’s starting safety, but could miss up to 4-6 weeks. The Panthers’ secondary is already missing Jaycee Horn, and now Woods’ absence will thin the unit even more.

Woods signed a three-year, $15.75 million contract with the Panthers last offseason after spending one season with the Vikings. The former sixth-round pick started 15 games for the Panthers last season, totaling 86 tackles while earning a PFF coverage grade of 64.0. The restructuring of Woods’ contract frees up $1.592 million in cap space for the Panthers.

A sixth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2017, Woods took a one-year deal with the Vikings last offseason and played the sixth-most safety snaps in football this past year. He received strong marks for his run defense from Pro Football Focus and will slide in next to Jeremy Chinn at safety for the Panthers with Juston Burris and Sean Chandler free agents.

Woods’ deal includes $1.75 million guaranteed. Minnesota has made a concerted effort to bolster its putrid coverage unit, which in 2020 gave up the seventh most passing yards per game and the tenth highest completion rate to opposing passers. Only Detroit and Jacksonville allowed more yards per catch than the Vikings in 2020. They’ll have Patrick Peterson and Cam Dantzler as perimeter corners, with Jeff Gladney covering slot receivers. Now Woods profiles as the team’s safety a season after allowing 18 receptions on 24 targets in coverage.

Woods recorded a forced fumble on a Daniel Jones scamper and also picked the rookie passer off Monday night in the Cowboys’ 19-point win. The third-year pro is Pro Football Focus’ No. 11 cover safety out of 88 qualifiers this season.

Woods was injured on the final series against Washington. It’s a huge blow for Dallas’ secondary as the 24-year-old safety was arguably the one player in their secondary the team couldn’t afford to lose. Darian Thompson, who primarily played special teams last season, is expected to move into Woods’ role with rookie Donovan Wilson backing him up.

Dallas’ defense has played well the first two weeks even with Woods sidelined by a hamstring injury, but getting him back would be a boost. Jones also expects DE Randy Gregory (concussion) to return this week.

Woods (5’11/197) was a four-year starter in the Bulldogs’ secondary, tallying 14 career interceptions and earning first-team All-Conference USA twice. Woods generated buzz at January’s East-West Shrine game, then showed above-par athleticism at the Combine with 51st-percentile SPARQ results, passable 4.54 speed, and an especially impressive 6.72 three-cone time. Woods is on the smaller side for an NFL safety and needs to improve his tackling efficiency, but he possesses big-league movement skills and field-flipping playmaking ability. He’s a sleeper to severely outperform his draft slot.