FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. -- Atlanta Falcons starting middle linebacker Paul Worrilow, who had his left knee drained following the team's previous game against Carolina, plans to play against the Panthers Sunday despite experiencing some swelling.
Worrilow was limited in practice for the second straight day Thursday.
"I feel pretty good," Worrilow said. "I'm getting better every day. And I expect, by Sunday, to be feeling really good with no issues."
Worrilow suffered the injury at Carolina's Bank of America Stadium in Week 14. He missed last week's game against the Jaguars.
"Just a bunch of swelling; no ligament damage or anything," Worrilow said. "It's just a weird case, man, with the swelling just coming and coming. It just limited me where I wasn't able to move around and capable enough to go out there and perform and help the team."
Worrilow firmly believes he'll be able to perform this Sunday. If not, Nate Stupar would start for the second consecutive week.
"No doubt, and that was my mindset last week," Worrilow said about playing. "I always expect to play. It's just a matter of getting my body ready. I anticipate playing this Sunday as well, at a high level. This shouldn't inhibit me at all, so I should be ready to go."
Worrilow leads the Falcons with 86 tackles. The defense as a whole is catching a break with Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart ruled out with a foot injury. Rookie Cameron Artis-Payne, Fozzy Whittaker, and fullback Mike Tolbert will run the ball for Carolina.
"It doesn't matter who's back there, in our minds," Worrilow said. "We want to shut the run down. (Stewart) had some success against us a couple weeks ago. With him being out, we're getting ready for the next guy and holding him in just as high regard.
"(Artis-Payne and Whittaker) are obviously smaller than Stewart is, but they still pose that threat. When they get that seam, they can hit it. And they can hurt you, especially in their scheme."
The Falcons, ranked first in the league against the run after Week 11 (87.4 rushing yards per game), are now 14th, surrendering 103.2 rushing yards per game.
Besides Worrilow, right guard Chris Chester (shoulder), wide receiver/return specialist Devin Hester (toe), defensive tackle Grady Jarrett (shoulder) and nose tackle Paul Soliai (calf) were all limited Thursday, while left tackle Jake Matthews (back) was upgraded to full participation. Running back Tevin Coleman missed practice while going through the concussion protocol after slipping and hitting his head in the shower.