Kevin Norwood inactive in return to Seattle, still biding time in Carolina

Kevin Norwood played sparingly as a rookie last season while biding his time in Seattle’s wide receiver corps.

That wait continues for Norwood, who has only played in one of Carolina’s first four games and is inactive Sunday in his return to Seattle.

“We feel good about him. We really do,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said earlier this week on a conference call with Seattle-area reporters. “He’s got a lot to learn and right now he’s trying to work his way through a lot of things. He’s had a couple of good opportunities and he’s done some nice things. It’s just been a learning process for him right now but we’re pleased with him.”

The Seahawks drafted Norwood in the fourth round in 2014. He was injured for much of training camp, caught nine passes in nine games in the regular season and couldn’t always make the game-day roster even when he was healthy. Seattle was reportedly set to waive Norwood in late August during the first wave of roster cut downs before they reached a trade with the Panthers, sending him to Carolina for a conditional 2017 draft pick.

Rivera said Carolina had a fourth- or fifth-round grade on Norwood and considered drafting him before Seattle did so. Then came the opportunity to acquire him for next to nothing in August.

“We saw a lot of things that fit our system, our style, the things that we do,” Rivera said. “He had some pretty good tape from Seattle, so the opportunity to bring a guy in that we liked to begin with, we wanted to see if he could fit for us.”

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