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— Linebacker Thomas Davis wants to play for the Panthers beyond this season — if the team will have him back.

The 35-year-old Davis Alex DeBrincat Jersey , who is entering his 14th season with Carolina, will be an unrestricted free after this season.

“If the team is willing to have me back, I will be back,” Davis said Monday following training camp practice at Wofford College.

Davis, the Panthers’ all-time leading tackler, will begin the season serving a four-game NFL-imposed suspension after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance — a blemish on an otherwise stellar NFL career that has included returning from three torn ACLs in the same knee to earn All-Pro in 2015, three Pro Bowls selections (2015-17) and the Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

He doesn’t want to end his career serving a suspension during his final season.

“I just look at the way things transpired this offseason and I think back to my legacy and the things I have been able to do as a football player and I don’t want to leave on a sour note,” Davis said. “You never want to walk away from the game knowing you served a four-game suspension. That is really my mindset right now. So as long as I am able to continue to play football I will do that.”

With Davis sitting out the first four games, Shaq Thompson will fill Davis’ spot at weak side linebacker and David Mayo is expected to start at strong side linebacker. It’s unclear at this point if Davis would be in the starting lineup when he returns.

Davis is allowed to participate in all practices and preseason games, but must step away from the team altogether on Sept. 3. He plans to spend that time staying in shape and watching his sons play youth football.

He also has “a couple of offers” to do some other things during the first four weeks of the season, but would not elaborate on whether those opportunities television-related.

Davis has been a productive player for the Panthers despite suffering the three knee injuries in consecutive seasons — 2009, 2010 and 2011 — which limited him to nine games and threatened to end his career.

But he persevered and followed that up with five straight 100-tackle seasons and three Pro Bowls.

However Jean-Gabriel Pageau Jersey , his numbers dropped off last year. Davis registered 76 tackles, 2 ½ sacks and no interceptions as Thompson took on a bigger role in the defense.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera did not address Davis’ future beyond this season, saying only “Thomas has been a great player for us. And I look forward to Thomas playing for us.”

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney was not immediately available for comment.

With his future beyond this season up in the air, Davis said he is enjoying every moment of training camp despite the sweltering heat.

“I come out and embrace it every day, talking trash at a high level every day to Cam (Newton) daily and just coming out and competing and having fun with my teammates,” Davis said.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Fred Warner isn’t being given time to ease into his NFL career.

The rookie for the San Francisco 49ers is slated to start in his debut on Sunday in Minnesota at a relatively new position of middle linebacker with all the responsibilities that come with calling the defensive signals.

“I’m very excited, being this will be my first start,” Warner said. “I’m just trying to make sure I’m as prepared as possible heading into that game on Sunday. I’m just going to do what I do, which is ball out and make plays and be the leader out there as the Mike.”

The Niners drafted Warner in the third round out of BYU in part because of his ability to guard tight ends, running backs and even slot receivers in the passing game as an outside linebacker.

But Warner has spent most of his time on the inside for the 49ers and is filling the void created by the two-game suspension that has sidelined Reuben Foster.

Now instead of being counted on to show off his coverage skills in space, Warner will need to take on much bigger offensive linemen in the run game for San Francisco.

“I feel like it’s kind of my natural position Authentic Customized Giants Jerseys , you could say,” Warner said. “Obviously, I didn’t do a lot of that in college. But just being out there, I feel like if I wasn’t as natural, I probably wouldn’t be doing as well as I am — and being in the position I’m in.”

Playing middle linebacker comes with lots of responsibility as Warner will be the man relaying the defensive calls from coordinator Robert Saleh to the rest of the defense.

It’s a task he welcomes and that his coaches feel he is more than prepared to handle.

“He was one of, if not the smartest interviews I’ve ever had personally at the combine for a linebacker,” Saleh said. “He’s picked it up well. He’s got great command of it. He’s got a long way to go. I don’t want to crown him quite yet, but he’s a rookie, he’s going to have his peaks and valleys, but we have great confidence in him.”

Warner said he never doubted he was physical enough to play in the box and said most of the critics who said he couldn’t just hadn’t seen him do it. Saleh credited San Francisco’s scouts for finding plays from Senior Bowl week and other games that showed that Warner was willing to take on the contact that he will have to deal with in the middle of the NFL defense.

Saleh said that showed up again in the preseason and he has no questions about Warner’s physicality and ability to tackle.

The bigger challenge this week might come in dealing with Minnesota’s offense that relies heavily on run-pass options that make life difficult on linebackers and has star running back Dalvin Cook healthy again after last year’s season-ending knee injury.

Warner said he has studied film of Cook from last year and Eagles games from last year to try to get a sense of what kind of offense new coordinator John DeFilippo runs. He particularly watched how Philadelphia played against Atlanta and the Chargers last season since those teams run a similar defensive scheme to San Francisco’s.

Dealing with the RPOs that the Niners are anticipating will be key to their success.

“It puts stress on the defense as a whole if you’re not prepared for it,” Warner said. “So that’s why we’re kind of making some adjustments to make sure we’re not getting hit in certain areas where we’re not protected.”

NOTES: LB Malcolm Smith (hamstring) is doubtful. … LB Dekoda Watson injured his hamstring in practice and will miss the game. … T Erik Magnuson (hamstring) is also out Sunday.