Panthers DT Damione Lewis‘ decision to fight through a rotator cuff injury in the playoffs likely will keep him off the practice field until summer, he told CarolinaGrowl.com. Here’s an excerpt from the report:

Lewis, an eight-year NFL veteran who turns 31 in March, said he’s been told by doctors that the surgery will take several months to recover from and said he expects to miss all of the team’s minicamp in May as well as the three weeks of “summer school” or OTAs in June.

“It’s just a matter of giving it time to recover,” he said.

Lewis hurt the shoulder during a Dec. 21 loss to the New York Giants and sat out until the Panthers’ Jan. 10 divisional-round playoff game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals won 33-13 and eventually advanced to Super Bowl XLIII.

Lewis had 43 tackles and 3.5 sacks in his first season as a starter.

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