CHARLOTTE Austin Carr Jersey Salute to Service , N.C. (AP) — Taylor Heinicke’s stint as the Panthers starting quarterback was a brief one.Carolina placed Heinicke on injured reserve Wednesday after he sustained a left elbow injury in his first career NFL start, a 24-10 loss to the Falcons on Sunday. Coach Ron Rivera said undrafted rookie Kyle Allen will start against the Saints this weekend with Carolina already eliminated from playoff contention.Carolina signed Garrett Gilbert, who was with the team in training camp, on Wednesday to be Allen’s backup.The Panthers don’t want to activate Cam Newton for the season finale. Newton, who is struggling with a shoulder injury, sat out the Falcons game.Allen relieved Heinicke for a few plays during the second quarter against the Falcons and completed all four pass attempts before Heinicke returned to the game.“I thought he did a nice job,” Rivera said of Allen’s brief stint at QB. “His decision-making was good and he threw some nice balls and took pretty good control.”Saints coach Sean Payton called Allen a “smart” quarterback.“He locates the ball well,” Payton said. “Quickly, we’re going to have to watch as much tape on him as possible.”Rivera joked that Allen will need to learn that he doesn’t have to walk toward to the bench to get the play calls anymore, since the NFL uses headsets.“It will be something he has to learn and get used to,” Rivera said.Heinicke injured his elbow on a hit by Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jackson in the second quarter that drew a flag for unnecessary roughness. He was taken to the locker room, but returned with a brace on his left elbow and finished the game completing 33 of 53 passes for 274 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions while taking a physical beating from the Falcons pass rush.Heinicke had an MRI on the elbow on Monday and the team decided to shut him down for the season. Heinicke wouldn’t discuss specifics of the injury except to say the results “didn’t look good.”However, he said he won’t need surgery.“Yeah, it’s a bummer,” Heinicke said. “But at the same time I got to finish the game. I’m just happy I got to finish the game and I appreciate that.”This week’s game against the Saints appeared to be an important one at the midway point of the NFL season after New Orleans got off to a 7-1 start and Carolina began 6-2.But the two teams have gone in opposite directions.The Saints have already clinched home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs Benjamin Watson Jersey , while the Panthers have lost seven straight and were eliminated from contention after last week’s loss to the Falcons.With New Orleans (13-2) having nothing left to gain in the regular season there is a good chance that Teddy Bridgewater will see extensive playing time at quarterback, but Payton has not declared his plans on how much he intends to play Drew Brees and the rest of the team’s starters.NOTES: Panthers 33-year-old tight end Greg Olsen said his second surgery in two years on his foot went well and he still feels like he can play at a high level if the team wants him back next season. Olsen, who went on injured reserve Dec. 5, said “I still enjoy playing and I still know I can play.” A day after deciding to move on from troubled receiver Josh Gordon, the Cleveland Browns now have cause to consider cutting loose their kicker, too.The Browns were kicking themselves after yet another missed opportunity Sunday, losing 21-18 to the Saints in no small part because Zane Gonzalez missed two field goals and two extra points.All four errant kicks came in the second half — two in the final 76 seconds — as the Browns blew a 12-3 fourth quarter lead and have lost 18 of their last 19 games.Gonzalez hooked an extra point wide left with 1:16 remaining after Antonio Callaway's spectacular 47-yard touchdown reception on a fourth-down pass tied the score at 18. He then pushed a 52-yard field goal well right of the uprights with 3 seconds remaining after the Saints went back ahead on Wil Lutz's 44-yard field goal 18 seconds earlier."It was on me a hundred percent," Gonzalez said. "I can't blame it on anybody else. We were so close to that win and it's been so long, and I just let everybody down."Cleveland (0-1-1), which has not won since Dec. 24, 2016, has the lone non-loss a tie last week against Pittsburgh. In that one, Gonzalez had a 43-yard field goal blocked in the final seconds of overtime.This one was worse. Callaway's dramatic touchdown, when he chased down a heave from Tyrod Taylor in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-6, electrified the Browns' sideline.Gonzalez took away that energy immediately."I was like Eli Apple Jersey , all right, let's put this extra point through," guard Joel Bitonio said. "But we missed it."Gonzalez's final attempt, the 52-yard field goal after Taylor completed two passes for 41 yards in 18 seconds, was not close."I'm not going to lie about it," Gonzalez said. "It snowballed. I was pulling them, and the last one I pushed it because I was overcompensating. I get paid to make those kicks, and I have to make them."Browns coach Hue Jackson was noncommittal whether he would look for a new kicker."I don't know that," he said. "We will address all of that once we get in (the office) tomorrow."The Browns already know they will be without Gordon after announcing Saturday they intend to cut ties with the former Pro Bowl receiver. He missed the Saints game with a mysterious hamstring injury after practicing all week, and has played in only 11 games since the start of 2014 due to multiple suspensions under the league's substance abuse policy. He was listed as inactive Sunday, leaving open the possibility he could be traded rather than released.Jackson did not go into detail publicly about why the club decided to move on a day before playing in New Orleans, but said it was discussed with the team."I've always been honest and up front with our guys about what we're doing as an organization," Jackson said. "I told them that last night and nobody flinched. They understood it. Again, we wish Josh well on his journey. We all love and respect Josh, but we had to do what we felt we had to do as an organization."Jackson agreed that such a decision about a player with Gordon's talent could erode some teams' morale Authentic Kurt Coleman Jersey , "if you're not strong enough.""I just think we have strong enough leaders," Jackson added.Callaway, a rookie out of Florida, replaced Gordon's big-play role with his touchdown.Meanwhile, the Browns refused to place all the blame for their latest disappointment on Gonzalez, citing other critical mistakes.An illegal contact penalty on safety Derrick Kindred nullified a third-down sack by defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi in the fourth quarter. Drew Brees capitalized with a touchdown pass that closed Cleveland's lead to 12-10.With 4:51 left, Saints safety Marcus Williams intercepted Taylor's pass at the Cleveland 40 and returned it to the 18, setting up a go-ahead touchdown."You can't put your team in that situation," Taylor said.Not on a day when the kicker could not kick straight.Gonzalez, a seventh-round draft pick out of Arizona State in 2017 — he was the FBS all-time career leader in field goals made (96) and points by a kicker (494) when he left school — missed his first extra point after the Browns went up 12-3 in the third quarter. He was wide left on a 44-yard field goal that would have given them a 15-3 early in the fourth quarter, sending him into a funk that affected his final two attempts."I was cursing myself out in my head," he said. "I'm really upset about it." Custom New England Patriots Jerseys