Carolina Panthers' Greg Hardy, Frank Kearse hit with illness

[Lake Louise]

The Carolina Panthers have been preparing to face the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but one thing the team wasn't ready for was illness.

Defensive end Greg Hardy had been listed as probable for Sunday's matchup, however, he's been downgraded to questionable because of an illness, the Panthers told NFL Network's Stacey Dales on Saturday.

Backup defensive tackle Frank Kearse was also added to the team's injury report as questionable for the same reason.

Hardy collected seven tackles in the Panthers' 16-10 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week. Kearse had two tackles.

Hopefully it's nothing too serious. Never want to see players get injured, or sick. Seems that illness happens a lot during the year. It's how things go sometimes. We'll see how things go before the game starts. The plus side is they aren't out with an injury, so it's possible they could play if they feel better tomorrow. Although, you don't want them to try and risk it in case they are still sick, they could potentially spread it around the locker room.