CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Panthers finally made a decision on Greg Hardy: the Pro Bowl defensive end will not play anymore games for Carolina until his domestic violence case is resolved. The team removed Hardy from its active roster Wednesday, ending three weeks of indecision regarding his playing status. He played Week 1, sat out Week 2 and there was uncertainty about this week. So the Panthers placed Hardy on the exempt-commissioners permission list just hours after the Vikings took a similar disciplinary approach with Adrian Peterson. The Minnesota running back is addressing child abuse charges in Texas. Hardy was convicted July 15 of assault on a female and communicating threats after the victim said the 6-foot-4, 275-pound player threw her in the bathtub and onto a sofa covered with guns before threatening to kill her. Hardy is appealing the ruling and a jury trial is set for Nov. 17. He will continue to be paid his weekly salary of $770,588.23. Hardy also is allowed to be at the team facility, but will not practice. Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman said it was a tough decision given the changing climate in the NFL. "Our overriding goal has always been to do the right thing," Gettleman said. The GM said he expects Hardy to be out at least through November. Hardy said he understands he needs to step away from football and take care of his legal problems. "I am entitled to due process and my day in court, and thats where my focus should be," Hardy said in a statement. "I appreciate the Panthers for giving me this opportunity and look forward to being back with my teammates. I am disappointed to leave my teammates and the Carolina Panthers during our season. My decision to take a leave of absence allows me to focus on my family until the legal process has run its course." Had Hardy not taken a the leave of absence with pay, he likely would have faced an unpaid suspension from the league. The NFL Players Association released a statement Wednesday saying, "Today, Greg Hardy made a decision to take a voluntary leave of absence to resolve his pending legal issue. The NFLPA and NFL worked with Greg, his representatives and the Carolina Panthers on this matter. We support this decision and hope the best for him and his family." Earlier Wednesday, with security around the stadium amped up, Hardy and his agent Drew Rosenhaus emerged from the teams facility, stepped into the players Bentley and drove away. Earlier, two police officers on motorcycles guarded the entrance to the teams practice facility. Panthers coach Ron Rivera was 20 minutes late arriving to Wednesdays practice and said that Hardy would not participate in workouts as he walked past reporters. The coach later said he had a 90-minute conversation with the defensive end to make sure Hardy was in a good place. "Gregs hurt, he really is," Rivera said. "Its a tough situation and he knows he put himself in it. He was apologetic." Rivera said he expects Hardy to take a few days away and return to the team "in due time." "Hes still a part of this football team," Rivera said. Hardy, who was tagged as the teams franchise player this off-season and signed a one-year, $13.1 million deal, is Carolinas top pass rusher. He tied a franchise record with 15 sacks last season and has 26 in in his last 32 games. Rivera activated Hardy for the season opener against Tampa Bay, but then abruptly deactivated him before Sundays game against Detroit -- a move Gettleman supported. "At that time we felt it was at the right thing to do," Gettleman said. "Its constantly changing. There is no rule book for this. Theres no magic list we can hit checkboxes that bring us to the right answer." Rivera said he informed the team at a meeting Wednesday afternoon. Veteran safety Roman Harper said Wednesday during open locker room that every team has to battle adversity at some point, but said losing Hardy will hurt. Harper said unbeaten Panthers will miss Hardys pass rush skills and energy. "You take a player of his calibre off the field and it is going to affect us," Harper said. "But at the end of the day you cant use that as an excuses or a crutch. You have to fly around and make plays as a defence. We understand what we will be missing, but at the end of the day we still have a job to do." Tight end Greg Olsen said the Panthers are doing their best to focus on the Steelers. "You learn very fast in this league that there are going to be a lot of outside factors," Olsen said. "You have to do the best you can not to let those things impact your preparations and really focus on what you can control. The most successful teams just worry about the here and now and what they can control." Rivera said he believes the team handled the situation in the best way possible. "The biggest thing we have to do is get this right," Rivera said. "In all honesty were worried about the wrong types of things. 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RHP Kenny Giles will be called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Adams spot on the roster.VANCOUVER – David Clarkson has picked up the tab on just two tickets in his return home to play for the Leafs this fall. Family and friends of the Toronto native have actually been more comfort than unnecessary distraction so far. In fact, its been the adjustment of playing with a new team after eight years in the New Jersey Devils organization that has proved most challenging for the 29-year-old to date. Inked to a massive seven-year deal worth $36.75 million this past summer, Clarkson is admittedly trying to figure out where he fits in the scheme of things for the Leafs, who lead the Eastern Conference at the outset of November. Employed in an offensive role in New Jersey, Clarkson has played a different part in the first four games of his Toronto tenure, after serving a 10-game suspension to start the season. The former Kitchener Ranger has joined Dave Bolland and Mason Raymond on a line charged with shutting down opposing top units; their efforts most notable in a victory over Sidney Crosby and the Penguins last week. Formerly a first unit power-play contributor with the Devils, Clarkson didnt see a single second of power-play time during a two-game swing through Alberta – both wins – stuck behind a skillful cast that features Phil Kessel, James van Riemsdyk, Joffrey Lupul, and Mason Raymond. A free agent signing of the Devils in the summer of 2005, Clarkson evolved from a scrappy checker who dropped the gloves on the regular into a physical, goal-scoring irritant who fought only sparingly. Though he buried 30 goals once previously, the Leafs didnt add him with offence atop the mind, the intangibles of his game seen as more valuable to a young team looking to build from its success in 2013. Speaking to the Leaf Report earlier this week Clarkson hinted at the role he imagined playing in Toronto and the one hes been entrusted to play thus far. Notching his first point as a Leaf in Calgary on Wednesday, he explained the challenges of his adjustment. What follows is an edited transcript of that conversation. LR: Bigger adjustment, on the ice or off the ice when youve been with an organization for so long? CLARKSON: Id have to say probably on the ice. I think Im used to linematees or a certain way of things or even a way you play or get played.dddddddddddd. But I think being home, off the ice isnt as much adjustment. I think its nice Im closer to home. You have family and friends around if you need anything. Id have to say for sure bigger [adjustment] on the ice. LR: If Im not mistaken you played with Patrik Elias a lot in New Jersey; what would be the adjustment in playing with a guy for so long and then coming to a new team and playing with a whole new set of teammates? CLARKSON: I think it takes time to get used to. Ive got to get used to the way things are here. Im never going to change the way I play [or] what made me successful. Im trying to find where that leash is that I have to get to. But Im starting to get used to the coaching staff a little bit and the way things are. I think as a pro youve got to learn who youre playing with and learn the role you have to play. Im just trying to figure that whole role out right now. LR: So is that expectations of what they want you to do in certain situations? CLARKSON: Unsure. I think from the Pitt game to [the Edmonton] game it seems like [Randy Carlyle] really wants us out there against the top line shutting them down. I did that earlier in my career, maybe my first couple years in the league, and my last three [years] its been a bit of a different role. I think if you can mesh the two together, find a way to do that, it would be obviously a perfect situation. But youve got to, as a teammate; if the teams winning thats all that matters. And youve got to find a way to fit and find a way they want to use you. Im still learning all that. Thats the big thing is Im trying to learn everything that they expect. LR: I feel like thats a role you would like though… CLARKSON: Yeah. If you can blend that with the role I was playing. I think you take pride anytime youre on the ice against another teams top line and you end the night where youve shut them down and won a game its an important thing; its a big part of winning. Its never been said to me thats what [Carlyle] wants me to do, but it seems like that. No matter role Im asked to play, I take it to heart, I take it personal and Im going to go out there and do my best to do whatevers asked of me. ' ' '