CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Chris Terry missed practice Wednesday, and coach John Fox initially had no idea of the right tackle's whereabouts.

	Terry

Fox said after practice that Terry's absence could be "miscommunication, but we're still gathering information.''

Later, team spokesman Charlie Dayton said the team had been in contact with Terry.

"He was out of town on a legal matter and thought the team had been informed,'' Dayton said.

Terry has a court hearing scheduled for next week on charges of assaulting his wife during an altercation at their home in July.

He has denied hitting his wife, but a protective order keeps him away from their home, school and day-care centers attended by their children. It also prohibits Terry from possessing or buying a handgun.

Nyquell Jackson-Terry has accused her husband of breaking down a bedroom door while armed with a handgun and pushing her into a wall at their south Charlotte home.

According to court papers filed by his estranged wife, Terry has been tested for drugs more than a dozen times by the NFL in recent months.

Jackson-Terry's lawyer, Tamela Wallace, said in the court papers that the drug program agent disclosed during a deposition that Terry had been tested for "substances of abuse'' 13 times from mid-June to early September.

Terry has filed court papers saying he and his wife no longer live together and that he doesn't intend to reconcile. He is seeking joint custody of their two children.

Terry, a second-round pick out of Georgia in 1999, has started all but one game in his three seasons with the Panthers.