Carolina Panthers rule out Deshawn Williams, Hayden Hurst for Saints game

The Carolina Panthers ruled out defensive lineman DeShawn Williams and tight end Hayden Hurst for Week 14 vs Saints. Williams did not practice this week after suffering a knee injury. Hurst, meanwhile, practiced with limited reps, however, he’s still in concussion protocol.

The Friday injury report wasn’t all bad news for the Panthers. Cornerback Jaycee Horn (hamstring) and Vonn Bell (shoulder) had no injury status on the report, which means they’ll play Sunday against New Orleans.

With Williams out for the game, Carolina will have to elevate another defensive lineman, most likely defensive end Chris Wormley, from the practice squad. The veteran defensive tackle had 24 tackles with one sack and two tackles for loss in the first 12 games of the season prior to his knee injury.

Here’s who was in and who was out for the Panthers’ practice on Friday leading up to the Week 14 matchup against the Saints. Final reports with the inactive players will come out with an hour and a half to go before the 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Sunday.

Panthers Friday Injury Report

TE Hayden Hurst (concussion) – OUT
DL DeShawn Williams (knee) – OUT
C Bradley Bozeman (ankle) – Questionable
LB Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring) – Questionable
LB Marquis Haynes (back) – Questionable
TE Stephen Sullivan (shoulder) – Questionable
TE Tommy Tremble (hip) – Questionable

Hurst suffering from Post-Traumatic Amnesia

Hurst has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Amnesia by an independent neurologist as a result of a hit he took in the 16-13 Week 10 defeat to the Chicago Bears.

His father, Jerry, announced the diagnosis on X Wednesday. According to Headway, post-traumatic amnesia, or PTA, “is the time after a period of unconsciousness when the injured person is conscious and awake, but is behaving or talking in a bizarre or uncharacteristic manner.”

“The person has no continuous memory of day-to-day events, and recent events may be equally affected, so that they are unable to remember what happened a few hours or even a few minutes ago. To complicate the issue, PTA can sometimes occur without the person having been unconscious beforehand.”

Hurst, 30, has appeared in nine games (eight starts) in his first season with the Panthers. He’s hauled in 18 receptions for 184 yards and a touchdown. Hurst hasn’t appeared in a game since suffering the injury. He returned to practice Wednesday and was listed as a limited participant. He remains, however, in concussion protocol.

On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this report.