Carolina Panthers update injury status of Sam Darnold

The Carolina Panthers could very well be without their starting quarterback on Saturday against the New England Patriots, as Sam Darnold is still fighting to recover from a scary injury.

The Panthers updated their injury report following Wednesday’s practice, and Darnold was again listed as a limited participant; the official diagnosis from the hit was a concussion. However, the concussion is not Darnold’s only ailment — the Panthers quarterback, according to the injury report, is also working back from a right shoulder injury. If Darnold were to quarterback in Sunday’s contest, the USC product would have to pass the NFL’s concussion protocol, which as of now, the Panthers have not commented on.

Darnold took a jarring hit in last weekend’s win over the Atlanta Falcons, which sidelined him for the rest of the contest. P.J. Walker took over in relief of Darnold.

Darnold finished the game having completed 13 of his 24 passes for 129 passing yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He also took eight carries for 66 rushing yards, including a 20-yard scramble. Walker, who only quarterbacked two and a half drives, did not complete his only pass attempt, as the Panthers were largely in clock-chewing mode.

Sam Darnold replaced by P.J. Walker after jarring hit, head injury

Just one week after Sam Darnold was benched in a loss to the New York Giants, the Carolina Panthers quarterback was again taken out of the game on Sunday, this time due to a jarring hit to his head.

Midway through the fourth quarter against the Atlanta Falcons, Darnold dropped back in a shotgun formation, needing just 22 yard to punch it in for a Panthers touchdown. Darnold saw no open receivers, so he opted to run it himself; after picking up eight yards, Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun crushed Darnold on the tackle. Darnold’s helmet came unbuckled and nearly fell all the way off, but perhaps the more dangerous part came on his way down. Darnold’s head made hard contact with the turf, and the whiplash forced the Panthers’ training staff onto the field immediately.

Sam Darnold took a hit 😳
pic.twitter.com/yoRdZt2n9Z

— PFF (@PFF) October 31, 2021

Darnold walked off the field on his own volition after the training staff attended to him for a few-minute period.

The Panthers still managed to win the game, as Walker finished off that drive by handing it off to Chuba Hubbard for a touchdown.

Darnold got off to a hot start in the 2021 season, completing no less than 67.7 percent of his passes in the Panthers’ first three games of the season. In that three-week period, he threw for 888 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and one interception, but perhaps more impressively, he ran for five touchdowns in the season’s first four weeks. However, Darnold quickly cooled down, and in a 25-3 loss to the Giants last week, he posted a mediocre performance, completing 16 of his 25 passing attempts for 112 passing yards, one interception and no scores. Walker, who relieved Darnold for the Panthers’ last few drives, completed three of 14 passing attempts for 33 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, and both quarterbacks were sacked three times.