Chuba Hubbard injury update: Panthers RB reportedly being placed on IR due to calf, knee injury

Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is reportedly having his breakout season cut early. Hubbard is being placed on injured reserve, according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter.

Hubbard has had a career year for Carolina. The former fourth-round pick out of Oklahoma State has rushed 250 times for 1,195 yards and 10 touchdowns this season, marking the first 1,000-yard season of his NFL career.

Hubbard has also caught 43 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. He has been a bright spot all year for a Panthers squad that is 4-11 on the season. The fourth-year pro, who is averaging 4.8 yards per carry, has played in every game this season up to this point.

Hubbard is the second Panthers running back to go on IR in 2024, joining rookie back Jonathan Brooks. The former Texas star suffered a torn ACL after appearing in only three games and receiving nine carries this season. Brooks also suffered a torn ACL in 2023 during his last year of college football.

Hubbard has become more and more involved in the Panthers’ offense since getting drafted ahead of the 2021 season. He topped the 900-yard rushing mark for the first time in 2023 before rushing for nearly 1,200 yards in 2024. It will be interesting to see how his career continues to go in 2025 and beyond.

Carolina Panthers lock up RB Chuba Hubbard with 4-year, $33.2 million extension

While Hubbard is out for the rest of this season, he did recently land a solid contract with the Panthers. Carolina signed Hubbard to a four-year, $33.2 million deal back in November.

“The team extended the contract of running back Chuba Hubbard, rewarding a player who exemplifies what head coach Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan want the Panthers to look like. The four-year extension keeps him here through 2028,” Carolina wrote in its release. “(Hubbard) would have been a free agent at the end of the season so locking him up now was a priority for the organization.”

Hubbard came to Carolina as a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft out of Oklahoma State. That came after a collegiate career with the ‘Pokes where he posted 3,459 rushing yards, good for 104.8 per game, and 33 touchdowns on the ground. 2019 was the best in his collegiate career with 2,094 yards, which led the nation in rushing, and 21 touchdowns as an All-American and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.