Jonathon Brooks injury update: Dave Canales reveals NFL debut date for Panthers RB
Carolina Panthers (3-7) head coach Dave Canales said Monday he expects rookie running back Jonathon Brooks to make his NFL debut in this Sunday’s Week 12 home matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs (9-1).
“I fully expect JB to make his debut this week against the Chiefs,” Canales said, via Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer. “Again, we have some practices to go through to make sure that we’re ready to go there.”
Brooks, Carolina’s second round (46th overall) selection out of Texas, has been recovering from an ACL tear while playing for the Longhorns last November. The Panthers activated him off the reserve/non-football injury list earlier this month. He was eligible to make his return in Week 10 against the New York Giants (2-8) in Munich, but the Panthers opted to keep him on the sidelines with the bye week coming up.
Brooks was the first running back off the board in April’s NFL Draft following a productive 2023 campaign at Texas. In 11 games before the injury, Brooks rushed for 1,139 yards on 6.1 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns. He added 25 receptions for 286 yards and a score. Brooks earned Second-Team All-Big 12 honors.
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Panthers set to insert Jonathon Brooks into RB rotation
Brooks’ impending debut comes at a good time for the Panthers, who will be without backup tailback Miles Sanders against Kansas City. Sanders was carted off the field in Germany with an ankle injury.
“We’ll have a game plan for how to play him,” Canales said. “But we’re not really looking for a specific number. That’s the whole thing, right? When you get a guy ready to play on Sunday, the confidence should be that he can go out and just play a normal football game. And so that’s what we want to make sure happens.
“It was the same thing with D.J. Wonnum last week. Jordan Fuller. Are these guys ready to play a full game? It’s not like practice where we can really control and manage the pitch count, if you will, but we feel good about his progress. And just looking forward to a great week from him.”