Panthers leave Jonathon Brooks on PUP/NFI list, rookie RB to miss first four games of season
The Carolina Panthers are leaving rookie running back Jonathon Brooks on the PUP/NFI list, making him ineligible to play in at least the first four games of the 2024 season.
Brooks, the second round (46th overall) selection out of Texas, tore his ACL while playing for the Longhorns this past November. Carolina placed him on the NFI list just before training camp began in late July.
Brooks did not suit up in the preseason, which head coach Dave Canales had already prepared for.
“It’s something we expected,” Canales said earlier this month. “Coming into the spring, we knew just the timeline and progression of where he was at. We knew we would not have him for the preseason. Even if he was kind of ready, there’s a confidence thing that we want to ramp him up little by little so he feels ready to go.”
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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 relying on veteran RBs to carry the load with Jonathon Brooks sidelined
With Brooks continuing to be sidelined, the Panthers will lean on the duo of Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders. Hubbard tallied a career-high 902 rushing yards last season after taking over the RB1 spot from Sanders, who signed a four-year, $25.4 million deal with Carolina last offseason. Sanders rushed for a career low 432 yards on 3.3 yards per carry.
Canales has preached all offseason about establishing the run game, and it’ll be up to Hubbard and Sanders to carry the load until Brooks returns.
“I think the teams that play well toward the end of the season are the ones that can run the football and who can stop the run,” Canales said at the start of camp. “In Seattle and Tampa Bay, we made sure that we established our mentality, our core runs that are important to us. … That commitment to me is the formula that I have seen work.”