Report: Panthers safety Xavier Woods expected to miss several weeks with hamstring injury

Carolina Panthers starting safety Xavier Woods is expected to miss a number of with a hamstring injury, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported on Tuesday. Woods left the Panthers loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday with the injury.

His absence could run anywhere from a month to six weeks, Fowler added. It leaves the Panthers’ secondary depleted just three weeks into the season.

It had been a slow start to the 2023 season, statistically, for Woods, who had just two passes defensed and 11 total tackles in two games and some change. He started all three of the Panthers’ first three games.

Along with Woods, cornerback Jaycee Horn is already expected to miss some extended time with an injury this year.

Horn was recently placed on injured reserve, but could return later this year.

Horn suffered a hamstring injury in the Panthers’ season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported he’d be out for multiple weeks as a result. Carolina head coach Frank Reich also confirmed he’d miss “extended time” with the injury and hinted he might end up on IR.

Horn is in his third season in the NFL after Carolina drafted him No. 8 out of South Carolina. He has appeared in just 17 games, though, as he dealt with multiple injuries during his first two years in the league. This offseason, he dealt with an ankle and foot injury that kept him out of OTAs and minicamp, as well.

Last year was Horn’s best in the NFL as he totaled 53 tackles and three interceptions across 13 games. He had one tackle in the loss to the Falcons, but now it’s looking like the Panthers will be without him for some time.

The Panthers have plenty to clean up heading in Week 4

It’s been tough sledding for the Panthers through the first three weeks of the season. The team is off to an 0-3 start and penalties crushed Carolina during Sunday’s 37-27 loss to Seattle on Sunday. Head coach Frank Reich wasn’t happy about it, either.

After the game, Reich pointed to dumb penalties throughout the game as a big reason why the Panthers dropped Sunday’s contest. He placed a lot of the blame on himself and his staff.

“Comin’ in, we knew the environment would be tough—good football and a tough place to play,” he said, per PanthersWire. “The number of penalties was totally inexcusable, pathetic.

“That starts with me, as an offensive coach. That starts with our offense coaches—getting our players ready. And that starts with our players. Unacceptable. It’s like we never played in the noise before. We knew it was comin’, we practiced all week with noise. I mean, Wednesday it was so loud out there, you couldn’t even think.”

Carolina finished the game with 13 penalties for 82 yards.

To Reich’s point, the team did prepare all week for the noise levels that have become famous at Seattle’s Lumen Field. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown called it a focal point.

“One of the keys for success for us as a team, but also offensively, is going to be (to) handle the noise,” Brown said last week, per the team’s website. “For us, that means two reasons, right? One (is) being on the field when it comes to our communication, our operation, from a nonverbal standpoint with the noise when we can’t hear. But also the noise outside the building. …