The Carolina Panthers got a significant boost on Wednesday, with three players taking a step toward returning from injured reserve before Sunday’s trip to New Orleans.
Cornerback Mike Jackson, running back Jonathon Brooks and wide receiver Xavier Legette all had their 21-day practice windows opened, putting them on the field again as Carolina prepares for a road game against the Saints that will decide first place in the NFC South. None of the three has been activated to the 53-man roster yet, but each is now much closer to being available on game day.
Jackson is the headline here. The 29-year-old outside corner has been a starter for Carolina over the past two-plus seasons, and the Panthers have badly missed him.
At 6-foot-1 and 210 pounds, he led the league in passes defended in 2025 while working opposite Jaycee Horn, who made his second straight Pro Bowl a year ago. Jackson has six tackles this season and underwent surgery shortly after the Sept. 27 game at Cleveland.
He has been sidelined since after Week 3 because of a groin injury, and his absence has hit Carolina’s secondary hard. Horn also went down in that same game, and the Panthers have been forced to patch together the back end ever since. Against Denver last week, they played without their top four corners: Horn, Jackson, rookie Will Lee and Akayleb Evans.
That left Carolina leaning on practice squad call-ups Marco Wilson and Corey Thornton on the outside, with Chau Smith-Wade working at nickel corner.
Jackson had a blunt message when he was injured: “One man’s storm is another man’s paradise,” Jackson said at the time of his injury. “I’m going through a storm.
But for these guys, it’s paradise, because they’re about to get an (opportunity). I’m telling them to take full advantage of it.
To be honest, this is how this league works. It’s next man up.
(Akayleb) or Will can go out there and get two picks, and now it’s like, ‘Do we ride with him? What happens when Mike Jack comes back?’
“That’s what you want. I told them, ‘You want to play so good to where when I come back, now they’re saying we got the best DB room in the whole country.’”
The Panthers are not coming back to a clean bill of health, though. Since Jackson and Horn went out, Carolina has gone 2-3 and fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. The pass defense has been exposed along the way, allowing 412 passing yards, then 215, then 64 against the Buccaneers, who barely had to throw in a 43-13 win, then 288 and 237 - an average of 243.2 yards per game.
Bo Nix and the Broncos kept attacking the outside corners Sunday in a 26-21 Carolina loss, and the Panthers were flagged five times for defensive pass interference.
Legette and Brooks are also back on the practice field, and both returns matter for an offense that has been stretched thin.
Legette has been out since Week 2 with a knee injury. In two games, he was targeted six times and caught two passes for 64 yards, including a 55-yard grab against Atlanta. That play ended with him diving for the ball and injuring his knee.
Brooks has been out since that same Falcons game after suffering a core injury that required surgery. It is a similar injury to the one Jackson had.
Through his two-plus seasons with Carolina, Brooks has played in only five games. He has nine carries for 30 yards, with a long run of seven yards, and two catches for 43 yards.
His return could ease the burden on Chuba Hubbard, who has carried a heavy load over the last six weeks. Against Denver, Hubbard played 89% of the offensive snaps, and that was actually lower than in some recent games.
For now, all three players remain on injured reserve until Carolina activates them to the 53-man roster. The Panthers have only one open spot on the active roster, so more moves will be needed if any of them are going to be ready for Sunday’s 1 p.m. game at New Orleans. The winner will own sole possession of the NFC South lead.
Carolina has now designated six players to return from IR this season: LB Bam Martin-Scott, RB Trevor Etienne, OL Brady Christensen and now Jackson, Brooks and Legette. The team can activate eight players from injured reserve during the regular season, and more decisions are coming because Horn, Evans and OLB Thomas Incoom are still candidates to return later.
Left tackle Ickey Ekwonu is on the Physically Unable to Perform list with a knee injury from last season, so he does not count against the eight-player limit.
The Panthers also made two practice squad moves, signing wide receiver David Moore and defensive tackle Cam Horsley. Moore, one of Dave Canales’ favorite players, had been released Tuesday to create room on the active roster. He also handles punt returns and has moved back and forth between the practice squad and active roster more than once.
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The bigger issue is what comes next. Carolina picked up Ekwonus fifth-year option, but the contract situation could put him on the market after this season, and a player with his pedigree is the kind of lineman other teams will monitor closely if his recovery continues to trend in the right direction. The Panthers and Ekwonu reportedly want to keep the partnership going, which makes the coming months about more than just health - they may help determine whether a foundational piece stays in Carolina or becomes one of the more intriguing names available. [Read more 🡒]
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Even at 3-5, the Panthers are still tied for first in the NFC South, which is why the next few weeks loom so large. Games against New Orleans, Baltimore and Tampa Bay will go a long way toward sorting out whether Carolina can turn this uneven start into something more meaningful, or whether the division race slips away before the season reaches its stretch run. [Read more 🡒]