The Carolina Panthers are barely into training camp and already finding themselves in injury trouble.
Rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell II was carted off the field after suffering a left leg injury in practice, and the update that followed was not the kind anyone in Carolina wanted to hear. According to Ari Meirov of The33rdTeamFB, Brazzell tore his LCL and will miss up to 8 weeks.
“Just in: Panthers rookie WR Chris Brazzell II suffered a tear in his LCL at practice today and will miss up to 8 weeks, per [Joe Person]. The 3rd-round pick out of Tennessee was poised to be part of the WR group behind Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker,” Meirov wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
It is a relief that the injury is not season-ending, but Brazzell is still staring at a significant absence. A return in the first month and a half of the regular season would not be a shock, and the timeline could stretch even longer than that.
His injury leaves Carolina leaning more heavily on McMillan and Coker as the top two receivers for now. It also opens the door for more snaps and chances for Xavier Legette and Jimmy Horn Jr.
Brazzell’s setback is only the latest hit to the Panthers’ camp. Nic Scourton tore his ACL last week and is out for the season, removing a player who was expected to be an important part of the defense. That means more pressure on the rest of the unit to step up.
The Panthers are trying to carry forward the momentum they built last season, when they won the NFC South and reached the playoffs. They were knocked out in the Wild Card Round, but that run gave them reason to believe they’re headed in the right direction.
Even with the injuries piling up, Carolina still looks like a team worth watching.
In Other News...
Panthers Just Made A Telling Move In Their Thin Receiver Room
Carolina added another body to a receiver group that has been thinned out in training camp, signing Casey Washington and bringing the former Falcons wideout onto the 90-man roster. Washington arrives after two seasons in Atlanta, where he got into 15 games and caught seven passes for 108 yards, and now gets a fresh chance in a room that needs players who can stay on the field and keep reps moving.
The move came with a corresponding roster shuffle as Dan Chisena was placed on injured reserve, underscoring how quickly the depth chart can change this time of year. Washington also lands in a familiar corner of the NFC South after his release earlier this offseason, and for the Panthers the immediate question is less about pedigree than whether he can carve out a role before the roster gets even tighter. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Fans Had Every Reason To Fear This Mitchell Evans Update
Training camp has already delivered one brutal reminder of how quickly a roster can change, with EDGE Nic Scourton going down with a torn ACL and getting carted off the field. So when Mitchell Evans was helped off after his own injury, it was easy to understand why Panthers fans braced for another worst-case update, especially with the tight end group still trying to establish itself as a real strength.
Instead, Carolina got a far better outcome than the initial scare suggested, and that matters because Evans has become a quietly important piece of the offense. Even without eye-popping production last season, his combination of size, blocking and dependable hands gives the Panthers a different kind of value at a position that has been thin for years, which is why any absence there feels bigger than the box score would indicate. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Face A Bigger Question About Bryce Youngs Next Step
Bryce Youngs 2025 season gave the Panthers something they had been searching for: a real step forward at quarterback. He completed 63.6% of his passes for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and the overall arc of his year suggested a player settling in rather than merely surviving. Still, the tape and the numbers together pointed to a broader issue around him, because too many throws that should have been routine completions never got finished.
The receiving group did its part in creating that problem, with Tetairoa McMillan tied to eight drops as Carolina worked through a season full of missed chances and injury-related shuffling. For a team trying to build on Youngs progress, the next step is not just about the quarterback continuing to grow. It is about whether the Panthers can clean up the support around him well enough to turn those gains into something more durable next season. [Read more 🡒]