The Carolina Panthers are down both starting cornerbacks after placing Jaycee Horn and Michael Jackson on injured reserve.
Horn is dealing with a significant quad injury and is expected to miss multiple months. Jackson has a groin injury and will be sidelined for at least four games before he can return.
To help patch the roster, Carolina promoted wide receiver David Moore and running back Anthony Tyus. The team also signed cornerback Robert Rochell to the practice squad.
Horn, 26, was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, selected by the Panthers out of South Carolina. He’s the son of former NFL wide receiver Joe Horn, a four-time Pro Bowler with the Saints.
Horn had just wrapped up the final season of his four-year rookie deal, a contract worth $21,112,145 and including a $12,714,287 signing bonus along with a $1.055 million base salary for 2024. He was set to play 2025 on the fifth-year option at $12.472 million before Carolina locked him into a four-year, $100 million extension.
This season, Horn has played in three games and posted six total tackles with two pass deflections.
Jackson, 29, entered the league as a fifth-round pick of the Cowboys in 2019 out of Miami. His early career took him on a winding path: after signing a four-year, $2.8 million deal with Dallas, he was waived at the end of the preseason, then re-signed to the practice squad before the Lions added him to their active roster in October. Detroit later traded him to New England for a conditional pick in 2020, and he was eventually waived and returned to the Patriots practice squad.
Jackson was waived again by New England after the 2021 preseason, then signed with Seattle’s practice squad. He later signed a futures deal for the 2022 season and returned as an exclusive rights-free agent. Seattle tendered him as a restricted free agent in 2024, revised his contract, and then traded him to Carolina, which later signed him to a two-year, $14.5 million deal.
In Other News...
Panthers Get A Crucial Defensive Lift At The Right Time
The Panthers are getting a much-needed boost on defense as they head toward a Week 4 matchup with the Lions. After losing Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson to injured reserve and watching their secondary take another hit, Carolina is looking for stability wherever it can find it, and Devin Lloyds return from the issue that kept him out against Cleveland arrives at the right moment. He has still managed to lead the team in tackles despite missing a game, which says plenty about how quickly he has become part of the front sevens rhythm.
Lloyd said he is feeling good and ready to play, a welcome development for a defense that has had to absorb too many setbacks already. The timing matters even more with Detroit coming up next, because Carolina needs players who can help steady the middle of the field while the back end sorts itself out. For a unit trying to keep from being stretched thinner, getting Lloyd back could be one of the more important developments of the week. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Loss Exposed A Bigger Problem With Dave Canales Offense
Dave Canales left points on the field against the Browns, and the two failed fourth-down tries became a snapshot of a larger issue with the Panthers offense. In a one-score game, those calls mattered, but the bigger concern is how little confidence Carolina seems to have built in its short-yardage package. Bryce Young is not the kind of quarterback who naturally lends himself to sneak situations, which makes those spots especially revealing when the offense gets stuck there.
Carolinas staff now has to show it has more than a hope-and-see answer when the chains get tight. The article points to alternatives that could help, including using Kenny Pickett in those situations and finding ways to lean on Mitchell Evans as part of a more functional short-yardage plan. Until the Panthers have something sturdier in that part of the game, every fourth-and-short decision is going to feel bigger than the down and distance in front of it. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Leave Cleveland With More Than One Problem Before Lions
The Panthers left Cleveland with more to sort through than a rough loss, and the trip home came with familiar concerns mixed with new ones. Carolina was undone by penalties, pass protection issues and repeated pressure on the quarterback, a combination that made it hard to settle into any rhythm against the Browns. There was at least a small bright spot in special teams, which showed some improvement, but it was not nearly enough to change the tenor of the afternoon.
Now the attention shifts quickly to Detroit, where Carolina has to clean up the line play and get healthier in a hurry. The injuries to key players only add to the challenge, especially with the Panthers trying to steady a team that looked out of sync in too many phases. After a game like that, the margin for error against the Lions feels even thinner. [Read more 🡒]