The Carolina Panthers are reaching into the practice squad for help as their secondary gets stretched to the limit before Thursday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers.
Veteran cornerback Marco Wilson is being elevated to give Carolina some much-needed depth for a road matchup that suddenly looks even tougher. The move comes after ESPN reporter Jeremy Fowler noted the Panthers were down to just two healthy cornerbacks on the 53-man roster.
That shortage has already been hit hard by injuries. Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson are both on injured reserve, and Akayleb Evans, who had been stepping in, is now out with triceps and knee injuries. That leaves Will Lee III and Chau Smith-Wade as the only healthy cornerbacks currently on the active roster.
Wilson gives the Panthers an experienced option at a position where they can’t afford much else to go wrong. He has 37 career starts and now steps into a defense preparing for Green Bay’s passing game on a short week.
Before this move, head coach Dave Canales called Wilson a “quicker athletic mover” and said he could potentially work on the outside. His promotion arrives after Carolina was handed a heavy loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, adding another challenge to an already battered roster.
The Packers will bring their own problems for Carolina to sort through, with Christian Watson and Matthew Golden standing out as productive receiving threats this season.
And the injury list doesn’t stop in the secondary. The Panthers will also be without pass rusher Jaelan Phillips, who is set to miss a second straight game because of a hamstring injury. On offense, left guard Damien Lewis has been ruled out with a knee injury, leaving Carolina with even more personnel issues heading into Thursday night.
In Other News...
Panthers Suddenly Have A Trade Deadline Problem In The Secondary
The Panthers have spent the weeks leading up to the trade deadline looking for help at cornerback after injuries hit Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, and the market has already started to come into focus. ESPN has tied Carolina to a pair of possible targets in Riq Woolen and Donte Jackson, giving the team at least a couple of paths to patch up a position group that has suddenly become a concern.
Woolen would bring the bigger upside if Carolina wanted to swing for impact, even if there are obvious questions attached to his play. Jackson, meanwhile, would offer a more familiar kind of solution and could help stabilize the spot sooner rather than later. Either way, the Panthers appear to have a real deadline decision to make if they want to keep the secondary from becoming an even bigger issue. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Secondary Just Took Another Hit Before Jordan Love Test
The Panthers secondary took another blow this week when Akayleb Evans was placed on injured reserve with knee and triceps injuries, knocking him out for Sundays matchup with the Packers. Evans had stepped into a starting role over the last three games, giving Carolina some needed stability in a back end that has already been stretched thin by injuries to Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson.
Now the Panthers are heading into Week 8 with even less margin for error against Green Bay and quarterback Jordan Love, who has been productive through the air this season. For a defense already trying to patch together its coverage plan, losing another corner only adds to the pressure to find answers quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Have Something To Prove After That Tampa Bay Collapse
The Panthers are back on a short week, and the timing could not be much better for a team still trying to shake off the damage from its collapse against Tampa Bay. Carolina heads into its matchup with the Green Bay Packers preparing for its second game in five days, with Green Bay set to be without three starters. Even so, the Panthers enter the week with little margin for error and a lot to prove after a performance that raised fresh questions about where this team stands.
Carolina opened the week as a slight underdog, and the betting line has not moved, a sign that oddsmakers are waiting to see whether the Panthers can respond rather than reward them for the matchup on paper. The question now is less about what Green Bay is missing and more about whether Carolina can show the kind of consistency it failed to display last time out. For a team searching for traction, this game offers a chance to steady the week, but only if the Panthers play like the more urgent side from the start. [Read more 🡒]