The Carolina Panthers had a lot of concerns going into this week after the beatdown the team suffered on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. To make things even harder, the Panthers had a short turnaround to make adjustments with a road trip coming up on Thursday against the Green Bay Packers.

That already was going to be a rough road matchup for this team with everything going on coming out of the last game, and to make things even worse, the team’s final Week 8 injury report added even more concerns.

Jaelan Phillips will miss his second consecutive game

First off, the Panthers have officially ruled out star pass rusher Jaelan Phillips for the second consecutive game with a hamstring injury. Given the nature of the injury, the fact it’s a reaggravation, and this being a short week, it was always unlikely that Phillips would have been able to play against the Packers.

Wednesday’s injury report confirmed those suspicions, leaving the Panthers without their top edge rusher. Being without Phillips really hurt the Panthers last week. Tampa Bay exposed the Panthers in the run game attacking the edges with counters and rumbled for over 250 yards on the ground. It was an embarrassing performance and not having Phillips out there to set the edge was a big reason for it, along with poor tackling.

Big picture, sitting Phillips is the right call for him. He needs to get that hamstring figured out before rushing back into action like he did in Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles, which is what caused this injury to reaggravate in the first place. The Panthers need Phillips for the long haul and need him fully healthy before returning.

Damien Lewis’ absence creates even more issues up-front on offense

Another notable injury designation is left guard Damien Lewis, who will be out for Thursday’s game due to a knee injury. Lewis was easily the team’s best offensive lineman, allowing seven pressures this season on over 200 pass blocking snaps. The other four starters have each allowed 15+ pressures this season. The Panthers are also without backup guard Torricelli Simpkins (ankle) and elevated Jake Curhan from the practice squad as a result.

The Panthers also placed veteran right tackle Taylor Moton on the injured reserve earlier this week after he fractured his fibula along with further damage to his ankle. That leaves Monroe Freeling to fill back in at right tackle, which in turn forces Rasheed Walker to remain at left tackle. Those two have allowed a combined five sacks and 42 pressures.

In Lewis place at left guard, the Panthers will likely turn to Corey Bullock, who’s played 71 pass blocking snaps this season with one sack and five pressures allowed. It’s a tough look for quarterback Bryce Young, who has been having to overcome pressure all season long.

Akayleb Evans’ injury stretches the Panthers thin at cornerback

One more worrisome injury to note is in the secondary. Akayleb Evans will not play either due to a triceps/knee injury. Evans has been filling in as a starter, and largely has struggled, in place of Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson. With all three now out, that leaves two cornerbacks on the 53-man roster for Carolina: Will Lee III and Chau Smith-Wade.

The Panthers do have one option the team called up from the practice squad in Marco Wilson, whom head coach Dave Canales said is more of a “quicker athletic mover” to potentially play on the outside.

That concern at cornerback will be under the microscope going up against one of the league’s top WR duos in Christian Watson and Matthew Golden, who rank seventh and ninth respectively in the NFL in receiving yards this season.

“Guys like that, you don’t really try to find out how fast they are,” safety Nick Scott said. “You just try to get as deep as possible, hopefully not get in a foot race. (Watson’s) got some gas for real, which is, I guess, a little rare for how tall and lanky he is, so he can get rolling for sure.”

Overall, the Panthers are short-handed in a major way on both sides of the ball going into Thursday night’s game.