Panthers get tough news that may force changes on the offensive front before Week 1 matchup with the Jaguars
Not news you’d like to hear to start the week.
With the preseason slate over and the 53-man roster finalized, the Carolina Panthers can now turn the attention toward preparing for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the regular season opener.
The Panthers are looking to rebound from a 5-12 record and keep the momentum going after having a strong finish to the season in 2024.
However, the team got some tough news on Monday that could impact the roster in a major way going into the first game of the season.
Ikem Ekwonu’s Week 1 status is now in doubt
On Monday, Panthers’ head coach Dave Canales shared that starting left tackle Ikem Ekwonu underwent an appendectomy on Sunday and will be considered day-to-day this week, putting his status in doubt for Sunday’s game against the Jaguars.
With this kind of situation, playing on Sunday would be a quick turnaround, especially for an offensive lineman. For example, in 2017, Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari underwent appendectomy and missed roughly two weeks before returning to the field.
Potentially being without the blindside protector would be a big blow for quarterback Bryce Young and the rest of the offensive line as a whole.
“I’m going to remain hopeful all the way through next week to try to get him out there, move around and see what he can do,” Canales explained. “But we just have to have a contingency plan.”
Saying Ekwonu misses the game this weekend, the contingency plan points toward Brady Christensen being the immediate backup to start at left tackle for Carolina based on how things looked in the preseason, but swing tackle Yosh Nijman will be in consideration for the role as well.
“We’re going to make a decision on who that is by Wednesday as we go into practice, in fairness for the guy to get those reps,” Canales said over the weekend. “We’re not 100 percent sure who we’re going to put out there right now, but they both got really significant snaps today, and so we’ll we’ll look at the film and we’ll make the best decision for the whole group.”
As for some good news on the offensive front, Joe Person shared on Monday that starting left guard Damien Lewis was on the field and not in a red non-contact jersey after missing the last few weeks with a shoulder injury. Having him on Sunday to help support the left tackle position will be huge.
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