Further tests confirm suspicions surrounding Nic Scourton’s injury – what it means for the Panthers’ defense in 2026
Carolina Panthers second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton suffered a torn ACL during the team’s first day of training camp on Thursday.
Carolina Panthers second-year outside linebacker Nic Scourton suffered a right knee injury on Thursday during the team’s first day of training camp, and further tests have confirmed the worst. Scourton has been diagnosed with a torn right ACL.
Scourton will seek a second opinion on the injury to fully confirm the torn ACL before undergoing surgery in the coming weeks. Such an injury would mean Scourton will miss the entirety of the 2026 season after a promising first season last year in Carolina during which he co-led the team with 5.0 sacks. Scourton was expected to have a breakout season in 2026 as a starter rushing opposite prized free agent addition Jaelan Phillips.
“I’m proud of the fact that the first thought in guys’ minds isn’t, ‘Are we going to have Nic for the season? It was, ‘How is Nic?’ And guys are checking on him,” head coach Dave Canales told reporters after practice. “They care about each other. Whenever you’re in a group of people, doing something hard together, it has a way of creating a special bond, and between all the workouts and going through a full season and an offseason and all that, it means something for the guys, and I’m proud of that.”
Nic Scourton will be a sizable void for the Panthers to replace on defense
As previously mentioned, Scourton was expected to be one of the team’s top starters off the edge going into the 2026 season. In his place, Carolina will likely turn to Pat Jones II as the starter, who is coming back from a significant back injury that sidelined him during the 2025 NFL season.
Behind Jones and Phillips, the Panthers also have another 2025 outside linebacker in development in Princely Umanmielen, who had 1.5 sacks as a rotational edge rusher his rookie season.
The Panthers are already expected to make one addition to the room in Cam Gill, who led the UFL with 10 sacks during the spring. Gill played 10 games with the Panthers back in 2024 and will add some much-needed depth after losing Scourton.
“We got guys; that’s why we keep bringing in depth and talent and different guys,” Canales added. “It’s Jaelan Phillips in that room, Patrick Jones II is back and Princely Umanmielen’s coming along, and we got a whole group of guys that we’re counting on.”
Outside of Scourton, the Panthers’ outside linebackers combined for 6.5 sacks last season, a level of production general manager Dan Morgan called “not up to par” which led the team toward signing Phillips to a $120 million in free agency. The pressure is now even higher for Phillips and Co. to step up following such a significant loss.