Carolina Panthers Make Roster Moves Ahead of Week 10 in New Orleans

As we go into Week 10 of the NFL season, the NFC South is still wide open. Every team in the division has three wins and the path to the playoffs is by winning the division as it's unlikely that the division will get a wild card berth. 

For the Carolina Panthers, they are 3-5 and on a three-game losing streak after another tough loss in Week 9. At one point, it looked like the Panthers were going to run away with the division and appeared to be the favorite. But since then, injuries have hit the team hard and they haven't been able to get back on track. 

However, some help is coming.

This week, the Panthers opened up the 21-day practice window on running back Jonathon Brooks, wide receiver Xavier Lagette, and defensive back Mike Jackson. All three were at practice this week and the team has three weeks to decide if they want to activate them or not. 

On Saturday, the Panthers made some moves as they officially activated Lagette to the active roster. He returns after missing the past few weeks dealing with a knee injury he suffered in Week 2. 

With Lagette back, the Panthers will now have five receivers on the depth chart after they released David Moore earlier in the week. On the season, Lagette has two catches for 64 yards with one reception going for 55 yards. 

In addition to Lagette going to the active roster, the Panthers have activated cornerbacks Marco Wilson and Corey Thornton from the practice squad by standard elevation for Week 10. The Panthers have both Jackson and Jaycee Horn on injured reserve and need some depth at the position. 

Rookie Will Lee II missed last week with a hamstring injury and is questionable for this game with a hamstring injury. So the depth in the back end of the defense isn't very good at the moment. 

Jackson did return to practice this week but he's not ready to be activated as the Panthers officially ruled him OUT for Sunday's game. Brooks is also OUT as he's not ready to make his return just yet.  Offensive lineman Brady Christensen was also not activated for the game. 

All three can be activated next week if ready. 

The winner of Sunday's game will have at least a share of first place in the NFC South. The two teams will kick off at 1 pm ET on Sunday afternoon.