Carolina Panthers RB Dealing With Injury After Preseason

The 2026 NFL season is just under two weeks away as the Carolina Panthers will open up Week 1 at home against the Chicago Bears. It will be a matchup of two teams that won their divisions in the 2025 season. 

For Carolina, they are looking to silence doubters right away as there will be a lot of questions to be answered this season. The Panthers finished 8-9 last year despite winning the NFC South, so naturally people are going to doubt them.

As we continue the countdown to Week 1, the Panthers are back on the practice field to move forward with preparation. But one key player was not on the field with the team.

Running back Jonathon Brooks worked off to the side during Tuesday's practice with a trainer and was not in uniform, per Danielle Stein. That's not great news, considering that Brooks suffered a serious injury at the end of his rookie season that cost him all of 2025. 

After practice, head coach Dave Canales was asked about Brooks' and his status but he didn't give up much info. Leaving some questions to be answered still.

"JB's got a little soreness," Canales told reporters. "I won't get into specifics right now."

It doesn't appear to be a serious injury for Brooks, which is the good news. Hearing soreness isn't a good thing but it's also not the worst outcome here in this situation. 

The Panthers could just be taking it easy as well and being cautious considering his injury history.  This was the first full offseason that Brooks has had in his career so far and he appeared in two preseason games, rushing the ball eight times for 23 yards.

With Brooks working off to the side, fellow running back Chuba Hubbard did return to practice for the Panthers today. Carolina isn't required to put out an injury report just yet but they will have to next week. That should give us some answers on not only Brooks but other players as well. 

Carolina will host Chicago on September 13th with kickoff set for 1 p.m. ET.