With the injury to Jonathon Brooks, the Carolina Panthers have a plan at running back, as Dave Canales stated.
The Carolina Panthers are 1-1 through the first two weeks of the season and Week 3 presents a chance to get over .500 early on. After a blowout loss to the Chicago Bears, the Panthers responded with a big win over the Atlanta Falcons.
That gave them their first NFC South win of the season, which could help them in the long run in repeating as division champions. But not everything was great from that game.
Despite the offense looking crisp once again and the defense shutting down the Falcons, the Panthers suffered a tough injury to running back Jonathon Brooks. He was placed on Injured Reserve this week and is expected to miss around six weeks.
The plan for Carolina was to have Brooks and Hubbard in the backfield splitting time and giving them a threat in the run game. Hubbard has looked good and while Brooks was just getting back out there, he appeared to be finding his footing.
So what's the plan now?
On Thursday, head coach Dave Canales met the media as they prepare for Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns. Among the things he discussed was the injury to Brooks and what Carolina can do now.
Canales told reporters that Hubbard will get the bulk of the carries moving forward. But they will still use a second running back in different roles. That second running back is veteran AJ Dillon. The power back has appeared in two games this seasona nd rushed for 25 yards on eight carries.
Dillon spent the first four seasons in Green Bay after being drafted by the Packers. Last season he was in Philadelphia but only appeared in seven games. Dillon provides some valuable depth at the position not only on the field but also as a veteran in that running back room.
The Panthers will also elevate Anthony "Tre" Tyus III from the practice squad for this weeks game, giving Carolina three options. This game could tell us a lot in terms of the rest of the plans, especially if one of the backs struggles. The Panthers did bring in Austin Ekeler for a workout this week but did not sign him.
That could have been a preliminary meeting to see where Ekeler is in this stage of his career and maybe to keep him in the loop of a potential signing moving forward.
Whatever the Panthers do after this week, they need that run game to be a key part of their offense.
