Rising star Chris Brazzell faces a setback as Carolina’s training camp injuries mount, leaving quarterback Bryce Young without a key playmaker while the NFLPA investigates team practices.
Update: Per Joe Person of The Athletic, Brazzell is now expected to miss up to eight weeks after sustaining a LCL tear in his left knee.
"Panthers rookie WR Chris Brazzell sustained a moderate LCL tear in his left knee and is expected to miss up to eight weeks, per a league source with knowledge of the situation," Person posted on X.
"Brazzell's injury is believed to be unrelated to his earlier knee issue."
Original story below:
The Carolina Panthers are going through significant injury woes early in training camp, and a rookie could miss time after going down at practice on Wednesday.
On the first day of training camp, second-year pass rusher Nic Scourton tore his ACL and is expected to be out for the entire season. The NFL PA is investigating to make sure the Panthers were compliant on activities during the first practice.
On Wednesday, wide receiver Chris Brazzell was carted off to the locker room after appearing to have a left-leg injury.
"Chris Brazzell now being helped off the field," posted Joe Person of The Athletic. "Not putting any weight on his left leg. He will be carted into the locker room. Not a great sign for the rookie wideout from Tennessee."
Panthers head coach Dave Canales didn't have much detail on the injury after practice but said Brazzell would have imaging done to determine the scope of the issue. The third-round pick has been dealing with issues to his left knee.
Brazzell earned first-team All-SEC honors last season after he caught 62 passes for 1,017 yards and six touchdowns.
The Panthers were excited about the potential Brazzell showed this spring. Quarterback Bryce Young was impressed with how advanced he was in understanding the offense.
"You see what they can do, and for me, watching his film, you could see the talent, you could see the potential, but I was curious," said Young, via the Panthers. "They do a lot of great things at Tennessee. It's not a ton that you would think transfers to where you can just be like, all right, we're going to take this play and put it (here). And I think that was just one of the reasons I've been so impressed.
"He's coming, and you would have thought he'd been in a pro-style system throughout his whole life. He's coming in understanding splits, understanding landmarks, understanding route timing, route tempo, where to be at the right time."
The training camp injury isn't ideal for Brazzell, needing to earn reps and make some noticeable plays during the preseason as he fights for playing time in the Panthers' rotation.
