The Panthers announced a number of transactions Monday that included placing veteran cornerback Anthony Brown and quarterback Jake Luton on injured reserve. The players will end the season on injured reserve unless the Panthers release them with an injury settlement.
Luton, whose injury is undisclosed, signed Aug. 5 with Andy Dalton out with an injury. He spent time with the Panthers last summer and was on their practice squad in 2023 until he was signed by the Saints in late September. He returned to the practice squad in Carolina after being released by the Saints in October.
His only regular season appearances came in three starts for the Jaguars during the 2020 season. Luton completed 54.5 percent of his passes while throwing two touchdowns and six interceptions in three Jacksonville losses.
Brown, who injured his thumb in the second preseason game, signed with the Panthers on Aug. 3. He spent seven seasons with the Cowboys after they drafted him in the sixth round in 2016 before playing two games with the 49ers last season.
The Panthers also announced they waived wide receiver Tayvion Robinson with an injury designation and waived running back Dillon Johnson.
The team signed cornerbacks Chris Wilcox and Quandre Mosely after a workout on Monday.
Starting cornerback Dane Jackson will miss around six weeks with a hamstring injury, coach Dave Canales said.
Wilcox, 26, is a former seventh-round pick of the Buccaneers out of BYU. He’s also spent time with the Colts, Cardinals, Steelers and Chargers.
Mosely, 25, played at Eastern Arizona and Kentucky and has spent time with the Cowboys, Seahawks, Buccaneers and Patriots.
The Panthers also re-signed cornerback Willie Drew, wide receiver Sam Pinckney and running back Jaden Shirden, all of whom were in camp with the team earlier this summer.
The Bills have changed their plans for their preseason finale against the Panthers this week.
Head coach Sean McDermott told reporters in his Monday video conference that Buffalo will not play its starters.
“Right so initially the plan was to play the ones this week. Because of the injuries and lack of availability, we’re going to take the ones out, play the other guys, take a good look at them,” McDermott said. “It should be a good opportunity for them to put their best foot forward and for us to have a strong evaluation of that part of the roster.”
The Bills have several injuries at key positions, including safety, receiver, and backup quarterback in Mitchell Trubisky.
Quarterback Josh Allen will end the preseason with two completions on three passing attempts for 22 yards, plus one 7-yard rush.
Allen was on the field for eight snaps in the preseason opener against Chicago and didn’t play over the weekend against Pittsburgh.
The Bills will host the Panthers for the final preseason matchup on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET.
Saints first-round pick Kool-Aid McKinstry left Sunday’s game after getting injured on the opening drive and he did not return to the matchup against the 49ers.
Head coach Dennis Allen offered an update on McKinstry’s condition after the game and said that the cornerback hurt his knee before adding that it doesn’t look like it will be an extended absence for the rookie.
“He has a knee injury, I think we avoided anything serious,” Allen said, via Jeremy Trottier of USAToday.com. “Now, what kind of time we are looking at, I really have no idea. But I think we escaped the game, at least on initial report, without any major injuries.”
More clarity about the timeline for McKinstry’s return should come in the near future and he’s got more than two weeks to recover before the season opener against the Panthers.
The Raiders claimed linebacker Jackson Mitchell off waivers, the team announced Saturday.
The Panthers waived Mitchell on Friday to make room for the signing of Ike Boettger.
Mitchell will not play against the Cowboys on Saturday night.
Mitchell originally signed as an undrafted free agent with the Panthers out of UConn in May. He led UConn in tackles as a senior, totaling 113, averaging 9.4 tackles per game, the 19th-most in FBS. He also finished with seven tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.
Mitchell posted five games with double-digit tackles. He finished his career ranked third on UConn’s all-time list with 438 total tackles in four seasons.
Mitchell earned All-New England honors for the third-straight season last year and was invited to both the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine Bowl.
Panthers starting quarterback Bryce Young didn’t play last week. He won’t play tonight either.
The team announced 38 players who won’t suit up tonight, and Young and backup quarterback Andy Dalton are among them. That means Jack Plummer and Jake Luton will get the work against the Jets.
The teams’ best players got enough work in a joint practice this week to sit tonight as the Jets have no starters playing and the Panthers only two.
Young hasn’t played in the preseason since the second exhibition game of his rookie season.
He ended up throwing for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2023.
Dalton only recently returned from a quad injury that forced him to miss two weeks of training camp work.
