Ikem

Ekwonu

Ekwonu missed Week 1 after undergoing an emergency procedure late in training camp. He was limited in practice throughout the past week and even got in one light session ahead of Week 1. He now appears to be good to go, which is good news for Bryce Young and the Panthers’ offense. Few teams looked worse than Carolina in Week 1 as they struggled to get anything going versus Jacksonville. With Ekwonu back in the fold, there are no excuses for Young in Week 2.

Ekwonu sat out in Week 1 after undergoing the emergency procedure late in August. Since returning to practice last Friday, Ekwonu has logged four straight limited sessions. If he is unable to play in Week 2 against the Cardinals, he seemingly has strong odds of suiting up in Week 3 against the Falcons.

Ekwonu returned to practice last Friday but was listed as doubtful. As expected, he did not suit up on Sunday. A full week of practice will give him a better shot at playing in Week 2. Given how poor Carolina’s offense looked in their opener versus the Jags, Ekwonu’s return can’t come soon enough for Dave Canales and Bryce Young.

It’s unclear why Ekwonu wasn’t just formally ruled out on Friday. NFL teams and the games they play. Yosh Nijman is filling in on Bryce Young’s blindside. Hardly ideal for the opener, especially with Young’s receiver corps looking thin. Also inactive for the Panthers are WR Jimmy Horn, WR Dalevon Campbell, TE James Mitchell and DT Cam Jackson.

Ekwonu was listed as a limited participant in Friday’s practice after sitting out the first two days. Despite this, the team has opted to list him as doubtful, which officially puts him on the wrong side of suiting up for Week 1 against the Jaguars. Ekwonu underwent an appendectomy on August 27th and was initially viewed as “day-to-day” by the team. Barring an unexpected change between now and Sunday, fifth-year vet Brady Christensen will likely draw the start against the Jaguars.

The Panthers declared Ekwonu “day to day” on August 27th, after having his appendix removed. If he can return to practice tomorrow, he should be good to go for Week 1 against the Jaguars. Backup OT Yosh Nijman would start in Ekwonu’s stead, if Bryce Young’s blindside protector cannot suit up.

Ekwonu underwent the procedure just over a week ago. Head coach Dave Canales called him “day to day” on Monday, though he appears to be on the wrong side of questionable to start the week. Yosh Nijman looks like Bryce Young’s starting left tackle for Carolina’s Week 1 matchup with the Jaguars. Fellow backup Brady Christensen is also an option for the Panthers.

It doesn’t sound like he’s in any danger of missing Week 1 at this point. Yosh Nijman would be the backup left tackle if that changed for whatever reason.

Ikwonu is still refining his pass-protection skills, but has proven himself to be very good in the run game, earning a 66.2 PFF pass-blocking grade and an 80.5 PFF run-blocking grade last year. He, unfortunately, allowed the highest quarterback pressure rate of his career last year (7.0 percent) but did manage to reduce the number of times he was beaten by a defender from 34 to 21 in the season prior. Tacking on the fifth year allows the Panthers to further evaluate him without making a serious long-term investment.

Starting right guard Robert Hunt is also questionable with an illness as a bug is going around the Panther’s facility. Carolina will be in a bind if both starting linemen are out for Week 16, but players rarely miss games because of illnesses. We fully expect both bigs to suit up versus Arizona.