The Netflix lineup for next month’s 49ers-Rams game has been finalized.
Netflix announced on Monday that Nick Foles and Clay Matthews will join the studio show for the Week 1 game in Australia, along with host Elle Duncan and analyst Michael Irvin.
While the announcement focuses only on the first game, it’s possible if not likely that Foles and Matthews will be back for the other four 2026 Netflix games. Duncan has said that Netflix will have a consistent studio presence for all of its games this season.
Working the 49ers-Rams game will be Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly, with former NFL Network host MJ Acosta serving as the reporter. Again, it’s likely we’ll see and hear the same trio for the Thanksgiving Eve game, one of the two Christmas games, and the Netflix Week 18 Saturday game.
After streaming Christmas games in 2024 and 2025, Netflix expanded its footprint to five annual games on a deal that runs through 2029. Although Netflix has said it doesn’t want a full-season package, many things can and will change over the next four years.
Panthers Clips
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is eligible for an extension after completing his third season.
It doesn’t sound like one is coming any time soon.
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Young is under contract through 2027 after Carolina picked up his fifth-year option in the spring.
Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis spoke with the media in a Monday press conference, saying the club will keep extension discussions on Young and everyone else in-house. But Tilis characterized the situation as positive for Carolina.
“I would say [Young] ascended last year and there’s still room for him to ascend,” Tilis said. “His ceiling, currently, is unknown and I think that’s exciting for us. He’s working hard to get himself there.”
Tilis noted that the continuity with Dave Canales in his third year as head coach has put Young in a good situation to succeed in 2026.
“The team is better, the coaches are good, and Bryce is putting in the work, too,” Tilis said. “So, it’s all there. And we’ll just see how the year plays out. I think we’re all really excited for what Bryce is going to show and how the team’s going to be.”
Tilis was asked directly if seeing how the year plays out means Young will not receive a new deal before the start of the regular season, but Tilis again noted that the team will keep discussions in-house.
While it has not all been with the same regime, Young already has three years of experience — which is often enough time to have a clear picture of who a player is and what his ceiling might be. But Tilis said that in Young’s case, he wouldn’t necessarily think that he should have a better read on the QB’s future.
“The team is growing, too,” Tilis said. “So, he’s going to ascend as the team ascends and vice versa — the team is going to get better as he does. So, it’s all good.”
Young, 25, has started 44 games through his first three seasons. He’s completed 61.4 percent of his passes for 8,291 yards with 49 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. Last season was his best, as he finished 2025 with a 63.6 percent completion rate, 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions.
There will be football played on Thursday night, but don’t expect to see most of Carolina’s key players.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters on Monday that backup quarterback Kenny Pickett will start the Hall of Fame Game against the Cardinals, though he’s not exactly sure how much playing time Pickett will get.
“But we have a good number of guys that will be helping out early in the game — just because we don’t want to overload any one particular group on our team,” Canales said in his press conference. “We do have practices leading into the game and we have practices coming out of it. So, I felt that with the number of guys being out there, being able to take a couple of series will really help the whole group. And, we just need the football.
“So, I’m excited about it. And Kenny’s excited about it, as well as the rest of the group, and they’ve been talking about it.”
As one would expect for the Hall of Fame Game, no starters are expected to play — including rookie offensive tackle Monroe Freeling.
“Yeah, no starters,” Canales said. “There are some competition battles for starting positions where guys will have an opportunity to play a little bit. But some of the guys we’re expecting to be out there right off the bat, I think we won’t play those guys in this game.”
At quarterback, rookie Haynes King is slated to take the reps after Pickett departs, with starter Bryce Young not in line to play.
The Panthers will face the Cardinals on Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.
The Panthers will have a key member of their defensive line on the practice field Monday.
The team announced that Bobby Brown has been activated from the non-football injury list. Brown hurt his hamstring while working out ahead of camp, but has recovered enough to join his teammates at practice.
Brown joined the Panthers last year after spending four seasons with the Rams. He had 31 tackles, three tackles for loss and a half-sack while appearing in all 17 regular season games. He added three tackles in their playoff loss to his former team.
Defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton remains on the physically unable to perform list for Carolina.
The Jaguars announced the signing of a linebacker on Sunday morning.
Jared Bartlett is the newest member of the roster in Jacksonville. The Jaguars waived wide receiver Ben Patterson in a corresponding move.
Bartlett opened camp with the Panthers last month, but was waived a couple of days later. He spent time with the Jets, Packers and Cardinals after going undrafted out of Cincinnati last year.
Bartlett played in two games for Arizona and saw action on 35 special teams snaps before ending the season on their practice squad. He signed a future contract with the Panthers in January.
Patterson signed with the Jaguars after going undrafted this April.
Panthers rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell’s season is officially over.
The Panthers announced that Brazzell has been placed on injured reserve as a result of the knee injury he suffered at practice on Wednesday.
Brazzell will have surgery to repair his lateral collateral ligament. A third-round pick from Tennessee, Brazzell was a first-team All-SEC selection last year who was expected to make an impact as a rookie, but now he’ll spend the year rehabbing to prepare for the 2027 season.
With their open roster spot, the Panthers signed tight end Chamon Metayer, who originally signed with the Steelers as an undrafted rookie in April but was cut by Pittsburgh in June.
Word on Wednesday was that Panthers rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell would miss up to eight weeks after tearing his LCL during practice, but his absence from the field is set to be even longer.
Joe Person of TheAthletic.com reports that Brazzell received a second opinion about the knee injury and that he and the team concluded that the best course of action is for the third-round pick to have season-ending surgery.
Brazzell is the second Panthers player to suffer a serious knee injury since camp opened last week. Linebacker Nic Scourton will miss the season with a torn ACL. The Panthers also placed wide receiver Dan Chisena on injured reserve this week.
The Panthers have signed wideouts Casey Washington and Gabriel Benyard over the last two days. They join Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, John Metchie, Jimmy Horn, Brycen Tremaine, David Moore, and Ainias Smith as available options at wideout.
The Panthers announced the signing of a wide receiver for the second time in as many days.
Gabriel Benyard is the newest member of the team’s receiving corps. Benyard tried out for the team on Wednesday.
Benyard was undrafted out of Kennesaw State this year and he spent time on the Bills’ roster before being dropped in June. He recorded 60 catches for 949 yards and nine touchdowns last season.
The Panther signed veteran Casey Washington on Wednesday, which was also when rookie wideout Chris Brazzell injured his knee in practice. Brazzell is expected to miss a good chunk of time with an LCL injury and the Panthers placed receiver Dan Chisena on injured reserve this week as well.
The Panthers saw a wide receiver go down with an injury at Wednesday’s practice and they added another player to the position group later in the day.
Casey Washington is the new addition to the depth chart. The Panthers announced the move hourse after third-round pick Chris Brazzell was carted off with what’s reported to be a torn LCL.
Washington was a 2024 sixth-round pick by the Falcons and he was released by Atlanta last month. He had seven catches for 108 yards in 15 appearances for the Falcons over the last two years.
The Panthers placed wide receiver and special teamer Dan Chisena on injured reserve in a corresponding move.
Panthers rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell was injured in Wednesday’s training camp practice and it looks like he’s going to be out for an extended period of time.
Brazzell went down during a 7-on-7 drill and had to be carted off the field. Joe Person of TheAthletic.com reports that the third-round pick suffered an LCL tear that is expected to keep him out for up to eight weeks.
Head coach Dave Canales said that Brazzell was held out of a couple of earlier practices because of knee soreness, although Person reports that the injury is not believed to be related to the previous issue.
“It was just something that kind of started to get sore after the first couple of days, and then we just, he mentioned it to us,” Canales said, via the team’s website. “We started to look at it and we put him through some good recovery stuff and de-loaded him for a couple of days, got him back out there, and he couldn’t finish the day.”
The Panthers saw linebacker Nic Scourton go down with a torn ACL during practice last week, so it has been a rough start to camp on both sides of the ball for Carolina.
