Linebacker Claudin Cherelus will miss at least four Panthers games due to the shoulder injury he suffered in Week 2.
Cherelus was ruled out for this week on Friday and he was placed on injured reserve Saturday. He had one tackle while playing 36 special teams snaps in the first two weeks of the season.
The Panthers filled the opening on their roster by signing linebacker Maema Njongmeta off of their practice squad. He had 10 tackles in 15 games for the Panthers last season.
The Panthers also elevated wide receiver Chris Moore and running back Anthony Tyus for Sunday’s game against the Browns. Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette are both listed as questionable at receiver while Tyus will help fill the void left by Jonathon Brooks’s move to injured reserve this week.
Panthers Clips
The Browns may be without two of their key defensive starters for their 2026 home opener against the Panthers.
Cleveland has listed cornerback Tyson Campbell and safety Grant Delpit as questionable for Week 3.
Campbell had been limited on Wednesday and Thursday with an ankle injury. The team added a knee injury to the report on Friday, with Campbell again a limited participant.
Delpit was limited all week with a shoulder injury.
“They went through practice today and we’ll see where they’re at,” Monken said Friday, via Kelsey Russo of the team’s website. “They [did] a little work here post-practice, but we’re hopeful they’ll be able to go.”
Additionally, the Browns ruled out guard Teven Jenkins with a back injury. He did not practice this week.
Devin Lloyd won’t be winning back-to-back NFL defensive player of the year awards.
The Panthers linebacker was honored for his two-interception performance in last Sunday’s blowout win over the Falcons, but he will not be in the lineup against the Browns this weekend. Lloyd missed his third straight practice on Friday with a calf injury and the team has ruled him out.
Wide receivers Jalen Coker (ankle) and Xavier Legette (knee) returned for limited practices on Friday and are listed as questionable for Sunday.
Linebacker Claudin Cherelus (shoulder) and safety Nick Scott (rib) are the other two Panthers who have been ruled out this week.
A couple of key Panthers players saw their practice participation move in different directions on Thursday.
Wide receiver Jalen Coker missed practice with an ankle injury. He was listed as a limited participant on Wednesday. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips (back) missed that practice, but he was a full participant on Thursday.
Coker’s fellow wideout Xavier Legette (knee) was not on Wednesday’s report, but he also missed practice. Linebacker Devin Lloyd (calf), safety Nick Scott (rib), and linebacker Claudin Cherelus (shoulder) missed practice for the second straight day.
Defensive tackle Bobby Brown (back), linebacker Patrick Jones (back), and tight end Darren Waller (rest) were listed as full participants in practice.
Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd was named the NFC defensive player of the week on Wednesday, but he wasn’t on the practice field later in the day.
Lloyd did not take part in practice due to a calf injury. The issue did not stop him from intercepting two passes and returning one of them for a touchdown during Carolina’s blowout win over the Falcons in Week 2.
The Panthers were also missing Jaelan Phillips. The pass rusher was out with a back injury and head coach Dave Canales said that both players are day-to-day heading into their Week 3 game against the Browns.
Linebacker Claudin Cherelus (shoulder), safety Nick Scott (rib), and tight end Darren Waller (rest) were out of practice as well. Wide receiver Jalen Coker (ankle) was a limited participant while defensive tackle Bobby Brown (back) and linebacker Patrick Jones (back) fully participated.
When Deshaun Watson was last on the field in Cleveland for a preseason game, he was serenaded with boos from the home crowd that he called “disrespectful” and “personal” in a postgame press conference.
In the month since that game, Watson has been named the Browns’ starting quarterback and he played one of his best games since coming to Cleveland to lead the team to a win in Tampa in Week 2. That ensured he would remain in the lineup for the team’s home opener against the Panthers this Sunday and he was asked at a Wednesday press conference about the reception he expects to receive.
Watson said “we’re past” the August unpleasantness and said there’s “great energy” around the team that he expects will remain in place when they hit the field this weekend.
“I don’t ever try to go to war with the fans,” Watson said, via 92.3 The Fan. “Ready for support, ready to feel their energy, ready to get this big [win] for the city of Cleveland and continue this great feeling we have this week. That’s my motto is just keep pushing forward and finding ways to win on Sunday. Take advantage of the opposing team and get a W.”
The Week 2 win might provide Watson with a different reaction than he got the last time he played in front of Browns fans, but the dismal overall results of the trade that brought him to Cleveland means that it probably won’t take much for those good feelings to disappear and the boos to start raining down once again. That may not be how Watson or the Browns would like things to be, but it is the bed they’ve made and it will take more than one win to erase all that’s gone down in the past.
Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd has been recognized for his big game against the Falcons in Week 2.
The NFL has named Lloyd NFC defensive player of the week.
Lloyd had nine tackles, two interceptions — including a pick-six — two tackles for loss, and a sack in the 34-3 victory.
According to the league, Lloyd is the fifth linebacker with a sack and two interceptions, with one returned for a touchdown, in a single game since 1982.
This is the second time Lloyd has won a defensive player of the week award. He also earned the honor last year for his Week 4 performance with Jacksonville.
Christian McCaffrey joined some elite company on Sunday.
McCaffrey ran for two touchdowns in the 49ers’ win over the Dolphins, giving him 100 touchdowns in his career and 50 as a 49er. It made him just the third player in NFL history to score at least 50 touchdowns with two different franchises.
Previously, Marshall Faulk scored 85 touchdowns with the Rams and 51 with the Colts, and Randy Moss scored 93 touchdowns with the Vikings and 50 touchdowns with the Patriots.
McCaffrey has some symmetry to his stats with the 49ers and Panthers: He scored 32 rushing touchdowns and 18 receiving touchdowns with both teams.
With 36 career receiving touchdowns, McCaffrey is tied with Faulk for the most ever by a running back. On his next touchdown catch, McCaffrey will have 37, standing alone with the most ever.
The Panthers have made a couple of roster moves official.
With news emerging that Jonathon Brooks will undergo core muscle surgery, Carolina has placed the running back on injured reserve.
He will reportedly miss at least six weeks.
As a corresponding move, the Panthers have signed safety Isaiah Simmons to the 53-man roster from the club’s practice squad.
Carolina had elevated Simmons to the gameday roster for each of the first two games. He has played 80 percent of the club’s special teams snaps.
The Panthers will be on the road to face the Browns in Week 3.
The Panthers will be without Jonathon Brooks for an extended period of time and they’re set to kick the tires on a veteran running back as they work to fill out their backfield in Brooks’s absence.
Austin Ekeler will try out for the club on Wednesday, per a report from Aaron Wilson that has been confirmed by multiple other outlets. Ekeler has not played since tearing his Achilles while with the Commanders last September.
Ekeler was in his second season with Washington after spending his first seven years in the league with the Chargers. He was a dual threat throughout his time with the Chargers, and peaked with 3,195 yards from scrimmage and 38 touchdowns across the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
Brooks is expected to miss more than a month after having core muscle surgery. Chuba Hubbard and AJ Dillon are the other backs on the 53-man roster for Carolina.
