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.
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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.
The NFL Players Association has investigated the circumstances surrounding the recent ACL tear suffered by Panthers linebacker Nic Scourton. And the NFLPA has concluded that the Panthers did nothing wrong.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the NFLPA has reviewed the video of the injury. It confirmed the preliminary conclusion that it was simply an unfortunate injury.
The issue became a proper subject of curiosity given the negotiated limits of the five-day acclimation period. Among other things, it mandates no contact during practice.
Ultimately, it’s one of the basic realities of training camp. A season-ending injury can happen at any time, to any player. And any one injury could potentially alter a team’s prospects for the season.
Depending on the player and the team, it could alter the entire landscape of the coming season.
During his first press conference of training camp, Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan addressed his failure to show up for a youth training camp by saying, “I never committed to that.”
McMillan has since said he shouldn’t have said that.
“During my press conference this past weekend I misspoke about a summer youth camp,” McMillan tweeted. “For clarity, I agreed to host a camp with FlexWork Sports but in February I noticed a conflict in my schedule and notified the FlexWork team of the change in my availability. FlexWork agreed on my behalf and emailed all camp attendees that day offering refunds for those that didn’t want to attend the other camp option.”
The last part conflicts with the reporting regarding the timing of the notification, and regarding the claim from some parents that they never received word that the camp had been canceled.
And so the lesson to be learned is this — if a player commits to a camp (or any other appearance that entails fans paying a fee) and then can’t make it, make sure to follow up with the event organizer to ensure that the cancellation was handled properly. In this case, McMillan dropped the ball when it comes to ensuring that FlexWork Sports didn’t drop the ball.
Last week, Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan said that the team had “no plans” to bring in another quarterback even after the retirement of Will Grier.
But, plans can change.
Carolina is bringing in former Buccaneers backup Kyle Trask for a workout, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.
Trask, a second-round pick in 2021, finished his rookie contract with the Buccaneers before re-signing with the club last offseason. They then released him during roster cuts. Trask then spent time with the Falcons’ practice squad in the second half of the season.
Trask has familiarity with Panthers head coach Dave Canales, who was the Bucs’ offensive coordinator in 2023.
Carolina currently has Kenny Pickett and Haynes King at QB on its roster behind starter Bryce Young.
Next month, linebacker Luke Kuechly will enter the Hall of Fame. The following month, he’ll enter the broadcast booth.
Andrew Marchand of The Athletic reports that Kuechly will be Netflix’s No. 1 game analyst this year.
Kuechly will debut in the land of the kookaburra on September 10, for Netflix’s broadcast of the 49ers-Rams Week 1 contest from Australia.
He auditioned for the job earlier this month, at the NBC Sports studios in Stamford, Connecticut. Per Marchand, Kuechly showed “immediate chemistry” with Noah Eagle, and the Netflix executives liked the idea of bringing a fresh, new name into the booth.
Kuechly will work four games in all this year, since two of the Netflix games will be played on Christmas Day.
And while it’s only four games for 2026, Netflix’s contract runs through 2029. If Netflix decides to jump in the pool for a full-season package as of 2030, Kuechly would be in prime position to be their primary analyst.
The 35-year-old Kuechly has called Panthers radio games, so he has some experience in this space. He’ll step onto a massive platform when he shows up in Melbourne.
Cornerback Jaycee Horn is ready to get on the practice field.
The Panthers announced on Tuesday morning that they have activated Horn from the non-football injury list. Horn landed on the list as camp opened last week due to a cut on his foot.
Horn worked on side fields while the rest of the Panthers practiced last week and Tuesday’s move clears him for a full slate of activities. Tuesday’s practice will be the first fully padded one of the summer for the defending NFC South champions.
Four Panthers remain on the team’s injury lists and offensive tackles Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton are expected to remain out into the regular season.
