Panthers offensive tackle Taylor Moton began “thinking the worst” when he coughed up blood in June and a trip to the hospital showed that he had “a multitude of clots” in his right lung.
Moton was put on a course of blood thinners for three months and he was prohibited from playing football during that time, so he has been on the non-football injury list since the start of training camp. Moton completed that treatment and has been told by doctors that he has a “relatively low” chance of dealing with more blood clots in the future, which has opened the door to a return to the field.
Moton’s first step was returning to practice on Tuesday and he broke the team down at the end of the workout. His message was one of thanks for being able to resume his career and continue living his life.
“My message today was, guys, just have an attitude of gratitude,” Moton said, via the team’s website. “Coach [Dave] Canales spoke on that too, man, and that’s just not taking it for granted, you know what I mean? And along with that is just making sure we come in here and you come to work, you do everything the right way, right? You put 100 percent effort and all your preparation, and that’s not just in the building; that’s out of the building with watching film, how you hydrate with your nutrition, with your treatment routine, whatever that is, sticking with that plan, man. And ultimately just that that’s how you show gratitude for this because you never know when that day comes. Honestly, it gave me more gratitude for life in general. Like football, yeah. But just past that, just now I wake up with a new sense of happy to be able to put my feet on this side of the Earth.”
Moton doesn’t know if he will be playing against the Eagles this week, but having the chance to play again at any point is a win after a summer of uncertainty on all fronts.
Panthers Clips
The Eagles won’t issue their injury designations for Week 6 until Friday, but defensive coordinator Vic Fangio all but ruled one member of the defense out on Tuesday.
Linebacker Jalyx Hunt left last Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars with knee and ankle injuries. Fangio said at his weekly press conference, via multiple reporters, that it would be “miraculous” if Hunt is able to play against the Panthers in Week 6.
Hunt had three tackles and a pass defensed against Jacksonville. He has 15 tackles, a tackle for loss and four quarterback hits on the season.
The Eagles played without Jonathan Greenard in Week 5 due to an ankle injury, so they were down to Nolan Smith, Arnold Ebiketie, and A.J. Epenesa on the edge after Hunt’s injury.
Running back Trevor Etienne is on his way back to the Panthers lineup.
The team announced that Etienne has been designated to return from injured reserve. Etienne hurt his ankle in August and became eligible to return to action after Carolina beat the Lions in Week 4, but his 2026 debut had to wait for the team to return from their bye week.
Etienne was a 2025 fourth-round pick and he served as a returner in addition to seeing limited action on offense during his rookie season. Chuba Hubbard and AJ Dillon are the current running backs on the team’s 53-man roster.
The Panthers also announced that they have placed defensive tackle Cam Jackson on injured reserve. Jackson has a shoulder injury.
The Jackson move leaves the Panthers with three open slots on their active roster. They’ve also designated offensive tackle Taylor Moton and defensive lineman Turk Wharton for return this week, so all three could be back for their Week 6 game against the Eagles.
The Panthers are getting a couple of players back on the practice field this week.
Head coach Dave Canales told reporters in his Monday press conference that offensive tackle Taylor Moton and defensive lineman Turk Wharton will have their 21-day practice windows opened this week.
Moton is on the non-football illness list due to blood clots while Wharton is on the physically unable to perform list due to a back injury.
The Panthers are thin on the offensive line, particularly as rookie offensive tackle Monroe Freeling deals with a knee injury.
Additionally, Canales said linebacker Jaelan Phillips has a chance to play against the Eagles on Sunday as he deals with a hamstring injury.
The Lions don’t seem to be the draw they’ve become in recent years. And the Panthers are still struggling to find national footing.
Sunday night’s game between Detroit and Carolina averaged 19.5 million viewers for NBC, per Nielsen.
The first four NBC games of the 2026 season had exceeded 20 million viewers, with the Week 3 Rams-Broncos game attracting 20.8 million viewers.
Sunday night’s game was up against an MLB playoff game between the Atlanta Braves and L.A. Dodgers. The baseball game siphoned 3.33 million viewers away from football.
Regardless, the number for Lions-Panthers suggests that the bloom is off the rose as to the resurgence of Detroit, which became much more of a national attraction in 2023. But Detroit has slipped back toward a middle-of-the-pack team in 2026, and the lack of an intense following seems to reflect that.
Bryce Young is making the most of his bye week.
The Panthers’ quarterback will be the celebrity guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay this Saturday.
The show will be broadcast from Tuscaloosa, Ala., with Georgia taking on Alabama on Saturday night.
Pat McAfee made the announcement about Young on his show on Thursday.
Young played his college ball at Alabama. While he and the Crimson Tide defeated Georgia in the 2021 SEC Championship Game, he then lost to the same program just over a month later in the CFP National Championship Game.
The No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft, Young has been putting everything together so far in 2026. He currently leads the league with 1,268 passing yards, having completed 62.3 percent of his passes. He has nine touchdowns and two interceptions for the 2-2 Panthers.
Panthers receiver Tetairoa McMillan was dominant in Sunday’s victory over the Lions and now the league has recognized him for his performance.
McMillan has been named NFC offensive player of the week.
McMillan caught 14 passes for 192 yards with two touchdowns in the 32-26 victory, setting career highs in both catches and yards.
McMillan is the first receiver in Panthers franchise history to win NFC offensive player of the week.
He tied the Panthers franchise record for receptions in a single game on Sunday.
McMillan will get a chance to rest after so many catches, as he and the Panthers have a Week 5 bye.
The Panthers have a bye in Week 5 and that will give a couple of their injured players a little more time to heal before they are back on the field.
Head coach Dave Canales said at a Monday press conference that they are “hopeful” linebacker Jaelan Phillips and right tackle Monroe Freeling will be able to return for their Week 6 game against the Eagles. Phillips injured his hamstring in Sunday night’s win over the Lions while Freeling injured his knee.
Phillips had one tackle before leaving on Sunday and he has eight tackles and two sacks on the year. Freeling has started all four games this year.
Canales also said that the team expects running back Trevor Etienne (ankle) to return from injured reserve after the bye. Offensive tackle Taylor Moton (blood clots) and defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton (neck) are waiting for medical clearance to return while offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu (knee) is not close to a return at this point.
Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan’s first Sunday night game was one to remember.
Everyone knew that the Panthers would be looking McMillan’s way often as they were missing two other wideouts for their game against the Lions, but that didn’t stop McMillan from posting 14 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns in Carolina’s 32-26 win. While those numbers were just short of franchise records, they were personal bests from the 2025 offensive rookie of the year.
After the game, McMillan searched for reasons to explain why he, quarterback Bryce Young and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik were in such a groove.
“I mean, who knows, maybe just the atmosphere, the prime time moments,” McMillan said, via the team’s website. “Everything just clicked tonight. And obviously Coach [Dave] Canales just harped on it earlier, just, there’s some plays throughout the week that we may not have hit on, but shoot, Brad called it tonight, and Bryce trusted it, and he made good throws, and we converted, so I can’t tell you what happened tonight. Maybe it’s just the Charlotte air.”
Young said he always trusts McMillan to make a play and Sunday night showed that the two players have found the kind of chemistry that can make for a long, fruitful partnership as the centerpieces of the Panthers offense.
On Sunday night, we were all living in Tetairoa McMillan’s world.
Last year’s AP offensive rookie of the year, McMillan put together the best performance of his young career in Week 4, helping the Panthers defeat the Lions 32-26.
McMillan finished the game with 14 catches for 192 yards with two touchdowns — setting single-game career highs in the first two categories.
He caught a 32-yard touchdown in the second quarter and a 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter.
But beyond that, he was quarterback Bryce Young’s go-to receiver all night, making clutch catch after clutch catch.
One of the most impressive came late in the fourth quarter, when he somehow got two feet down while extending at the sideline to convert third-and-14 with an 18-yard reception.
All this came after McMillan was held to just two receptions for 17 yards in last week’s loss to Cleveland.
Chuba Hubbard aided in Carolina’s dominance of the Detroit defense, tallying 122 yards on 20 carries with two touchdowns. That works out to 6.1 yards per attempt.
Young ended the night 29-of-41 for 329 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no interceptions.
In a game that did not feature a turnover, Lions quarterback Jared Goff was 32-of-52 for 412 yards with a touchdown. But the Panthers’ defense was able to fluster Goff enough to keep the Lions off-balance, particularly in key moments. Down by 13 in the fourth quarter, the Lions had a turnover on downs with 7:04 left in the contest deep in Panthers territory.
Then when the Lions got the ball back with 2:06 left down by six, Goff was unable to move the chains for another turnover on downs to effectively end the game.
On the injury front, Panthers rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling exited with a knee injury and did not return. Panthers edge rusher Jaelan Phillips exited with a hamstring injury. Lions cornerback Rock Ya-Sin did not return with a hamstring injury.
Now at 2-2, the Panthers will have their bye in Week 5 before taking on the Eagles in Week 6.
The 2-2 Lions will again be on the road in Week 4 to face the Cardinals.
