The Panthers will have a new head coach for their Week Six visit to Los Angeles and they are likely to have a new quarterback as well.
Baker Mayfield was in a walking boot after Sunday’s loss to the 49ers and Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that tests show that he suffered a high-ankle sprain. That injury almost always causes players to miss time and the Panthers need only look at Sam Darnold on their injured reserve list as a reminder of that.
Darnold has been out for six weeks, but it is not clear how long Mayfield might be out at this point. At the very least, it looks like the team will be preparing P.J. Walker to start against the Rams this week.
That’s not an ideal situation for interim head coach Steve Wilks, who took over for the fired Matt Rhule on Monday, to make his debut, but ideal situations and interim head coaches are rarely found in the same place.