Carolina Panthers place RB Chuba Hubbard on season-ending IR, sign quarterback

Chuba Hubbard’s career season is coming to an early end.

The Carolina Panthers’ starting running back is heading to the injured reserve list for the final two games of the season, the team announced on Saturday.

Hubbard was listed as questionable with injuries to his knee and calf on Friday. Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Friday he hoped those listed as questionable would be able to play.

The 2021 fourth-round draft pick is Carolina’s best player and a leader on the offense, and with several players banged up — including starting right tackle Taylor Moton (knee/doubtful) — the risk of playing Hubbard without the playoffs on the line likely factored into the Panthers’ decision to shut him down for the final two games. Hubbard practiced on a limited basis Friday, and after feeling some pain, the team said he received an MRI Friday night that revealed a Grade 2 calf strain.

The Panthers announced Saturday afternoon that they signed veteran running back Mike Boone from the practice squad to share the backfield load with returner Raheem Blackshear and receiver-turned-running back Velus Jones Jr.

Miles Sanders, the team’s second-string running back at the start of the season, went on IR with an ankle injury Week 10 and hasn’t returned to action.

That Hubbard’s season is over is especially difficult considering the milestones he’s reached. His 1,195 rushing yards rank sixth in the NFL. His 250 carries rank seventh. His 10 touchdowns rank 11th. And that goes without mentioning the franchise history Hubbard has crested the past few weeks: Last week, per the Panthers’ game notes, Hubbard earned his 21st career rushing touchdown — ranking him fifth in Panthers history in rushing scores. A week prior, against the Cowboys, Hubbard became only one of six players to be part of the Panthers’ 3,000-yard rushing club, too.

The Edmonton native signed a four-year deal worth a base value of $33.2 million with the Panthers last month.

This is far from the last injury decision the Panthers will have to make as the season begins its conclusion. Canales is monitoring the injury statuses of several notable players. That includes linebacker Josey Jewell (concussion/out this week), Moton (knee/doubtful), CB Jaycee Horn (hip/doubtful) and a handful of other players listed as “questionable,” which includes Xavier Legette (hip/wrist).

Rookie CB Chau-Smith Wade, listed with an illness and chest injury, has too been moved to the injured reserve list. He was originally listed Friday as “out.”

Panthers sign quarterback Jack Plummer

So the Panthers did a lot Saturday: They signed Boone; they put Hubbard and Smith-Wade on IR.

The other notable transaction? They signed quarterback Jack Plummer from the practice squad to the 53-man active roster.

Plummer has spent all of 2024 up until this point on the Panthers’ practice squad. The undrafted rookie out of Louisville played a bulk of the preseason and struggled in his three outings. He also has been elevated from the practice squad to the active roster once this year — at Denver, when Andy Dalton’s thumb sprain kept him out — but did not play.

Bryce Young popped up on the injury report this week with a hamstring injury. Young is still expected to play, however — the second-year QB was given no injury designation on Friday.

The Panthers have also elevated defensive end DeShawn Williams from the practice squad.

Luke Kuechly, Steve Smith finalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame selection

Some other NFL news broke on Saturday morning — and it involved some of the most well-known names in Panthers history.

Former Panthers Jared Allen (DE), Luke Kuechly (LB) and Steve Smith (WR) have been named as finalists in the modern-era player category for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025. The three comprise a fifth of the 15 finalists announced Saturday.

The Class of 2025 will be considered when the HOF’s selection committee meets prior to Super Bowl LIX, and it’ll be unveiled publicly Feb. 6. Julius Peppers became the first player drafted by the Panthers to be inducted into the Hall in Canton, Ohio, this past summer.