Injury updates for Carolina Panthers, including Austin Corbett, Jonathon Brooks and more

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The Carolina Panthers’ trainers room is going to be quite busy for the foreseeable future.

During Sunday’s blowout loss to the Chicago Bears, the Panthers had several players go down with injuries. The banged-up bunch included the likes of Austin Corbett (biceps), Tommy Tremble (concussion), Taylor Moton (triceps), Jadeveon Clowney (shoulder) and Xavier Legette (shoulder).

On Monday, head coach Dave Canales offered some updates on those injured starters. He also gave progress reports on a few players who remain on injury lists heading into Week 6’s home matchup with the Atlanta Falcons.

Panthers injuries: Austin Corbett out for the season

Corbett got the worst news of the bunch on Monday. The starting center has a torn biceps and will undergo surgery that will sideline him for the remainder of the campaign.

Corbett’s surgery will be his third operation in two years. He previously tore his ACL in the 2022 season-ending matchup against the New Orleans Saints. He then tore his MCL in 2023 after returning for four games in the middle of the season.

The latest procedure will involve his left arm and is a similar injury to what teammate and immediate replacement at center, Brady Christensen, dealt with last season.

“My heart is with Austin,” Canales said. “We had some good conversations, and I just really appreciate him for getting this thing starting to go in the right direction just with his attitude and the way he approaches things, so a big loss there.”

Christensen replaced Corbett at center during Sunday’s loss to the Bears. But Christensen has yet to start a regular-season game at the position.

The 2021 third-round pick worked at center, guard and offensive tackle throughout the summer and training camp. He has played left tackle, right tackle, left guard and right guard in games during his career from high school to college and then through the first four seasons of his NFL career.

Canales thought Christensen played well in his small sample size of 19 snaps on Sunday in Chicago.

“Brady, except for the one snap that was really hot on Andy (Dalton) there, besides that he was really clean with handling those things,” Canales said. “But that’s certainly just the communication part of it.”

Moton’s game streaks will end

Moton has started 104 consecutive games in the NFL. He has played in all 120 games of his NFL career since being drafted by the Panthers in the second round of the 2017 draft.

But, according to Canales, both of those streaks will end in Week 6 against the Atlanta Falcons. Swing tackle Yosh Nijman will start in his place at the right tackle spot.

Canales said it is unclear when Moton will be able to return from his triceps injury.

“They gave us a big window,” Canales said.

Nijman signed a two-year, $8 million deal in free agency in March. He was brought in to serve as premium insurance for both Ikem Ekwonu at left tackle and Moton at right tackle.

After spending the bulk of the summer on the physically unable to perform list, he was activated in time for Week 1’s matchup against the New Orleans Saints. He has mostly played on special teams over the past five weeks.

However, Nijman replaced Moton on Sunday and played 31 snaps in the blowout loss to Chicago.

“I thought that Yosh showed that he’s a big, athletic guy,” Canales said. “He’s what we thought coming in here to have a good swing tackle just in case something happens, and he’s progressed really nicely, just working through some of the preseason physical things that he was kind of getting his legs back underneath him. And he stepped him, and I thought he did a solid job.”

Canales said Legette and Clowney — both dealing with shoulder injuries — are day-to-day heading into the matchup with the Falcons. Tight end Tommy Tremble has been placed in concussion protocol after leaving the game in Chicago after a scary collision that caused a fumble.

Rookie center Andrew Raym, who missed Sunday’s matchup, remains in the league’s concussion protocol as well, per Canales.

Updates on Jonathon Brooks, Dane Jackson

Canales believes that rookie running back Jonathon Brooks and pass rusher D.J. Wonnum are close to returning to the practice field.

The head coach declined to offer a timeline for either player, but he did indicate that their practice windows could open up in the near future.

Brooks, who is on the reserve/non-football injury list, and Wonnum, who is on the reserve/physically unable to perform list, have both been signed since they joined the squad in the offseason.

“I would say DJ and Jonathon are really close,” Canales said. “Obviously, we get excited about guys who can come back and help us. But at the same time, we gotta do what’s right for the player, first and foremost, and then for the team after that. And so it’s getting really close.”

Cornerback Dane Jackson (hamstring) and tight end Ian Thomas (calf), who still have two weeks remaining within their practice window on injured reserve, are both making progress, according to Canales.

“We’re really close there: Dane and Ian both had solid weeks,” Canales said. “This week is really crucial for those two guys to get out there, to show good movement skills and confidence, just playing football.

“Football movements, leaning on people, making plays, all that stuff. As you can imagine, the return to play aspect involves everything but the full-speed covering, the full-speed blocking and setting edges. And so this is a huge week to evaluate those guys.”

Quick hits

▪ Canales clarified his logic on playing second-year QB Bryce Young in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Canales initially said he wanted to protect starting QB Andy Dalton after being forced to make offensive line changes due to injury.

Here is what he said about the move when asked to clarify by The Observer on Monday:

“The logic was this: The game is out of hand, this is an opportunity to get Bryce in there and let him play football. And we had some time on the clock, and the cool part was, we manufactured a pretty good drive out of that, and we were able to get some valuable reps.

“And that’s really always my approach and thought process as we go into things. What does this game look like? Going into the end of it, are we within reach of working ourselves back in? If not, are there people we can get valuable reps. Jalen Coker having some nice plays in that situation. And obviously Bryce being able to go out there with his guys to go out there and play ball.”

▪ Wide receiver Jalen Coker led the Panthers in receiving with four catches on four targets for 68 yards on Sunday. The first of those four went for 31 yards. It was also the undrafted rookie’s first catch of his NFL career. He said Monday that he didn’t keep the football of his first catch. “Only touchdowns,” he said.

▪ Cornerback Jaycee Horn said that he felt like the Bears were extra rough with him following the final touchdown scored by Chicago running back Roschon Johnson in the fourth quarter. Horn retaliated with a shove, and he was immediately ejected from the game, along with Bears offensive lineman Matt Pryor. Horn said he appreciated his defensive teammates sticking up for him in the scrum with the Bears’ linemen.

Alex Zietlow contributed to this report.