The Carolina Panthers offense finally woke up in their Week 3 win over the Las Vegas Raiders, thanks in large part to Andy Dalton replacing Bryce Young under center. The team will look to keep up the positive momentum against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 4, but if they can’t they could get some help in the near future from rookie running back Jonathon Brooks.
Brooks suffered a torn ACL in his final collegiate season with the Texas Longhorns, and he has been recovering from the surgery he underwent over the offseason. As a result, he was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list to start the season, but it sounds like he’s been putting in some good work behind the scenes, with a return to the practice field seemingly in the cards this week.
Via Jeremy Fowler:
“Jonathon Brooks (NFI, knee) has been running and cutting well behind the scenes. He’s eligible to start practicing Week 5 and could get back in the mix soon, though no firm determination yet. But he’s trending positively.”
Panthers offense could get big boost from Jonathon Brooks
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Brooks had a strong season in 2023 with Texas prior to his injury (187 CAR, 1139 YDS, 10 TD, 25 REC , 286 YDS, 1 TD), and it was enough to convince the Panthers to use the 46th overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft on him, even though he was coming off a serious injury. And while Brooks isn’t going to play in Week 4, he could conceivably return in the next few weeks.
While Carolina has Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders leading their running back room currently, Brooks’ clearly has the potential to become one of the top running backs in the entire league. Of course, that’s contingent on how he looks when he returns to the field, so while the Panthers are optimistic about his health for the time being, you can bet they are still going to err on the side of caution with their rookie running back, even as he nears a return to action.
Owen Crisafulli is a Senior Editor and NFL Lead at ClutchPoints, who also covers the NBA and MLB. He recently received his Masters in Business Administration from Nichols College. Previously, he obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Sport Management, ran his own website, and had bylines at FanSided and the Basketball Network.
