‘A humbling year’: Ekwonu acknowledges letdown season as Panthers OL leaks sacks in droves
The Panthers’ 26-0 blowout loss Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars was hindered by issues throughout the roster. But the team’s first shutout since 2002 clearly highlighted the offensive line’s year-long struggles with protecting rookie quarterback Bryce Young.
Young was sacked six times for a loss of 45 yards against Jacksonville. Jaguars pass rusher Josh Allen picked up two sacks in the first half to set his team’s franchise record for sacks in a season. The majority of the damage, at least from the outside looking in, came from the left side of the line, where former first-round draft pick, left tackle Ikem Ekwonu, has taken his lumps all season.
“It’s definitely been a humbling year — to say the least,” Ekwonu told The Observer following the game.
Ekwonu, the sixth overall pick in 2022, has given up 10 sacks (including two against Jacksonville) and 41 total pressures this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Ekwonu’s sack allowance is the third-highest total among offensive tackles, while his pressure rate is tied for 14th at his position.
And while Ekwonu, a Matthews native and graduate of Charlotte’s Providence Day, isn’t alone in his struggles — with five different starting left guards and seven different starting right guards rotating like turnstiles on the line — his issues have been the easiest scope out.
Ekwonu, like the rest of the line, has taken heavy criticism as Young has been sacked 59 times in 15 games, which is the second-highest mark in the league. Only Washington Commanders quarterback and Union County native, Sam Howell, has taken more sacks with 61 on the season.
“We gotta play better,” Ekwonu said. “At the end of day, we’ve got a lot of responsibility in our offensive line room, and it’s just a challenge that we need to rise up to every week. And the weeks we don’t do that, it’s obviously disappointing, so we’ve just got to make sure we’re better and kinda just drive the team forward.”
Ekwonu was among the Panthers’ players who said they were looking forward to playing out the season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.
While the line has struggled all year, Ekwonu wants to end on a positive note. He remains on a week-to-week mentality, even as the sack numbers continue to mount.
“Just one week at a time,” Ekwonu said. “We’ve got one more of these things, we’ve just got to everything we can for our brothers, and play the Panthers brand, and be better.”
Quick hits
▪ Pass rusher Marquis Haynes returned to Charlotte Monday after staying overnight in a Jacksonville hospital Sunday to get further evaluation on the concussion he sustained against the Jaguars, the team announced.
Haynes, a Jacksonville native, was carted off the field in the second half after taking a hit to the head on a tackling attempt. Fellow outside linebacker Brian Burns was told that Haynes was doing “OK” after the game. Haynes gave a “thumbs up” to the crowd as he was carted off the field.
▪ Burns sustained a knee injury during the first series of the game. He explained that he took a cut block early in the series and then banged up his knee even more on a third-down sack. Burns had two QB hits and a sack on the opening drive, despite the injury. He also returned to play the rest of the game. Burns said the elbow injury that plagued him earlier in the season had healed and he felt good entering the game. He leads the Panthers with seven sacks through 16 games.
▪ Wide receiver DJ Chark dropped three passes from Young in the fourth quarter on the same drive. Following the game, the former Jaguars playmaker was accountable for his mistakes. While he was clearly frustrated by his performance, he said that he knew he was still a great player. But he also explained he needs to be more consistent to prove that.
When asked if injuries had derailed his momentum throughout most of the season, Chark declined to make that an excuse.
“Nah. It’s not,” Chark said. “It’s just the flow of the game, the flow of the offense. When things are going well, you can really showcase what you can do. When things aren’t going well, it’s hard for anyone to showcase what they can do. So, like last week, things was going well from an offensive standpoint, you can kinda show what you can do. Today, things weren’t going well, so it’s kinda hard to show what you can do.”
▪ Linebacker Frankie Luvu sustained a black eye and bloody nose after taking a hit to the face in the first half against Jacksonville. He returned on the next series and played throughout the game, even making an impressive leaping tackle on a run play.
“Frank’s a warrior, man,” Burns said. “He’s a warrior. Like when he first went down, all I seen was blood, and I thought it was his nose. So I was asking, ‘Is it his nose?’ And they were like, ‘No, he got poked in the eye.’ I was like, ‘Oh (expletive).’ But it was his nose that was bleeding.”
▪ The NFL announced that the Panthers’ final game of the season will take place at 1 p.m. at Bank of America Stadium on Sunday against the Buccaneers (8-8). Tampa Bay is competing to win the NFC South division title as the New Orleans Saints (7-9) face off against the Atlanta Falcons (7-9).
