Jonathon Brooks sustained season-ending knee injury vs. Eagles, Panthers confirm
The worst is true for Jonathon Brooks and the Carolina Panthers.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters on Monday that Brooks tore the ACL in his right knee, ending the rookie running back’s season and confirming the devastating suspicions of all who saw him fall to the ground without getting hit in the first half of Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The news comes three weeks after Brooks made his NFL debut. The second-round pick spent all of training camp and the preseason on the non-football injury (NFI) list and was sidelined during the regular season until Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs. His delay was a result of an extended recovery from the ACL tear he sustained in his same right knee in November 2023 while at Texas.
“He’s going to have surgery to repair that at some point, we’re working on all that,” Canales said. “My heart is with him. The amount of hard work that he put in to get back to this place, to get him to play. So he’s heartbroken. I’m heartbroken. The whole group is just feeling for him. So we’ll be here every step of the way with him, supporting him through this journey. He knows how to do this. He’ll be able to attack it. His focus is just going to shift in terms of what he’s competing for.
“And so, again, it’s definitely hard on JB right now. All of our thoughts are with him.”
Canales said that there was no other damage to the knee beyond the ACL tear, which was discovered after an MRI on Monday morning. When asked if 2026 is the realistic goal for Brooks’ return, Canales said: “I really don’t know. They gotta get in there and look at all of it. I’m sure we’ll have more information coming out of surgery and all that.”
Brooks’ injury came in the first quarter on his first rushing attempt Sunday. He received a handoff and tried to cut outside but instead fell to the ground for a 3-yard loss. He initially got up limping, favoring his right leg, but couldn’t make it to the sideline before returning to the grass again.
Trainers and fellow running back Chuba Hubbard surrounded him as he sat on the ground. Brooks then went into the blue medical tent before being carted off the field and into the locker room. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game — and afterward, Canales said the team was “still gathering a bunch of information” and that they’re “going to have to do a bunch more imaging before we can make a declaration on what’s happening there.”
What makes the injury more painful — for Brooks and the Panthers alike — is that the NFL team in Carolina is starting to turn a corner. The past three weeks have resulted in losses but have also been replete with hope: of a second-year quarterback dazzling in crunch time, of a defense playing up to its competition, of a backfield that living up to its promise — between 1,000-yard rusher Hubbard (the present) and Brooks (the future).
Brooks, in particular, has shown a lot of potential in his three NFL games. He’d produced 22 yards and 23 receiving yards on 12 total touches. Against the Bucs last week, Brooks touched the ball five straight times in a third-quarter drive that was punctuated by a field goal.
The Panthers played with only one healthy running back — Hubbard — by the second half of Sunday’s game. Brooks and third-string back/first-string returner Raheem Blackshear went down in the first half. Miles Sanders, who’d occupied the RB2 spot before Brooks’ return to football, remains on the injured reserve list after an ankle injury he suffered against the Giants.
When asked about the future of the Panthers’ running back room, Canales indicated Mike Boone will be elevated from the practice squad. He also said that all options in the free agency market are on the table.
Still, Canales was focused on the future of Brooks.
“I’m thinking about him,” Canales said. “This is not about the Panthers. This is about Jonathon Brooks and his journey back to playing football. And that’s the part when you see a guy work so hard, to work his way back onto the field, the excitement that comes with it, my heart just goes with him and knowing that he knows the process.
“He knows the road that he has to get back out there, and the challenges that come with it. But again, at this point now, it’s also an advantage for him to be able to lean on the things he knows he’s gotta do.”
Chuba Hubbard crushes 1,000-yard rushing milestone
Perhaps the guy on the team hurt most by the Brooks news outside of Brooks himself is Hubbard — the veteran who considers Brooks a little brother, who sees a lot of himself in Brooks four years ago, when Hubbard was a mere rookie finding his way.
Hubbard, naturally, was despondent Monday morning.
“Obviously, your mind wants to go a bunch of different places, but you just turn to God in these type of moments,” Hubbard said when asked about Brooks. “JB’s resilient, he’ll be alright, he’ll fight back. I know he’s hurting, but we got his back right now. That’s most important. And like I said, when adversity hits, for me especially, I just turn to God. And I know he’ll do the same, and like I said, he’ll be back better than ever.”
Monday made for a difficult balance: Hubbard finished Sunday with 92 yards and a touchdown rushing — enough to see him crest the 1,000-yard rushing mark on the season. That’s the first time he’s done so in his four-year career. The starting running back now has 1,011 yards with four games left.
Hubbard, despite not getting favorable early returns on the Pro Bowl voting last week, has been running like one of the best running backs in the league. The Panthers noticed and committed to Hubbard long-term earlier this year by virtue of a four-year deal worth a base value of $33.2 million, with $15 million in guaranteed money, The Observer previously reported.
His eight rushing touchdowns is ninth in the NFL among running backs, per PFF. He also has accrued 730 of his rushing total after contact. (He didn’t know the yards-after-contact stat, by the way, until prompted by it. He responded with a smile and humility, saying that his success is a product of a great offensive line.)
“It’s a tribute to the group, to the commitment to it,” Canales said. “It starts up front with the offensive line, with the run game and the growth in it. ... And then goes to Chuba’s commitment to running our system the way it’s supposed to be run, and really making some great effort plays, which showed up again yesterday. A great thing there.
“But to me, the goal isn’t ever to rush for 1,000 yards. The goal is to win games. And that’s ultimately what the guys care about too.”
Did Xavier Legette wrist injury impact that last drop?
Xavier Legette’s drop that would’ve put the Panthers ahead with less than a minute left in the game Sunday was still the talk of Monday morning. Legette told The Observer among other media earlier this year that he had aggravated a wrist injury he sustained in college.
Canales shared what he knew of Legette’s health on Monday.
“He had an old injury,” Canales said. “It hasn’t been an issue. He’s been playing ball. And he’ll be the first one to tell you, he’ll come up here and say, ‘I gotta make that catch.’ That’s what we’re counting on. Went right to him afterward and said, ‘Hey man, it was a beautiful route. Let’s find ways to finish this. And I know he will get that done.’ He’s been playing so hard for us, so counting on him.”
Quick hits
▪ Raheem Blackshear didn’t return to play against the Eagles after sustaining a first-half injury Sunday. Canales said the reserve running back and kick returner is day-to-day and that he was taken to a Philadelphia hospital as a precaution: “Anytime there’s an injury and there’s chest pain involved, I think that’s the smartest thing. I’m not an expert, but I know from a medical standpoint they want to get him there to rule out something serious. And it turned out to be a blunt force contusion to the chest area. But he’s day-to-day, and we’ll take him through the process to see if we can get him out there.”
▪ Jaycee Horn suffered a groin injury, and Canales said that he “checked out pretty good” in comparison to the worst-case scenario. Canales added of his top cornerback: “But again, we just gotta take it day by day to see what his availability will be like.”
▪ Jalen Coker was inactive against the Eagles after being questionable going into Sunday. Canales said he’s “hoping to get him back out there this week,” as the undrafted rookie is having a solid year — to the tune of 17 receptions for 263 yards and a touchdown in seven games played.
This story was originally published December 9, 2024 at 2:04 PM.
