Carolina Panthers receiver carted off field after injury on first play vs. Patriots
A veteran Carolina Panthers receiver was carted off the field after just the first play of their Week 4 contest against the New England Patriots.
David Moore took a jet sweep from quarterback Bryce Young and ran 12 yards before getting tackled and lingering on the Gillette Stadium turf. He appeared to get tugged down by Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones by the arm.
The cart then came out to take Moore to the locker room. Moore laid on the flat of his back in the cart’s trunk bed, with a trainer holding his shoulder in place. Panthers teammates went up and appeared to exchange a few words with him once he was loaded into the cart, and then while driving off the field, Moore offered the crowd a thumbs up.
Later, after the first drive was punctuated by a seven-yard touchdown reception by Tommy Tremble, Moore was labeled with an elbow injury. He was initially labeled “questionable” to return, before being downgraded to “out” for the game.
Head coach Dave Canales said after the Panthers 42-13 loss that they will be looking at Moore “week to week” for the forseeable future.
“It was an elbow injury that happened on the first play, which was a really nice run by him, a guy that we’re counting on,” Canales said. “So we’ll be week-to-week with D-Mo.”
Special teams ace Dalevon Campbell served as the team’s fourth receiver in Moore’s injured stead, with sixth-round draft pick rookie Jimmy Horn Jr. inactive for a fourth consecutive week. But even Campbell hurt his hamstring in the first half and was listed as “out” come the first drive of the second half. That left the Panthers with the following receivers active and healthy on Sunday: Tetairoa McMillan, Hunter Renfrow and Brycen Tremayne.
Moore, 30, is the most veteran of the team’s receivers and a reliable punt returner in situations when securing the catch is paramount. He has one catch on one target for five yards on the season.
The 12-yard play was his longest of the year, but he’s been involved in the Panthers’ offense a lot. He played 56 offensive snaps — or 96.6% of offensive snaps — in the Panthers’ Week 3 win over the Falcons.
“Obviously we all feel for D-Mo,” quarterback Bryce Young said postgame. “Obviously what he brings on the field, in the locker room, everything else. He’s such a great energy. Just having that veteran presence and just that joy about ball that he brings every week, obviously when you see that, that’s rough.
“Unfortunately that’s the sad part of the nature of the game. There’s no excuses for anything. Things happen, unfortunately. We have to make sure that we execute. There’s no excuse not to do that.”
Another Panthers starting offensive lineman hurt
Moore’s injury wasn’t the last for the Panthers in the first quarter.
Starting interior offensive lineman Chandler Zavala got hurt on the Panthers’ second drive on Sunday. The third-year guard was already backing up Pro Bowl guard Robert Hunt, who is on the injured reserve after sustaining a biceps injury Week 2.
Practice squad elevation Brandon Walton came in Zavala’s stead initially. Brady Christensen, who has notched considerable playing time in multiple positions along the offensive line for the Panthers, eventually got mixed into the run as well.
This is the third injury along the Panthers’ O-Line this year. On top of Zavala — an N.C. State alum — and Hunt, center Austin Corbett strained his MCL during the team’s Week 2 loss, and is on IR as well.
Canales explained his offensive line rotation after the game Sunday.
“We had a heavy package planned for Brady and then also for Brandon,” Canales said. “The other part is Brady is our backup center, so we went with Brandon first to just make sure that Brady was available in case anything else happened at the center position.
“But we wanted to make sure we came out of this game with Brady having a chance to be out there and play, just kind of looking into the future and the next couple of weeks to see if that’s a place where we’re going to really need him. And so we kind of went with that approach after Brandon had that first series.”
This story was originally published September 28, 2025 at 1:25 PM.
