Panthers coach shares hopeful injury update on Robert Hunt, Bryce Young
There was a lot of joy to go around uptown Charlotte on Sunday after the Carolina Panthers beat divisional foe Tampa Bay and maintained control of their playoff fate by doing so.
And on Monday, head coach Dave Canales shared more positive news.
Canales told reporters that Robert Hunt, the team’s Pro Bowl offensive lineman a year ago, could very well be making his return to the practice field after a 14-week hiatus due to a significant biceps injury.
“We’re really excited,” Canales said of Hunt’s potential return. “He’s making progress. That’s a real possibility for this week, to see if we can get him out there in a capacity to do some individual drills, to start leaning on people. He’s worked his way into that area.”
If Hunt is cleared to practice, his 21-day practice window will officially open. That means Hunt will remain on IR — and not take up a roster slot on the 53-man roster — but can be activated to the full roster at any time.
Robert Hunt’s injury recovery
Hunt hurt his left bicep back in September, in the fourth quarter of the Panthers’ Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. He was moved to the injured reserve shortly thereafter. Canales told reporters at the time that while he didn’t have a specific timetable, he was hopeful that the injury was not the end of Hunt’s season. A month later, when asked about Hunt, the second-year head coach’s optimism for Hunt’s return had only appeared to grow. Canales said Hunt was “ahead of schedule” in his recovery, adding, “I’ve noticed over the years that guys who believe they heal fast end up healing fast.”
Now, this week, that might come to fruition.
Hunt’s return would be a nice boon to the offensive line, which as of Sunday’s Week 16 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs has had 11 different starting offensive line combinations through 15 games. That said, the unit has been remarkably steady still. That is thanks to Austin Corbett filling the right guard spot with aplomb; with Cade Mays having a consistent season at center; with Damien Lewis having a potentially Pro Bowl-level season at left guard and with Ickey Ekwonu (left tackle) and Taylor Moton (right tackle) each being available and solid on the outside.
“I know we’ve been talking about this for weeks,” Canales said of Hunt. “And that’s something that we’re really excited about potentially doing this week. We’re not 100% sure, but we’re going to have to make that decision here in the next couple of days.”
Here’s what else Canales said Monday.
Bryce Young, after playing through pain, is good to go
Canales was also quick to share a positive update on Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. Canales said Young is expected to be a full participant throughout this week despite appearing to hurt his right ankle on Sunday.
“That’s the plan right now,” Canales said of Young’s availability.
Yes, this is the same ankle that sidelined him against the Jets (for a quarter) and Bills (for the whole game) and pained him during the second Falcons game. The latest pain was inflicted in the first half against the Bucs when right guard Corbett stepped on it while Young was under center.
Young played through the pain and finished with a great stat line Sunday nonetheless: 21 of 32 for 191 yards and two touchdowns and no interceptions; he added four carries for 20 yards, too, and was evading blitzers a ton on Sunday as well.
Here’s what Canales saw on the Corbett-Young entanglement on Sunday that appeared to re-injure Young’s ankle.
“Just the timing of it (was off),” Canales said. “We were a little tight there. You can’t drop step when you’re on the offensive line in those situations. You got to be firm at the line of scrimmage. And then Bryce just coming away from center on some of the play-actions, you can get a little bit more depth on the first step.
“So it’s a little bit of a combination of both things. It’s something we certainly can’t have, and it starts up front by neutralizing the line of scrimmage so we can get the play started.”
Other Panthers injuries to monitor
Ickey Ekwonu, the Panthers’ starting left tackle, was listed as questionable with a knee ailment heading into Sunday’s game but ultimately couldn’t play against the Bucs — though Canales said Ekwonu was “really close” to being healthy enough to play.
Yosh Nijman played in his stead, and did so well, Canales said.
“I thought Yosh did an excellent job for us,” Canales said. “He was solid in the run game, covering people up. In the pass game, he gave us enough time. They got a couple edges on him, but for the most part, he gave us a chance to play winning football. I’m really proud of Yosh and the way he stepped in.”
Others to keep track of include inside linebacker Trevin Wallace (shoulder, out vs. Bucs), defensive lineman Turk Wharton (hamstring, out vs. Bucs) and wide receiver David Moore (elbow). The veteran wideout saw his practice window open up last week, but he remained on the injured reserve instead of being activated to the 53-man roster. How Moore factors into the team’s roster puzzle these last two regular-season games will be interesting.
Quick hits
- Young reached several quarterback milestones Sunday. Among them: He now has 21 touchdown tosses on his season, a career high, and now has 12 career game-winning drives, the most in the NFL since 2023 and the second-most by a QB under the age of 25. Only Justin Herbert of the Chargers (13) has more, according to the Panthers’ game notes.
- Baker Mayfield, after getting out to a hot start, finished with just 145 total passing yards Sunday. That marked his third-lowest yardage of the season. His bottom two: 122 yards against the Saints in Week 14 and 41 yards against the Rams Week 12 (though he exited that Week 12 contest with an injury early). When asked Sunday after the game if the Panthers deployed any specific game plan to stunt Mayfield and the Bucs offense, safety Tre’Von Moehrig shook his head: “Nope. We just executed.”
Pro Bowl rosters will be announced Tuesday
The fan vote for the Pro Bowl has concluded and been tallied up ... and the Panthers are represented well. Among the Panthers receiving votes: Jaycee Horn (second among CBs), Derrick Brown (third among DTs), Damien Lewis (eighth among Gs), Rico Dowdle (ninth among RBs), JJ Jansen (sixth among LSs) and Tetairoa McMillan (10th among WRs).
The AFC and NFC player rosters for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games will be announced Tuesday at 10 a.m. Selections were determined by the combined votes of fans, players and coaches, with each group’s vote counting as one-third of the overall tally, according to a release from the NFL.
“We’ll announce it as a group,” Canales said of Pro Bowl results. “And we’ll celebrate that together. The reason we like to do that is because while certain guys may get recognition, it’s always going to come down to: This is a team effort. And when you win games, you get notoriety. And we see that happen around the league. ...
“We celebrate as a group. And it’s not a huge focus of what we’re doing, to be honest. But it’s something to celebrate, and we really appreciate those moments.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 3:39 PM.
