The hits keep coming early for the Carolina Panthers pass rush
The Carolina Panthers pass rush keeps taking hits instead of delivering them. They now fear that their star defensive lineman—and possibly the most talented player on an untalented team—may be lost for the season with a meniscus tear in his knee. The injury was suffered during yesterday’s loss to the New Orleans Saints
This kind of injury does require surgery. The recovery from that could, but does not necessarily, extend through the rest of the NFL season. With this news the Panthers pass rush, already possibly the worst in the league, will plumb new depths.
The hope of getting guys like D.J. Wonnum and Amare Barno back from the PUP list in a few weeks is now diminished as they are coming back to a much lesser unit. The impact of this loss on the defense, a unit that was already poorly invested in, cannot be overstated.
The Panthers do not have a backup listed for Derrick Brown at defensive end in the depth chart for their base 3-4 defense. Their four remaining linemen are defensive tackles Shy Tuttle and Nick Thurman and defensive ends A’Shawn Robinson and LaBryan Ray. Look for the team to sign a new body to this position group today.