The Carolina Panthers are in the doldrums of the NFL, sitting at 1-7 on the season entering Week 9. Given that standing, they'll need to look for smaller victories, which can come via the emergence of some building blocks for the future. And they could see one of those as soon as this weekend.
On Wednesday, rookie running back Jonathon Brooks was a full participant at practice, which is paving the way for him to potentially make his NFL debut on Sunday against New Orleans.
"We've got to look at him for the full week," Canales said of Brooks during his Wednesday presser, via ESPN. "Again, Jonathon first. Thinking about him, making sure that he's confident and ready to go, so we're going to stack up a few more days here before we make that decision."
Brooks has been on injured reserve for the entire season due to an ACL injury he suffered at college. Despite that injury, the 21-year-old was still a second-round pick of the Panthers in the 2024 NFL Draft (No. 46 overall). When healthy, Brooks showed dynamic ability at Texas, rushing for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns during his final collegiate season.
Currently, the Panthers backfield is led by Chuba Hubbard, but Brooks could soon factor into that equation and rival for snaps, if not overtake the job entirely by season's end.