Brooks is best viewed as a bench running back who can be drafted starting in Round 10. The first question is whether he can get back to 100% health; the second is whether he can stay on the field. Brooks missed the first half of his rookie year with an ACL injury he suffered in college, then suffered another ACL tear that cost him all of 2025. He's had 18 months to recover from that second surgery, and now we wait to see how close he is to the player the Panthers drafted 46th overall back in 2024. It is worth remembering that Brooks had 1,425 total yards and 11 touchdowns as a 20-year-old at Texas, and averaged 6.2 yards per carry for his college career. If he is 100%, he will be in a committee with Chuba Hubbard at worst and could wrestle the starting job away from the veteran.
Coach Dave Canales said Wednesday he's "very optimistic" Brooks (soreness) will be available for Week 1 against the Bears, Sheena Quick of Fox Sports Radio 1340 reports.
It's unclear if Brooks' soreness is in his surgically-repaired knee or elsewhere, but he's worked off to the side with trainers at practice each of the last two days. While Brooks has drawn a substantial amount of summer hype, Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) is expected to maintain a large role in the Carolina backfield. Neither running back may be a reliable fantasy bet out of the gates against Chicago.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Working off to side Wednesday
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Brooks (soreness) was working off to the side with a trainer during Wednesday's practice, Mike Kaye of ESPN.com reports.
Brooks has been dealing with some soreness in an undisclosed area for the past couple of days, as coach Dave Canales has been vague when describing the running back's issue. There doesn't seem to be any indication Brooks is in danger of missing Week 1 against the Bears in 11 days, but he's going to need to get back on the practice field next week.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Dealing with soreness Tuesday
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Coach Dave Canales said Brooks missed practice Tuesday due to general soreness, Sheena Quick of Fox Sports Radio 1340 reports.
It doesn't sound like anything serious for the 23-year-old running back after he played 20 offensive snaps during the preseason, rushing eight times for 23 yards and one touchdown. He also caught one pass for nine yards. Brooks is expected to work in tandem with Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) this season, but there's a chance the first running back selected in the 2024 NFL Draft can seize the starting role if he can show he's past the knee issues that ruined his first two seasons.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Possible committee with Hubbard
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Coach Dave Canales told reporters Monday that the Panthers will go with a committee Week 1 with Brooks and Chuba Hubbard (hamstring), provided that Hubbard is healthy, per Joe Person of the Athletic.
Hubbard logged a full practice Monday after missing time with a hamstring injury, which suddenly puts Carolina's backfield rotation back in flux. Drafters had been aggressively moving Brooks up the ADP all summer, and that movement took another leap after Hubbard was labeled week-to-week with a hamstring issue Aug. 13. Now, it appears that it will be a timeshare in the Carolina backfield, at least to begin the season. The caveat, of course, will be both backs remaining healthy by the time the season kicks off.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Gets into end zone against Jags
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Brooks carried the ball five times for 18 yards and a touchdown in Friday's 34-17 preseason win over the Jaguars.
With Chuba Hubbard (hamstring) sidelined, Brooks worked with the Panthers' starting offense for the entire first quarter and opened the scoring with a one-yard TD plunge on the team's second possession. Hubbard is expected to be healthy for a Week 1 tilt against the Bears, but in the meantime, Brooks is getting a chance to make his case to take over the starting job in Carolina's backfield.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Gets start in Saturday's preseason loss
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Brooks carried the ball three times for five yards and caught his only target for nine yards in Saturday's 29-14 preseason loss to the Bills.
After sitting out Carolina's preseason opener last week in the Hall of Fame Game, Brooks got the start Saturday while Chuba Hubbard deals with a hamstring issue. Brooks didn't make much of an impact while playing the first three possessions, but the entire first-team offense struggled to move the ball. The first running back off the board in the 2024 draft has appeared in only three NFL games so far as injuries have ruined the start of his career, but the Panthers are confident he can still contribute. Rico Dowdle averaged 16.2 touches a game last season as Hubbard's main backfield partner, but that might be a lofty goal for Brooks' volume, assuming he's able to stay on the field in 2026.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Won't play in HOF Game
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Brooks won't play in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.
The Panthers are holding out starters and key backups, leaving most of the snaps to players who won't end up on the 53-man roster. For Brooks, the question at this point is what his workload split with Chuba Hubbard will look like. Hubbard remains the favorite to start Week 1, but summer buzz around Brooks suggests the Panthers have a significant role for him in mind.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Won't play in 2025 after PUP move
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The Panthers are placing Brooks on the physically unable to perform list, ruling him out for the entire 2025 season.
Players can return from the PUP list when placed on it at the start of training camp or before Week 1, but not if they get the designation this early in the offseason. Brooks tore the ACL in his right knee each of the past two years, bringing his college career to an early conclusion and then limiting his rookie season to three games. The Panthers took him in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft, 46th overall, but they'll now move forward with Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle and Trevor Etienne as the main candidates to take carries in 2025.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Sent to IR
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Carolina placed Brooks (knee) on injured reserve Tuesday, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Brooks' move to IR was fully expected after the 2024 second-round pick suffered a torn ACL in his right knee during Sunday's 22-16 loss to the Eagles. The setback is a devastating one for the 21-year-old running back, who tore the same ligament in the same knee last November during his final collegiate season at Texas. Brooks didn't make his NFL debut until a little over a year after suffering the first ACL tear, so he'll almost certainly open the 2025 season on IR and may not be ready for game action until late in the campaign. He appeared in just three games for Carolina as a rookie, carrying the ball nine times for 22 yards and recording three receptions for 23 yards on three targets.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: To have more tests on knee
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Coach Dave Canales said after Sunday's 22-16 loss at Philadelphia that Brooks will undergo further testing on his right knee to determine the extent of his injury, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.
Brooks remained on the turf after getting injured in the second quarter and needed a cart to get to the locker room. Per Canales, Brooks has pain in his right knee, but no diagnosis has yet come to light. Fellow RB Raheem Blackshear suffered a chest injury Sunday, leaving Chuba Hubbard as the only healthy player at the position on the Panthers' active roster.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Injures knee Sunday
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Brooks was forced out of Sunday's game against the Eagles with a knee injury, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Prior to being carted off the field, Brooks carried once for minus-3 yards. With Raheem Blackshear having sustained a chest injury during the contest, Chuba Hubbard remains available to handle Carolina's backfield duties versus Philadelphia.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Officially cleared for NFL debut
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Brooks (knee) is active for Sunday's game against the Chiefs, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Brooks had been listed as questionable heading into the weekend, but his availability for Sunday was never in any peril after head coach Dave Canales said Friday that he running back was ready to make his NFL debut. A 2024 second-round pick out of Texas, Brooks missed the Panthers' first 10 games of the season while completing his recovery from a torn ACL suffered last November. He had been activated from the non-football injury list Nov. 6 and has been a full participant in practices for weeks, so Brooks should be capable of handling the top backup role behind starting running back Chuba Hubbard. Before landing on injured reserve this week, Miles Sanders (ankle) had been serving as Carolina's No. 2 option in the backfield and averaged 5.9 touches per contest, but given the draft capital invested in him, Brooks could match or surpass that level of usage, especially if the Panthers want to lighten Hubbard's workload a bit.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Tracking toward debut in Week 12
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Panthers head coach Dave Canales said that he "fully expects" Brooks (knee) to play Sunday against the Chiefs, Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer reports.
Brooks has been out all season while recovering from the torn ACL that he suffered last November during his final collegiate campaign at Texas, but he was a full participant in practices in Weeks 9 and 10 before Carolina went on bye for Week 11. Assuming he experiences no setbacks with his surgically repaired right knee during Week 12 prep, Brooks should be ready to handle a complementary role behind starter Chuba Hubbard. With Hubbard still expected to see the lion's share of the snaps and touches out of the backfield moving forward after inking a four-year, $33.2 million extension earlier this month, Brooks will likely struggle to earn enough volume to make for an appealing option in fantasy lineups.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Listed as questionable
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Brooks (knee) is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Giants, with head coach Dave Canales suggesting Friday that the running back's active status will be a difficult decision, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.
Canales said Brooks, linebacker D.J. Wonnum (quadricep) and safety Jordan Fuller (hamstring) are "making it hard on us" in reference to their Week 10 availability. The latter two players remain on reserve lists, whereas Brooks was activated from the reserve/non-football injury list Wednesday to avoid the end of his 21-day practice window, which would have resulted in him missing the rest of the season. The rookie was a full practice participant all of last week and this week, which at least suggests he's likely to play after a Week 11 bye, if not this Sunday in Munich. The Panthers will release their inactive list about 90 minutes before the 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Will be activated Wednesday
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Head coach Dave Canales said Brooks (knee) will be activated from the reserve/non-football injury list Wednesday, but he isn't certain whether or not the running back will play Sunday against the Giants in Munich, Field Yates of ESPN reports.
Dating back to last week, Brooks now has been listed as a full participant on four consecutive injury reports, but the Panthers continue to take a cautious approach with the rookie second-round pick as he gets back to full health from the torn ACL that he suffered in his right knee last Nov. 12 during his final collegiate season at Texas. If Brooks doesn't make his pro debut Sunday, Chuba Hubbard will continue to lead Carolina's backfield, while the team uses their Week 11 bye to get the former ready for its next game Nov. 24 versus the Chiefs.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Logs another full practice
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Brooks (knee) was a full practice participant Wednesday, Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer reports.
Brooks was a full practice participant throughout last week but wasn't activated from the reserve/non-football injury list ahead of the Panthers' 23-22 win over the Saints. Instead, head coach Dave Canales suggested after last Friday's practice that the rookie likely would make his NFL debut this coming Sunday against the Giants in Munich, per David Newton of ESPN.com. In order for that to come to fruition, the Panthers will need to move Brooks from the NFI list to the active roster this week.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Pro debut pushed back again
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Brooks (knee) has been downgraded to out for Sunday's game against the Saints, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Carolina has been taking an extra cautious route with the later stages of Brooks' recovery from the ACL tear that he sustained in his right knee last Nov. 12. His practice regimen during Week 7 prep was LP-DNP-LP, followed by three consecutive capped sessions last week and a trio of full practices this week. Even so, Brooks' potential pro debut will be delayed to next Sunday, Nov. 10 against the Giants. In the meantime, the Panthers will continue to roll with Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders out of the backfield.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Questionable, but unlikely for Week 9
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The Panthers list Brooks (knee) as questionable for Sunday's game against the Saints, but head coach Dave Canales said that the running back is unlikely to be activated from the reserve/non-football injury list prior to the Week 9 contest, David Newton of ESPN.com reports.
Brooks concluded his third week of practice with the Panthers on Friday after he had his 21-day evaluation window opened back on Oct. 16. He turned in a trio of full practices from Wednesday through Friday and seemingly came out of those workouts without any setbacks to his surgically repaired right knee, but the Panthers are leaning toward giving the rookie running back more recovery time before clearing him for his NFL debut. Per Newton, Canales believes that Brooks will be ready to play Week 10 against the Giants in Munich, but Carolina will first need to add the 21-year-old to its 53-man roster to make that a reality. If activated next week, Brooks is likely to be eased into action in a complementary role behind Chuba Hubbard, who has excelled as Carolina's lead back this season.
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Not activated for Week 8
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Brooks (knee) was downgraded to out Saturday and will not be activated ahead of the Week 8 contest against the Broncos.
Brooks has practiced in limited fashion over the majority of the past two weeks, but the Panthers are being ultra cautious with the rookie second-round pick. Chuba Hubbard will once again get the majority of the work out of the backfield again, but the offense may struggle with Bryce Young back under center due to the injury to Andy Dalton (thumb).
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Panthers' Jonathon Brooks: Doesn't practice Thursday
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Brooks (knee) didn't practice Thursday, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.
Carolina opened Brooks' 21-day practice window Wednesday, and he eventually went down as a limited participant in his first official on-field work of the season. He's nearing the end of his recovery from the torn ACL that he suffered in his right knee last November, but it's perhaps not a surprise that the Panthers aren't pushing their luck with their second-round investment. The rookie running back thus doesn't seem to be a candidate for his NFL debut Sunday at Washington, something that may be confirmed as soon as the Panthers post their final Week 7 injury report Friday.
