Jonathon Brooks sustained season-ending knee injury vs. Eagles, Panthers confirm

Alex Zietlow, The Charlotte Observer on Dec 9, 2024

Published in Football

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The worst is true for Jonathon Brooks and the Carolina Panthers.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales told reporters on Monday that Brooks tore the ACL in his right knee, ending the rookie running back’s season and confirming the devastating suspicions of all who saw him fall to the ground without getting hit in the first half of Sunday’s 22-16 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The news comes three weeks after Brooks made his NFL debut. The second-round pick spent all of training camp and the preseason on the non-football injury (NFI) list and was sidelined during the regular season until Week 12 against the Kansas City Chiefs. His delay was a result of an extended recovery from the ACL tear he sustained in his same right knee in November 2023 while at Texas.

“He’s going to have surgery to repair that at some point, we’re working on all that,” Canales said. “My heart is with him. The amount of hard work that he put in to get back to this place, to get him to play. So he’s heartbroken. I’m heartbroken. The whole group is just feeling for him. So we’ll be here every step of the way with him, supporting him through this journey. He knows how to do this. He’ll be able to attack it. His focus is just going to shift in terms of what he’s competing for. And so, again, it’s definitely hard on JB right now. All of our thoughts are with him.”

Canales said that there was no other damage to the knee beyond the ACL tear, which was discovered after an MRI on Monday morning. When asked if 2026 is the realistic goal for Brooks’ return, Canales said: “I really don’t know. They gotta get in there and look at all of it. I’m sure we’ll have more information coming out of surgery and all that.”

Brooks’ injury came in the first quarter on his first rushing attempt Sunday. He received a handoff and tried to cut outside but instead fell to the ground for a 3-yard loss. He initially got up limping, favoring his right leg, but couldn’t make it to the sideline before returning to the grass again.

Trainers and fellow running back Chuba Hubbard surrounded him as he sat on the ground. Brooks then went into the blue medical tent before being carted off the field and into the locker room. He was ruled out for the remainder of the game — and afterward, Canales said the team was “still gathering a bunch of information” and that they’re “going to have to do a bunch more imaging before we can make a declaration on what’s happening there.”

What makes the injury more painful — for Brooks and the Panthers alike — is that the NFL team in Carolina is starting to turn a corner. The last three weeks have resulted in losses but have also been replete with hope: of a second-year quarterback dazzling in crunch time, of a defense playing up to its competition, of a backfield that living up to its promise — between 1,000-yard rusher Hubbard (the present) and Brooks (the future).

Brooks, in particular, has shown a lot of potential in his three NFL games. He’d produced 22 yards and 23 receiving yards on 12 total touches. Against the Bucs last week, Brooks touched the ball five straight times in a third-quarter drive that was punctuated by a field goal.

The Panthers played Sunday with only one healthy running back — Hubbard — by the second half of Sunday’s game. Brooks and third-string back/first-string returner Raheem Blackshear went down in the first half. Miles Sanders, who’d occupied the RB2 spot before Brooks’ return to football, remains on the injured reserve list after an ankle injury he suffered against the Giants.

When asked about the future of the Panthers’ running back room, Canales indicated Mike Boone will be elevated from the practice squad. He also said that all options in the free agency market are on the table.

Still, Canales was focused on the future of Brooks.

“I’m thinking about him,” Canales said. “This is not about the Panthers. This is about Jonathon Brooks and his journey back to playing football. And that’s the part when you see a guy work so hard, to work his way back onto the field, the excitement that comes with it, my heart just goes with him and knowing that he knows the process.

“He knows the road that he has to get back out there, and the challenges that come with it. But again, at this point now, it’s also an advantage for him to be able to lean on the things he knows he’s gotta do.”

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