Jonathon Brooks cannot catch a break. The Panthers running back is set for core muscle surgery and will miss at least six weeks, landing on injured reserve after a groin setback against Atlanta.
If you have followed this player’s career, you already know why this one stings more than a standard six-week absence.
A Body That Will Not Cooperate
Brooks was a second-round pick in 2024 who arrived in Carolina already rehabbing a torn ACL from his final season at Texas. He worked back, got on the field, and then tore the same ACL again three weeks later.
That is two full seasons essentially erased before this latest injury. Now a core muscle repair takes another six weeks minimum, and core surgeries are notorious for lingering past the initial timeline.
Talent was never the question with Brooks. Availability has been the only question, and it keeps getting answered the wrong way.
Enter Austin Ekeler
Carolina worked out Austin Ekeler on Wednesday. No deal was reported as imminent, but teams do not bring in a former All-Pro back for the cardio.
Ekeler is a different kind of player than Brooks, a receiving weapon out of the backfield who can protect a quarterback and win on angle routes. For an offense that needs easy completions, that is a real fit.
The question is how much is left in the tank. Ekeler has taken an enormous amount of contact for a back his size, and teams have been passing on him all offseason for a reason.
Rico Dowdle Carries the Load Now
Whatever Carolina does at the margins, Rico Dowdle becomes the guy. He has been the most reliable piece of this run game and now he inherits all of it.
That is a lot of touches for a back who has never been asked to be a true feature runner over a full season. The Panthers need him to hold up, because the alternative is a street free agent learning the playbook in Week 4.
The Bigger Picture in Carolina
This franchise has spent premium draft capital on the running back position and has almost nothing to show for it. Brooks has played a fraction of the snaps he was drafted to play.
At some point the organization has to ask whether the medical evaluation process is working. Two ACL tears and a core muscle surgery inside two years is not bad luck alone.
For now, Carolina patches it. Dowdle gets the carries, Ekeler gets a phone call, and Brooks starts another rehab.
He is 22 years old and has already lost more football than most players lose in a decade. That is the part worth feeling something about.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.