A key Carolina Panthers player missed work Wednesday morning after being involved in a car accident.
Jaycee Horn, one of the Panthers’ two 2024 Pro Bowlers, did not participate in the team’s joint practice with the Cleveland Browns after being involved in an accident that occurred while the cornerback was on his way to Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday morning.
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The incident, according to a team spokesperson, happened at the corner of Mint Street and Morehead Streets — in the heart of uptown and not far from the practice fields.
Head coach Dave Canales told reporters after practice that he was “glad that Jaycee was OK” but added that Horn needed “a few stitches in his left thumb area” and that he is “day-to-day right now.”
No one involved in the incident was transported by emergency medical personnel. Horn was alone in his vehicle during the accident, a team spokesperson said.
“It doesn’t seem like anything else happened,” Canales said. “But we’re going to evaluate him each day. He’ll be able to still do some activity each day running and all that. But he will not play this (preseason) game. Hopefully we can get him turned around so we can take advantage of an opportunity in Houston, for that game, which was kind of the plan all along.”
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The Panthers open their preseason against the Browns on Friday night in Bank of America Stadium and will play some of their starters, Canales has said. Details of who will play — and how long those starters will play — is still being planned out.
The Panthers travel to Houston for a joint practice and a preseason game with the Texans next weekend: Saturday, Aug. 16, at 1 p.m.
Horn was present on the practice field Wednesday but wore rain gear while the rest of the team was fitted in pads and jerseys. He did not participate after being evaluated by medical personnel.
Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, back, runs through a drill with teammate Mike Jackson during joint practice with the Browns at training camp in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, August 6, 2025.
Horn signed a four-year contract extension in March instead of playing out the fifth-year option of his expiring rookie contract. The contract extension was worth a total of $100 million with $70 million in guaranteed money — which makes him one of the top-paid cornerbacks in the history of the NFL.
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Horn played in 15 games in 2024 — easily the most durable he’s been in his promising but injury-stifled career — and produced 68 tackles, two sacks, 13 pass breakups and an interception.
In this year’s training camp, he’s been available and hasn’t battled the soft-tissue injuries that came to plague his first two years in Carolina. This is the first practice Horn has missed due to injury in 2025 training camp; the other off-days he’s had this summer were scheduled rest days.
Quarterback Bryce Young told reporters that he talked to Horn on Wednesday morning and that it was good to see the cornerback in good spirits.
“Even without practicing, he had just as much energy as he always has,” Young said. “That’s the person he is. I know he would’ve loved to have been out there. But he’s doing everything from the sideline. They got him a script. He’s following with the play calls, making sure he’s engaged, and that’s the energy it is. …
“That’s our guy. And we know he’s always going to do everything he can. So I’m grateful he’s on our side.”
Jaycee Horn, the Carolina Panthers’ top cornerback, missed joint practice with the Cleveland Browns on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025, after being involved in a car accident while on his way to work. He was still on the practice fields.