CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jonathon Brooks will spend Monday like he’s spent nearly every other day over the past two years: Rehabbing his twice-repaired right knee while an NFL season continues without him.

Monday marks one year since the Carolina Panthers running back tore his ACL a second time on a non-contact play in the first quarter of a 22-16 loss at Philadelphia. Brooks didn’t realize a year had passed since he went down at Lincoln Financial Field on his only carry against the Eagles, but he appreciates the significance of the day.

“Honestly, it just makes me see how far I’ve come,” Brooks told The Athletic during a phone interview during the Panthers’ bye week. “I feel pretty much almost 100 percent again. From the moment it happened, I knew that God had a plan. I knew that it was all gonna be OK and I was gonna be right back to where I was.”

Brooks isn’t all the way back, but he’s doing straight-line running while improving his speed most weeks. He hopes to start incorporating full-speed cutting and route running soon and return to the practice field in the spring in time for OTAs.

Brooks, the Panthers’ second-round pick in 2024, has endured some down days over the past year, particularly in the immediate aftermath of his re-injury.

“When it first happened, he was devastated. I was, too. I just couldn’t believe it,” said Jennifer Donovan, Brooks’ mother. “I thought for sure he was healed completely. Just didn’t hear too many times that it happened again and again like that. And only just a year later, I was devastated. And I know he was, too, at first.”

Jonathon Brooks tries to leave the field after re-injuring his knee last season at Philadelphia. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)

But he pushed through thanks to the support of his family, his Christian faith and his teammates. He received guidance from two members of the training and strength and conditioning departments and drew inspiration after hearing from players like Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry and former Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis.

Davis famously became the first NFL player to return from three torn ACLs in the same knee, playing another nine seasons that included a Super Bowl appearance and three Pro Bowl berths.

Davis reached out to Brooks right after the injury to express his concern, and later joined Brooks for workouts during which Davis would show him exercises that worked well for him during his recovery. The two have stayed in touch, with Brooks shooting Davis texts or an occasional picture from a training session.

“That’s a legend in the locker room,” Brooks said. “That’s a legend who’s played for the Panthers, so I’ve got all the utmost respect for him and a lot (of) respect for helping me when he doesn’t have to.”

In 2024 during his first draft as the Panthers’ general manager, Dan Morgan traded up to take Brooks with the 46th pick, making him the first running back drafted just four months after his first surgery. Brooks, who sat behind Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson for two years at Texas, was among the nation’s top five rushers as a junior when he tore his ACL against TCU on Nov. 11, 2023.

Morgan initially said he expected Brooks to be available for the start of training camp in 2024, but that timeline was pushed back because the Panthers didn’t think Brooks was ready to clear some of the early rehab stages.

Ron Slavin, Brooks’ agent, thought the Panthers’ former training staff — the Panthers fired the head trainer and performance director after the 2024 season — might have been too cautious in its handling of Brooks early on.

That cautious approach continued after Brooks returned to the active roster before the Panthers’ October trip to Munich. Concerns over the field conditions at Allianz Arena prompted the Panthers to make Brooks inactive for the game against the New York Giants.

He made his NFL debut two weeks later with two carries against the Kansas City Chiefs, then gave fans a glimpse of explosiveness in a Week 13 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brooks’ first touch against the Bucs went for an 18-yard completion and he finished with nine touches, including five in a row with the Panthers in scoring position.

With Miles Sanders on injured reserve, Brooks was set to have another busy day behind Chuba Hubbard as the Panthers traveled to Philadelphia. But on a first-and-10 play at the Eagles’ 23, Brooks took a handoff from Bryce Young running left, made a cut and went to the ground on his own. Brooks got up quickly and tried to hop off the field before going back down and eventually getting helped off the field.

Brooks has watched the replay of his injury more than 20 times. He blames himself for trying to run outside rather than hitting the hole between left tackle Ikem Ekwonu and wide receiver Adam Thielen. But when Brooks spotted defensive back Avonte Maddox coming up in run support, he tried to beat him to the edge with a jump cut.

“I had no business even trying to go outside. My read was there,” Brooks said. “My read was supposed to keep me inside. I chased what we call fool’s gold and I was gonna try to outrun the DB. But it was just the wrong read.”

Brooks said he’d made harder cuts the previous week against Tampa Bay with no problems. He’s not sure why his knee gave out on the grass surface at Lincoln Financial Field. “I think it was just bad timing,” he said.

Panthers coach Dave Canales announced the next day that Brooks had re-torn the ligament. Slavin, Brooks’ Dallas-based agent, was relieved the ACL was the only part of Brooks’ knee impacted.

“It was an ACL-only, so it wasn’t like one of these devastating knee injuries that a lot of guys have. When it’s the one ligament, you think they’d be able to come back,” Slavin said.

“If we could do it all over again, I’m sure they’d redshirt him last year and this year would’ve been his year. But they tried to get him out there. It’s tough to always look back. Moving forward, I think he’s gonna be an elite running back still.”

After waiting a month for the swelling to subside, Brooks flew to Los Angeles for the surgery performed by renowned sports orthopedic Neal ElAttrache. Donovan said ElAttrache harvested part of the patellar tendon from Brooks’ left knee to reconstruct his ACL because the patellar from his right knee was used in the first surgery in Texas.

Additionally, ElAttrache used a strip of the IT band from Brooks’ right leg as a graft to reinforce his ACL, according to Donovan. “I’m praying that is going to be the key thing in keeping him stronger. He felt very confident with it,” Donovan said of ElAttrache, who also handled Panthers guard Robert Hunt’s biceps surgery this fall.

While the Panthers never publicly shared a timeline for Brooks, the expectation was he would miss the entire 2025 season. After Brooks’ surgery and Sanders’ release, the Panthers signed free-agent Rico Dowdle to a one-year, heavily incentivized contract and drafted former Georgia running back Trevor Etienne in the fourth round.

Brooks ran nine times and caught three passes in three games last season before injuring his knee again. (Jim Dedmon / Imagn Images)

Dowdle has been on one of the NFL’s best signings this year. The former Dallas Cowboys back needs 71 yards to reach 1,000 rushing yards for the second consecutive season, and combined with Hubbard for more than 200 scrimmage yards in a 31-28 upset of the Los Angeles Rams before the bye. This week, the Panthers (7-6) are tied for the NFC South lead with Tampa Bay after the Bucs lost to New Orleans on Sunday. Carolina plays next Sunday at the Saints, who won the first matchup, 17-7.

Brooks said both Dowdle and Hubbard have tried to make sure he still feels like part of the running back room while he’s recovered. Brooks also praised the training staff, especially the two staffers he’s worked most closely with — athletic trainer Harrison Grube and assistant strength and conditioning coach Thomas Barbeau.

The team has said little about Brooks since last December. But any expectations the Panthers have for Brooks in 2026 naturally will be tempered by concerns of injury risk. Donovan tries not to let her mind go down that path.

“Definitely the first time was worse just because he wasn’t sure what to expect. The second time it was devastating again, but at least we kind of knew,” she said. “So I’m just praying and praying and praying there surely won’t be another. I don’t even want to put it out there in existence.”

Having been through all of this just last year, Brooks has a better feel for what works and what doesn’t. When he was experiencing pain in his knee after some of the strengthening exercises, the Panthers’ trainers changed his lifts. The tips from Davis have also helped.

If all goes according to plan, Brooks will on the practice field in the spring. And while some might be inclined to hold their breath the first time he gets the call or makes a cut, Brooks is turning it over to a higher power.

“I want to be back for OTAs so I can get back on that football field and get back to running the plays full speed, being in a team setting. Just so whenever we do hit (training) camp, I can hit the ground running and ultimately, just prove myself,” he said.

“I feel like I haven’t gotten that chance in the league to prove myself. And that’s OK. It’s a part of God’s plan. And I know that when I get out there, I trust in myself, trust in my teammates, trust in God that I’ll be able to get it done.”