{"id":994429,"date":"2026-09-07T16:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T16:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/994429\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T16:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T16:45:22","slug":"jonathon-brooks-latest-absence-at-practice-raises-concern-for-his-week-1-status-but-its-still-too-early-to-hit-the-panic-button","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/994429\/","title":{"rendered":"Jonathon Brooks’ latest absence at practice raises concern for his Week 1 status, but it’s still too early to hit the panic button"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\tHome<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNFL<\/a><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarolina Panthers<\/a><\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks continued to work on the sidelines during Monday\u2019s practice while dealing with general soreness that continues to linger going into Week 1.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCarolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (25) during Fanfest at Bank of America Stadium.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJim Dedmon-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers returned to practice Monday to begin Week 1 preparations, and running back Jonathan Brooks was a notable absence. Books technically was out there working out on the side, but did not participate.<\/p>\n

Brooks, the former second-round pick who has missed the majority of his NFL career after back-to-back ACL injuries, has been dealing with what the team has described as general soreness. He was seen running to the side on Monday but could not take part in the full session, raising questions about his availability for the regular season opener.<\/p>\n

After practice, head coach Dave Canales said all injury updates will not be addressed until after Wednesday\u2019s practice. He did said he \u201chopes\u201d Brooks can play but they\u2019re going to evaluate it one day at a time. For now, don\u2019t panic when it comes to Brooks. The Panthers still have a full week of practice ahead and six days until facing the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n

Why the soreness should be expected for Brooks, but is still a slight concern to monitor<\/p>\n

The lingering soreness is expected after the increased workload Brooks handled during training camp and the preseason rather than a setback related to his surgically repaired knee. Carolina was without lead back Chuba Hubbard for a significant chunk of camp and the preseason while Hubbard dealt with a hamstring injury. That forced Brooks into the primary role during practices, joint practices, and in his limited preseason action.<\/p>\n

That heavy workload has likely contributed to the soreness that surfaced last week and still continuing to limit him into this week. The real concern here is that Brooks received limited preseason game action, which raises legitimate questions about whether he can hold up for a full four-quarter regular season game.<\/p>\n

The good news is that Hubbard returned to practice last week and is expected to carry the early-season workload in this offense<\/a>. Veteran back AJ Dillon also provides a productive option in the backfield. Between the two, the Panthers have enough depth to manage Brooks\u2019 early ramp-up without putting him in a difficult position right away.<\/p>\n

As exciting as Brooks\u2019 potential is, his role in Week 1 and the early part of the season might not be as featured as many are expecting. This is a player who still needs to get his feet under him in a live game setting. Running around on the practice field or taking one or two drives in the preseason is a different ballgame compared to regular season action.<\/p>\n

That doesn\u2019t mean Brooks won\u2019t contribute early. It just means the Panthers are likely going to be cautious with his overall usage, leaning on Hubbard and Dillon while he builds up to a larger role over the course of the season.<\/p>\n

Another absence to watch on the injury front<\/p>\n

Brooks wasn\u2019t the only player missing from Monday\u2019s practice. Pass rusher Pat Jones II was not spotted at all out there on Monday. Jones is one of the edge rushers in contention for a starting role in Week 1 opposite Jaelan Phillips on the defensive front. That\u2019s another situation worth monitoring as the Panthers move through the rest of the week.<\/p>\n

Seeing two key players sidelined on the first day of game-week prep is never ideal, but Canales is keeping expectations positive heading into the rest of the week. And again, Wednesday\u2019s practice will really be the first important one when the first official injury report will shed more light on all the team\u2019s injury situations.<\/p>\n

\"Play<\/a><\/p>\n

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Carolina Panthers News<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPanthers have a pressing salary cap issue to address and Dan Morgan has a few different moves he could make this week\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers are currently over the salary cap limit heading into the regular season, meaning a move is on the way that will be worth watching out for later this week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home \/ NFL \/ Carolina Panthers Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks continued to work on the sidelines…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":994430,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[21056,235,260,2584,2567,1751,3838,7,8811,6,236,60839],"class_list":["post-994429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-carolina-panthers","tag-aj-dillon","tag-carolina","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-carolinapanthers","tag-chuba-hubbard","tag-dave-canales","tag-football","tag-jonathon-brooks","tag-nfl","tag-panthers","tag-panthers-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117230772589749657","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=994429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/994429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/994430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=994429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=994429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=994429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}