Panthers Running Back Jonathon Brooks Headed Back to IR, Needs Core-Muscle Surgery

The Carolina Panthers placed running back Jonathon Brooks on injured reserve Wednesday and said he will need surgery to repair a core-muscle injury, a setback that will keep the third-year back out for at least six weeks and extends a run of misfortune that has limited him to five games since he was drafted in 2024.

Brooks left Carolina's 34-3 rout of the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter on Sunday, walking off with what the team initially described as a groin injury. Head coach Dave Canales told reporters Monday that further imaging was needed before any diagnosis could be made public. By Wednesday, the club confirmed the injury required an operative repair rather than rest, and the team announced the IR move along with a corresponding roster addition.

The numbers

Brooks had played in just two games this season before the injury, carrying nine times for 30 yards and catching two passes for 43 yards on three targets — 11 touches for 73 total yards — while working as the backup to starter Chuba Hubbard. His snap share rose from 19 percent in the opener to 33 percent in Week 2, a sign the coaching staff was easing him back into a larger role after he missed all of 2025.

Placement on injured reserve carries a minimum four-game absence under NFL rules, but multiple reports citing league sources put his recovery timeline at a minimum of six weeks, which would put a return no earlier than Carolina's early-November stretch. The Panthers have described him as expected back at some point this season.

How Carolina got here

Brooks was Carolina's second-round pick, 46th overall, in the 2024 draft out of Texas, chosen despite having torn his right ACL in his final college season. He did not come off the reserve/non-football injury list until midway through his rookie year, then tore the same ACL again after appearing in just three games, ending his season. He did not play at all in 2025 while rehabilitating.

This year's setback traces to a groin injury that first surfaced late in training camp. Canales said Monday that Brooks had re-aggravated it against Atlanta rather than suffered a new injury, but stopped short of characterizing its severity.

"Yeah, he's getting a bunch of imaging. I'll hold off any injury information until Wednesday," Canales told reporters when asked whether he was concerned about the latest injury.

Who is affected

Hubbard remains Carolina's clear lead back and has already produced more than 100 rushing yards with multiple touchdowns through two games, a workload that will only grow with Brooks sidelined. Backup AJ Dillon is next in line for change-of-pace snaps, while running back Trevor Etienne is also currently on injured reserve, leaving the position thin enough that the Panthers brought in free agent Austin Ekeler for a Wednesday tryout, according to a workout report. Ekeler, 31, has been out of football since tearing his Achilles with Washington in September 2025 and was cleared for activity in the spring but went unsigned through camp and the preseason; if he impresses, Carolina could add him to the practice squad or the 53-man roster.

To fill Brooks' active-roster spot, the Panthers promoted special-teams safety Isaiah Simmons from the practice squad, a corresponding move confirmed on the team's transactions page, and re-signed linebacker Maema Njongmeta to backfill the practice squad.

What happens next

Carolina, 1-1, travels to face the Cleveland Browns in Week 3 on Sunday without Brooks for the foreseeable future. The Panthers' coaching staff had spoken optimistically in recent weeks about Brooks finally resembling the player they envisioned when they drafted him, making the timing of the setback especially costly for a running back who has now missed the bulk of three professional seasons to injury. Barring complications from surgery, he would become eligible to return around Carolina's mid-season schedule, though the team has not set a specific target date.