The Carolina Panthers are dealing with uncertainty on their offensive line as they prepare for the upcoming season opener against Jacksonville. While the team returns its top nine linemen in snaps played from last year, injuries and recent surgeries have forced coaches to consider multiple lineup options.
Left tackle Ikem Ekwonu returned to the facility Thursday after undergoing an emergency appendectomy. The coaching staff has not determined whether he will be ready for the first game of the season. Head coach Dave Canales said that both Yosh Nijman and Brady Christensen practiced with the first team Thursday as potential replacements for Ekwonu.
“We’re going to make a decision on who that is by Wednesday as we go into practice, in fairness for the guy to get those reps,” Canales said. “We’re not 100 percent sure who we’re going to put out there right now, but they both got really significant snaps today, and so we’ll we’ll look at the film and we’ll make the best decision for the whole group.”
Canales remains hopeful that Ekwonu could recover in time for Week 1. “I’m going to remain hopeful all the way through next week to try to get him out there, move around and see what he can do,” Canales said of Ekwonu. “But we just have to have a contingency plan.”
Center Austin Corbett described how teammates learned about Ekwonu’s situation after celebrating Robert Hunt’s birthday last weekend. “He was complaining, he was like it’s an upset stomach, wasn’t eating,” Corbett said. “And then he texted the group chat Sunday he’s like, hey boys, I’m going in, getting an appendectomy right now.
“It was like, oh, shoot. So we didn’t know if it burst, if it didn’t, whatever the story was. Finally saw him today, he’s doing good, just, it’s brutal.”
Corbett added that despite their usual joking nature as a group, this message carried weight: “There’s definitely a lot of banter going on in there for sure,” Corbett said. “But this one, there was no talk going on in the moment, so it came through cold. So I was like, oh shoot, all right, here we go. So it was scary. We’re all praying for him, doing everything, keeping thoughts with them, and it’s just good to see him back in the building today.”
Meanwhile at left guard Damien Lewis continues his recovery from a shoulder injury suffered during joint practices with Cleveland Browns. Cade Mays has filled in during Lewis’s absence.
Canales provided an update on Lewis’s status: “We had him just full go in individual so he could body up and really stress himself, see where he’s at but he was still on that pitch count where he didn’t take team reps,” Canales said. ” But he’s right on schedule with the progression that we thought…to start hitting stuff in front of him so he got some really good contact.
“He’s getting great work and we expect him to be able to practice full next week.”
As preparations continue ahead of September 7th’s opener against Jacksonville Jaguars (https://www.panthers.com/schedule/), decisions regarding starting roles along the offensive line remain unresolved.
