Fans of Carolina Panthers who are (understandably) short on things to feel hopeful about, take heart – one of the team’s most exciting young talents is finally about to make his NFL debut. Probably. Here’s the latest on what we know about former Texas Longhorns running back and current Carolina rookie Jonathan Brooks.

For those who don’t know the backstory, Brooks was the best running back in last year’s draft class. However, he suffered a torn cruciate ligament in November and has been working his way back ever since. Brooks began his 21-day training window two weeks ago and he looks set to play this week. Here’s what head coach Dave Canales shared with reporters yesterday regarding Brooks’ status.

This sounds great, but the reason we hesitated at the top is because Canales told the media just last week that there was a chance Brooks could sit out the entire 2024 season.

If the Panthers do not activate Brooks at the end of his three-week window, he will return to injured reserve and be out for the rest of the year. The drive would be to protect one of the team’s stronger assets from being injured again in a season already lost, but it’s more important to develop the young players on this roster like Brooks, Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette and Bryce Young.

Hopefully it won’t be like that, but the clock is ticking.

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