This week doubles as the earliest window teams can designate players on injured lists for return. The Panthers will do so with one of their starting guards.
Austin Corbett returned to Panthers practice Wednesday, the team announced. Corbett suffered a torn ACL in Week 18 last season, leading him to the reserve/PUP list, and was never a candidate to start the season on time. But the Panthers are close to having the 2022 free agency pickup back in their lineup.
The 0-4 Panthers are attempting to develop Bryce Young, but they have been without both their starting guards for most of the season. Left guard Brady Christensen suffered a season-ending biceps injury in Week 1. The Panthers have started Cade Mays and rookie Chandler Zavala in place of their ailing starters.
Carolina intends to proceed cautiously with Corbett, Frank Reich said Wednesday. It would not surprise to see Carolina use multiple weeks to get its right guard starter ready, and Corbett suggested (via ESPN’s David Newton) a return might not take place until after the team’s Week 7 bye. The Panthers have 21 days from Wednesday to activate Corbett. Not doing so would result in a trip to season-ending IR. With Corbett on the PUP list, he does not count against the Panthers’ eight allotted IR activations.
Both Corbett and Christensen went down in the Panthers’ 2022 season finale, with the former suffering the worse injury. Christensen made it back from his broken ankle to start in Week 1 but went down after a handful of snaps. Christensen’s rookie contract runs through next season; Corbett’s three-year, $26.25MM deal goes through 2024 as well.
The Panthers rank 24th in scoring offense and 25th in yardage, being one of two teams to sit 0-4. The team had made a big commitment up front, returning all five of its O-line starters from last season. The Panthers were largely healthy up front last year, until the very end, but have been dealt some bad breaks to start the Reich-Young partnership. Corbett joins Taylor Moton and the recently re-signed Bradley Bozeman as veteran contracts on Carolina’s front. The former Super Bowl LVI starter, who showcased good form in 2022 before his injury, will have a chance to bounce back in the near future.