Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales said defensive tackle Cam Jackson’s move to injured reserve will require season-ending shoulder surgery, a second hit to the defensive line in the same week the club opened practice windows for three key absences.
Jackson went on IR on Tuesday as the Panthers came out of the bye and prepared for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia. Canales said the shoulder is the surgical issue and that a knee problem that had already limited Jackson will be handled in rehab.
“It’ll be season-ending rehab”
“He’s not a designation, so it’ll be season-ending rehab,” Canales said. “But the expectation is that he’ll be around us and he’ll continue to grow with this group, be involved with the meetings and be connected just like a lot of our guys have been.”
Jackson had been listed with a knee injury before the Week 4 win over Detroit and was active for only one game this season, playing more than half the defensive snaps in Week 2 against Atlanta. When the club announced the IR move, the designation was a shoulder injury.
“The surgery will be in his shoulder, so the knee is non-surgical, just a rehab thing, but the shoulder was significant enough to be repaired,” Canales said. “Thought we could get him focused on that part and then bring him back to us after his recovery.”
Three windows open for Moton, Wharton and Etienne
On the same roster day, Carolina opened 21-day practice windows for right tackle Taylor Moton, defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton and running back Trevor Etienne. Moton has been out since the offseason with a blood clot, and Wharton has been recovering from neck surgery. Their returns would help balance the Jackson loss up front.
Canales also shuffled the practice calendar after the bye, putting the team in pads on Tuesday labeled as “Work Wednesday” so players could knock rust off, take Wednesday off, then resume a normal Thursday-through-Saturday ramp into Philadelphia.
Damien Lewis and Jalen Coker were back in uniform after missing the Lions game, and Jaelan Phillips worked after leaving that game with a hamstring issue. Monroe Freeling worked on the side with a knee injury. Official injury designations were due once the midweek schedule returned to normal.
Carolina is 2-2 and visits the 2-3 Eagles on Sunday looking for healthy bodies on both lines of scrimmage after a week that closed one young tackle’s season and started the clocks on three others.
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