Our worst fear for Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks was confirmed on Monday, as head coach Dave Canales announced that the rookie re-tore the ACL in his right knee during the Week 14 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The 21-year-old missed the entirety of the offseason and the first 10 games of the regular season while recovering from his first tear and will miss the remainder of the year with his second.
So, where do Brooks and the Panthers go from here?
Let’s examine what’s in store for Carolina’s backfield after Brooks’ latest setback . . .
When will he return?
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There’s no simple or definitive answer to this question, and there won’t be for quite a while.
If we consider the timetable for Brooks’ first tear, it took just over a year for him to return to in-game action. He sustained the injury while playing for the University of Texas on Nov. 11, 2023 and made his NFL debut for the Panthers on Nov. 24, 2024.
But every injury, even ones of the same exact nature like in this case, is different. Perhaps the tear is not as bad and it won’t take as long to rehab, or maybe it’s worse and it’ll be a longer road back.
This also won’t be a cut-and-dry process, so an initial timeframe won’t necessarily be a final one. We can, again, look back at Brooks’ first tear—which wasn’t originally expected to keep him out of training camp, but it did.
What we do know is that his recovery will be a methodical step-by-step journey, in hand with the organization, that’ll take time.
Who is the immediate replacement?
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After announcing the heartbreaking news on Monday, Canales confirmed that Mike Boone will be the next man up behind starter Chuba Hubbard. The 29-year-old, currently a member of the team’s practice squad, had himself an impressive summer—as he rushed for 76 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries in the preseason.
Despite his eye-opening work, Boone was waived in the team’s cutdown to their initial 53-man roster—a move that came as a surprise to some. But he quickly signed back to the practice squad and has appeared in a pair of games since.
Canales, in addition, did not dismiss finding another option on the open market.
Who is the longer-term replacement?
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Boone is the next man up because Miles Sanders is out.
Sanders, who sustained an ankle injury in the Week 10 win over the New York Giants, is sitting on injured reserve at the moment. He’ll be eligible to return before season’s end.
If Brooks remains sidelined for most or all of the 2025 campaign, Sanders could still have himself a role in Carolina—a prospect that hasn’t seemed all too realistic recently.
The worst two seasons of the sixth-year back’s career have both come as a Panther, in 2023 and 2024. Since signing his four-year, $25.4 million deal last spring, he’s rushed for just 571 yards (at 3.4 yards per carry) and two touchdowns over 26 games.
But that deal might look slightly better if Sanders sticks around as the change-of-pace complement to Hubbard next season.
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