The Panthers expect Christian McCaffrey to miss the next few weeks of action (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). On the plus side, the team not planning to put the running back on injured reserve, which means that he could miss less than three games. 
[RELATED: Surgery For Panthers’ Horn?]
McCaffrey pulled his hamstring on Thursday night and still managed to run the ball out of play before heading to the locker room. The Panthers went on to beat the Texans, but it’s a bad blow to the offense moving forward. For now, Chuba Hubbard figures to see an uptick in work.
CMC was limited to only three games in 2020 after suffering a shoulder injury. It was a disappointing setback, on the heels of his historic 2019 with 2,392 all-purpose yards and 19 touchdowns. Through two games this year, McCaffrey looked sharp with 324 yards from scrimmage off of 59 totes. The 25-year-old added another 40 total yards on nine carries before his early exit las night.
Hubbard, a rookie fourth-round pick, only saw 26 offensive snaps in Weeks 1 and 2. The team is also rostering Royce Freeman on the active roster, and they could turn to practice squad backs Rodney Smith or Spencer Brown for additional depth.
Besides CMC, the Panthers are also awaiting additional word on cornerback Jaycee Horn. They’ll know more after Horn undergoes testing today, but it sounds like he’ll need surgery on his foot. That’ll rule him out for the bulk of the season, if not the rest of the campaign.
This guy just can’t stay on the field.
Lot of fantasy seasons just ended
this is the prime example of when a victory still seems like a loss for the Panthers due to these injuries
The bad news is obvious here, but the good news is that Hubbard and Freeman (Freeman in particular in limited action) looked good as replacements. No one actually can replace McCaffrey of course, but as far as backups go, Hubbard and Freeman looked pretty decent. We’ll see how much the Cowboys focus on the Panthers’ interior offensive line (which actually hasn’t been great) to stop that run game-Darnold will have to be very sharp to make up for the difference.
Really, the most pressure will be on the receivers-Anderson needs to get open more consistently to reinvigorate the connection he had with Darnold in New York. They’ve had a couple of good connections, but downfield throws will open up the run underneath and help the backups put pressure on the defense while McCaffrey is out. Luckily for Carolina, Dallas’ front seven has been ravaged by injuries and substitutions. I think Keanu Neal is going to see a lot of action covering Carolina’s backs.
“Run the ball out of play”
Say what?
What don’t you understand?