Sam Darnold (ankle) has been designated to return from injured reserve and will be able to practice Wednesday, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports.

Related players: Baker Mayfield, P.J. Walker

Darnold now has 21 days to get ready. But given Mayfield's injury timetable and P.J. Walker's struggles last week, Darnold could end up starting in Week 7. It's a fluid situation at this point, but not one to get excited about in most fantasy leagues.

Panthers QB Baker Mayfield not going on IR as of now, leaving open the possibility he could be back within four games.

Related players: Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker

Mayfield received second opinions on his high ankle sprain that confirmed there’s no major damage and no surgery is needed, per sources, the tweet said. With Darnold still out, Walker is expected to get any starts Mayfield will miss. Outside of deep superflex leagues, Walker looks to be someone to stay away from right now in typical redraft leagues.

Panthers’ QB Sam Darnold is eligible to come off of IR, but he’s still not close to being from the high ankle sprain he suffered in late August. It’s still, in the words of a source, “going to be a while.”

Related Players: Baker Mayfield

Carolina's offense has been moribund through four weeks, with Baker Mayfield looking as bad as he's ever looked. If Darnold were to return to health at any point this season, there would be an immediate —if tedious— quarterback controversy in the works.

Sam Darnold will be forced to miss the first four games, at a minimum. Though Baker Mayfield was likely brought in to operate as the QB1 from the get-go. This will save him from having someone breathing down his neck.

Related Players: P.J. Walker

Person would go on to report that GM Scott Fitterer said the plan is for the Panthers to keep only two quarterbacks on the active roster; Baker Mayfield and P.J. Walker. Walker is worth a roster spot in deep-roster Superflex leagues.

Panthers QB Sam Darnold is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks with a high ankle sprain.

Darnold suffered the injury during Friday’s preseason game against the Bills. At the time, the injury looked much worse than it turned out to be. The cart came out for Darnold. So this is a fortunate event for the Panthers, who have already lost rookie Matt Corral for the season to injury. This leaves P.J. Walker as Baker Mayfield’s backup.

Panthers officially announced Baker Mayfield as their opening-day starting quarterback vs. the Cleveland Browns.

Related players: Sam Darnold, D.J. Moore, Christian McCaffrey

Mayfield gets a fresh start in Carolina. We expect him to post serviceable numbers for the Panthers. He was the QB18 in 2020 prior to a QB23 finish last season, though he dealt with some injuries. The weapons in Carolina are pretty solid. Moore is a solid WR1 and McCaffrey is arguably the best receiving back in the league.

Panthers QB Baker Mayfield received most of the work with the first-team offense.

Related players: Sam Darnold

The Panthers are having joint practices with the Patriots this week. Kyed went on to say in his tweet he wouldn’t say Mayfield or Darnold stood out today. Both QBs made some good throws near the end of practice while Darnold was picked late. We're expecting Mayfield to win this job and would have some talent around him. He was the QB18 in 2020 and QB23 in 2021.

Unsurprisingly after Sam Darnold's lackluster 2021 and the trade for Mayfield, it looks like the latter is in the driver seat as the team's QB1.

Related Players: D.J. Moore, Robbie Anderson

Per the article, “He’s definitely improving,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said of Mayfield. “He gets more and more of a feel of what he can do at the line of scrimmage. What he’s done in 10 days is pretty impressive — or 10, 11 practices. He’s making really good jumps.” Mayfield would add stability to the skill position group like Darnold would not. This is good news for the WR group.

Panthers HC Matt Rhule told reporters Wednesday that Sam Darnold will start Week 17.

Related Player: Cam Newton

Darnold starting should not move the needle much, but the hope is that his return to starting can get WR D.J. Moore back on track.

After missing the last six weeks on IR, Darnold will return and play snaps for the struggling Carolina Panthers. Cam Newton will get the start but the Panthers want to take another look at the only quarterback they have under contract next season. With playoffs out of the question and head coach Matt Rhule on the hot seat, look for this to be the last week Cam Newton receives as a starter if Sunday doesn't go well.

The matchup is difficult for the backfield but Darnold could provide a bump in production for D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson. Anderson has had his statistics cut in half this season while Moore is approaching his third straight 1000 yard season.