Panthers plan to open the 21-day window for RB Jonathon Brooks to return, per Dave Canales.

Related players: Chuba Hubbard

The Panthers have been pretty careful with Brooks who was supposed to be ready in camp with an ACL injury from college. The open window doesn't mean Brooks is a lock to play this week, and even if he does, he probably wouldn't be a safe fantasy play right out of the gate. There isn't a lot of need to rush him with the play of Hubbard, however the team likely wants to see what they have in Brooks, and at some point this year, Brooks will probably cut into Hubbard's fantasy value.

The Panthers will be without one of their key offensive players for at least four weeks.

Carolina is placing Adam Thielen on injured reserve after he suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday’s victory over the Raiders, according to multiple reports.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo, David Moore, Chuba Hubbard

Thielen sustained the injury while catching a 31-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Thielen is expected to return to the field at some point in 2024, the story said. The rookie Legette and Mingo, along with Moore, all move up the depth chart. Legette had two catches for 42 yards and Mingo caught three for 18 in Week 3. Both players have six total catches this season. Look for Hubbard to likely remain heavily involved in the passing game, too.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Panthers will leave Jonathon Brooks on the non-football injury list for the start of the regular season. That will remove him from the active roster and will leave him ineligible to play in the first four games of the regular season.

Related players: Miles Sanders, Chuba Hubbard, Mike Boone, Raheem Blackshear, Jaden Shirden

Brooks tore his ACL during his final season at Texas, but the Panthers still selected him in the second round in April, the story said. The story added the team was hoping to have Brooks back by Week 3 or 4, but are taking it slow with him. Hubbard should be the guy to own in terms of fantasy with Sanders also getting his work. Brooks is still expected to be back, and is very likely to take over the RB1 role at some point soon after his return.

Panthers placed veteran RB Rashaad Penny on the reserve/retired list Tuesday. The 28-year-old Penny played five years for the Seahawks and spent last season with the Eagles.

Related players: Jonathon Brooks, Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders

Penny barely saw action last year with the Eagles coming off a strong half season with the Seahawks back in 2022, this was despite the Eagles need for a bigger, bruising back. This season in Carolina, Penny was likely well behind the rookie Brooks, Hubbard and Sanders in the Panther backfield.

Panthers ruled out RB Miles Sanders for Sunday’s game vs. the Dolphins due to his shoulder injury.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear, Laviska Shenault

Sanders has once again been one of the least-efficient backs in the league, while Hubbard has looked above-average on his limited touches. The latter should be considered an RB2 while the veteran misses time.

Panthers QB Bryce Young was a full participant with his ankle injury, and he’s off the injury report. Good to go. Meanwhile, RB Miles Sanders (groin) is questionable.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear

Chuba Hubbard has actually been quite productive with limited touches so far this season, averaging 6.5 yards per carry and 5.0 yards created after contact per attempt. Compare those numbers to Sanders' respective 3.4 and 2.22 marks through three weeks. Hubbard would make an interesting RB2 candidate if Sanders is forced to miss a week.

Panthers free-agent acquisition Miles Sanders is back —he hopes— to being a three-down back. Sanders, now 26, is confident that reuniting with running backs coach Duce Staley, who was a Pederson assistant in Philly, will help him re-emerge as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear

Sanders bottomed out as a pass-catcher in 2022, with new career lows in receptions (20), yards (78), and receptions for first downs (two). He's really got nowhere to go but up after finishing the season, ranking 49th/49 qualifying backs with a 0.28 yards per route run mark. Leaving a team that has a quarterback that is prone to taking off with the ball on third downs should help, but his efficiency marks last year were stark. The good news is, he doesn't have a ton of competition for backfield touches with the way the depth chart is set up at the moment. Sanders is currently ranked as a mid-tier RB2.

Bears are signing former Panthers’ RB D’Onta Foreman to a 1-year, $3 million deal.

Related Players: Khalil Herbert, Chuba Hubbard

The writing was on the wall for Foreman after the Miles Sanders signing in Carolina, as they both operate in the same part of the running game. Foreman, in turn, will likely operate as a Diet David Montgomery in Chicago, but Khalil Herbert should still be getting a healthy share of the work.

Miles Sanders is headed to the Carolina Panthers on a four-year deal. The exact specifics of the contract have not been revealed yet.

(update: the deal is purportedly for $25M over four years, no word on guaranteed money yet.)

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, D'Onta Foreman

Even with the very good year D'Onta Foreman, this likely closes the possibility of the team re-signing him. Foreman and Sanders would be redundant assets, so for now it looks like a two-headed backfield of Sanders and Chuba Hubbard with Sanders acting as the 1a. It's not a great spot for fantasy purposes but at the least, it offers a veteran presence for their soon-to-be No. 1 quarterback.

D’Onta Foreman said his foot is worse off than his ribs. “But being who I am,” he expects to play this week against the Seahawks.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard

Foreman has been one of the lone bright spots in the Panthers' offense, eclipsing the 100-yard mark in four games since Week 7. The journeyman running back is having a career year and should be in RB2/3 consideration if he's good to go in Week 14.