Carolina Panthers put safety Jeremy Chinn on injured reserve

The Carolina Panthers placed safety Jeremy Chinn on injured reserve on Wednesday, meaning he’ll be unavailable to the defense for at least a month. The third-year player left Sunday’s game versus Arizona after playing six snaps.

In a corresponding move, the Panthers signed veteran safety Juston Burris from the practice squad.

For the Panthers, putting the injured safety on IR means counting on backup Sean Chandler. Chandler posted five tackles in the 26-16 loss to the Cardinals and two versus the Browns.

Chinn was Carolina’s second-round pick from the 2020 NFL draft out of Southern Illinois. He has been impressive over his first two seasons. He’s also been reliable, starting 35 games since his joined the Panthers. Chinn missed one game his rookie season with a knee injury, and the 2021 finale with an ankle injury.

Though he is now listed as a free safety, that is not where Chinn started his career. Because of his 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame, the Panthers also used him inside of the box at linebacker. However, he quickly found himself in a hybrid linebacker safety-style position.

Chinn still has another year left on his rookie deal, which was worth $5.2 million over four years.

This offseason, the former Southern Illinois star earned the title of the Panthers’ most underappreciated player.

“Chinn’s positional versatility creates the type of middle-of-the-field problems that QBs,” wrote Cynthia Frelund. “– especially younger ones who didn’t face a variety of defenses in college — have a hard time solving. Among DBs, Chinn ranked ninth in tackles (106, leading the Panthers), fourth in stops (47) and tied for seventh in QB pressures (8) in 2021.”