Carolina Panthers release final injury report before Sunday

The Carolina Panthers have released their final injury report heading into Sunday’s matchup against division rival the Atlanta Falcons. The Panthers have witnessed a rash of injuries throughout the season, most notably the injury to all-pro running back Christian McCaffrey in week 3.

After starting the season on a three-game winning streak, Carolina has come crashing back down to earth, losers of four straight. That includes an embarrassing loss on the road last week to the New York Giants, 25-3. So heading into this game, a little good news about players currently out would be a blessing for the struggling Panthers.

Who’s out for the Panthers

Rookie receiver Terrence Marshall Jr. is out for Sunday’s match-up. Marshall is still in concussion protocol for the second straight week after leaving early in Carolina’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The 6-foot-3 receiver out of LSU is a part of the trio of wideouts who led their receiver corps on the way to a national championship in 2019. Marshall is the Panthers’ second-round pick from this year’s draft. On the season, he has 14 catches for 116 yards; six of those catches are for first downs.

Defensive end Darryl Johnson is the only other player listed out for the game. The three-year pro from North Carolina A&T will miss the game with a hamstring injury. This is his first year with the Panthers after spending the first two years with the Buffalo Bills. In Buffalo, he played in 31 of the team’s 32 regular-season games in his two seasons. But since being acquired by the Panthers in a trade before the season started he’s struggling to find time in their defensive line rotation. He is only played in two games and has only recorded 10 total defensive snaps in Carolina.

The return of a defensive anchor?

The most notable news coming out of this report is the Panthers could be getting back defensive leader Shaq Thompson. For the game, Thompson’s status has been upgraded to questionable. The linebacker has been out since Carolina suffered its first loss of the season against Dallas in Week 4. During that game, Thompson suffered a foot injury but played through it and finished out the game. Since then, he has been out of the lineup for all three of the Panthers’ losses. And their No. 1 ranked defense has struggled to get teams off of the field since then.

The complete injury report is listed here.