Nic Scourton injury update: Panthers rookie pass rusher hospitalized amid scary situation

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales revealed on Saturday that linebacker Nic Scourton suffered a collapsed lung during practice on Thursday and the injury is more serious than the team originally thought. The rookie is now expected to miss some time heading into the regular season.

Scourton, who played football at Purdue (2022-23) and Texas A&M (2024) was selected with the No. 51 overall pick in the Second Round of the 2025 NFL Draft by the Panthers.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales said rookie pass rusher Nic Scourton suffered a collapsed lung during practice Thursday, and the injury is more serious than the team initially thought. Scourton now is expected to miss some time.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 16, 2025

“Scourton suffered a collapsed lung,” Canales revealed on Saturday. “It was a very physical play. It was presenting like heat exhaustion because he was having trouble breathing and was getting tired and all that, so we cooled him down. We couldn’t get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable enough about putting him back into practice. I really attribute the training staff for kind of evaluating where he was at and saying this is not a guy who should return to practice today.”

“The symptoms kind of grew after practice, so we checked him into the hospital and that’s where they told us what was happening. Scourton was driving home, he went home yesterday, so he’s back in Charlotte. We’ll keep evaluating him but I’m not sure about timeline. It’s usually week-to-week with those types of things, but I’ve heard from the trainers and different coaches that a guy played the next week.”

Scourton looked dominant in first preseason game

The Timpson, TX native was a four-star recruit coming out of Bryan High School (Bryan, TX) in the Class of 2022. He was the No. 291 ranked player nationally and was the No. 35 ranked defensive lineman in the country, ahead of Michigan‘s Mason Graham (selected No. 5 overall in 2025 NFL Draft).

Scourton played two seasons at Purdue before transferring to Texas A&M prior to the 2024 season. He was named Second Team All-Big Ten in his final season at Purdue and was named First Team All-SEC in his lone season at A&M.

He recorded two tackles and one sack with two TFL in Carolina’s preseason opening game against Shedeur Sanders and the Cleveland Browns on Aug. 8.