Carolina running back Jonathon Brooks will need a full season to recover from a second ACL tear in his knee. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Mitchell Leff via Getty Images)
Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks will miss the 2025 NFL season due to ongoing recovery from a torn ACL in his right knee, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday.
Brooks suffered the injury on Dec. 8 against the Philadelphia Eagles in his rookie season. He played in only three games last season as he was recovering from a torn ACL that he initially suffered while starring at the University of Texas. Despite the injury, the Panthers were bullish on his talent, drafting him 14th in the second round in 2024.
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In March, Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson reported that the Panthers had concerns about Brooks entering this offseason.
The Panthers are signing running back Rico Dowdle to a one-year deal, strongly pointing to a plan that appears to be leaning into sitting Brooks for the entirety of the 2025 season. To err on the side of caution and put together a plan over the next 18 months offers Brooks a chance to enter training camp in 2026 both completely healthy and as confident as possible about his right knee.
Even taking that approach, a league source indicated there’s a lot of concern about Brooks’ development in all of this. While last year’s 46th overall draft pick is extremely young (he won’t turn 22 until July), he will have played very little high-level football by the time he hits the field for the Panthers again. Brooks had only 54 touches rushing and receiving his first two seasons as a backup for the Texas Longhorns, then another 212 his junior year, before eventually tearing the ACL in his right knee and entering the draft. That was followed by only 12 touches as a rookie for the Panthers before tearing the ACL again.
