Chris Brazzell II will miss his entire rookie season after the Carolina Panthers decided surgery offered the best long-term solution to a torn lateral collateral ligament in his left knee.

The third-round receiver suffered the injury during a non-contact seven-on-seven drill on Wednesday. He had recently returned to practice after soreness in the same knee kept him out of two previous sessions. Initial reports suggested Brazzell could attempt to rehabilitate the injury without surgery and return after approximately eight weeks. However, a second medical opinion confirmed the extent of the damage, prompting the player and club to choose an operation rather than risk further problems later in his career, with Carolina confirming that Brazzell will undergo season-ending surgery and be placed on injured reserve.

“So, just something happened,” head coach Dave Canales said immediately after Wednesday’s practice. “He felt weird on it, sat down. We took him in. We’ll get a full evaluation and get a picture of that, and we’ll give you guys more information there.”

Brazzell had been participating in a passing drill when he stopped, spoke briefly to a team-mate and lowered himself to the ground. RB Chuba Hubbard and QB Kenny Pickett helped the training staff attend to him before he was assisted from the field without placing weight on his left leg.

“It was just something that kind of started to get sore after the first couple of days, and then he mentioned it to us,” Canales added. “We started to look at it and we put him through some good recovery stuff and de-loaded him for a couple of days, got him back out there, [but] he couldn’t finish the day.”

The injury removes one of the more distinctive players from a receiving corps assembled to support Bryce Young’s continued development. Brazzell stands 6ft 4in but ran the 40-yard dash in 4.37 seconds at the NFL Scouting Combine, giving Carolina a combination of size and vertical speed that is difficult to reproduce elsewhere on the roster. The Panthers selected him 83rd overall after he recorded 62 receptions for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns during his final season at Tennessee.

Brazzell’s emergence followed a college career that began quietly at Tulane before a transfer to Knoxville allowed him to develop into a first-team All-SEC receiver and third-team Associated Press All-American. He had performed well during offseason work and the opening days of camp, putting himself in contention for a role alongside reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan.

McMillan remains the leading target in an offense that showed considerable improvement during the second half of last season, when Young led Carolina to an 8-9 record and its first playoff appearance since 2017. Jalen Coker is expected to operate primarily from the slot, while former first-round pick Xavier Legette enters an important third season. John Metchie III, Jimmy Horn Jr, David Moore and Ja’seem Reed are among those positioned to receive additional opportunities following Brazzell’s injury, while the Panthers have also added Casey Washington and Gabriel Benyard to replenish their camp numbers. Depth, however, does not necessarily replace the role envisaged for Brazzell. McMillan and Legette both provide size on the outside, but the rookie’s straight-line speed offered Canales another means of stretching coverage and creating space beneath the secondary.

His loss is the second season-ending setback suffered by a recent Carolina draft pick since camp began. Edge defender Nic Scourton tore an ACL during the opening practice and will also spend 2026 on injured reserve. Scourton, chosen in the second round in 2025, recorded five sacks and started eight games as a rookie. He was expected to assume a larger role in a defense seeking greater consistency this season.

The Panthers are managing further health concerns elsewhere. Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton is recovering from a blood clot and is expected to miss the beginning of the regular season, while Ikem Ekwonu and guards Damien Lewis and Robert Hunt have also dealt with injuries. Tight end Mitchell Evans suffered a low ankle sprain during camp, although his absence is not expected to be lengthy.