“We lead with love” after Nic Scourton injury

Scourton, the second-year linebacker, was injured in a late-practice rep, having to be helped off with a right knee injury. Canales said they will get imaging on Scourton’s knee Thursday afternoon to find out more.

In the moment, though, all that mattered to the Panthers’ roster was surrounding Scourton with love and hugs, literally and figuratively, as he was taken to the athletic training room.

“I’m proud of the fact that the first thought in guys’ minds isn’t, ‘Are we going to have Nic for the season? It was, ‘How is Nic?’ And guys are checking on him,” bragged Canales of his team. “They care about each other. Whenever you’re in a group of people, doing something hard together, it has a way of creating a special bond, and between all the workouts and going through a full season and an offseason and all that, it means something for the guys, and I’m proud of that.”

Bryce Young, who refused to leave Scourton’s side as trainers initially tended to the linebacker, also gathered his teammates after practice to pray for their friend and make sure they were together as he exited.

“Don’t know any details, but Nic’s our brother,” said Young. “When you see someone down, it’s just, first off, it’s human nature. We all care, we all feel for him. Obviously, as athletes, we’re all just praying for him. We all are there for him. It speaks to how we all are in the locker room. But obviously early, don’t know anything or anything like that. We’re just praying.”

While the severity of Scourton’s injury is unknown for now, and therefore a potential timeline for return, when it comes to the football side of things, Canales feels the Panthers are in a good position to get work done with the pass-rusher position.

“We got guys; that’s why we keep bringing in depth and talent and different guys,” said Canales. “It’s Jaelan Phillips in that room, Patrick Jones II is back and Princely Umanmielen‘s coming along, and we got a whole group of guys that we’re counting on.

“And so, if it comes to that, we have guys that we trust, and we’re going to have to do different things. But let’s hold off on that until we know what’s what.”