The Carolina Panthers are relatively healthy heading into Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season, which commences for them on Sunday at home against the Chicago Bears.
They have just three players named on their injury report, and only one has been ruled out.
Still, with a matchup coming against the high-powered Bears offense, led by QB Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson, Carolina won’t love that it’s without a playmaking defender for this clash.
Panthers Injury Report
The Panthers released their final injury report for Week 1 early on Friday afternoon.
The only player who has been ruled out is Patrick Jones II. He’s listed with a back injury, and he didn’t practice at all this week.
The Panthers will have defensive tackle Bobby Brown III available. He also has a back injury, and it made him a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice. Brown got full participation on both Thursday and Friday and won’t have an injury designation.
Carolina also has running back Jonathon Brooks ready to go. He has a groin injury that made him a limited participant on Wednesday and Thursday, but he got a full practice on Friday and also has no injury designation.
What Patrick Jones Being Out Means
Jones wasn’t really expected to play this week based on his prior injury news, so it won’t come as a shock to the Panthers. They’ll have been preparing without him all along.
It does force someone to step up at the right outside linebacker spot. The Panthers have Jaelan Phillips, the big money signing, expected to start at left outside linebacker.
The three other outside linebackers on the active roster are Trevis Gipson, Thomas Incoom and Princely Umanmielen.
Dave Canales says Panthers will be counting on Princely Umanmielen, Trevis Gipson and Thomas Incoom at the OLB spot opposite Jaelan Phillips.
— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 11, 2026
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That will put additional pressure on Phillips, who already was going to see plenty of blocking attention from the Bears but now will get even more.
It’s also a bummer for Jones. He played just four games for the Panthers in 2025 after signing a two-year, $15 million contract before last season. In those four games in an injury-plagued season, Jones made nine tackles, including one sack.
His best season came in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings. Jones appeared in 15 contests and had 39 tackles, including 7.0 sacks.
Last season, Jones started all four games he played in for the Panthers after being almost exclusively a reserve in his four seasons in Minnesota. Once that season was cut short, the hope was that Jones would get back into a consistent starting rhythm in 2026.
He still might have that chance, and given that the Panthers haven’t placed Jones on any other kind of injury list, they likely are counting on him being back sooner rather than later.
For now, though, they’ll need someone else to step up. That’s football, and for Carolina to slow down Chicago on Sunday, they’ll need their whole defensive group to make plays even in Jones’ absence.
Panthers Injury Report Rules Out $15 Million Playmaker in Week 1