Dave Canales: Putting Jonathon Brooks on PUP gives him best chance of complete return

NBC Sports

12-05-2025

Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks saw his chances of playing in 2025 come to an end last week when the team placed him on the physically unable to perform list.
Making the move now means Brooks won't be eligible to return to action until the 2026 season and head coach Dave Canales explained the timing during the team's rookie minicamp. Brooks tore his ACL while at Texas in 2023 and then tore the same ligament again in Week 14 last season, which led the Panthers to choose an approach that allows Brooks to focus only on rehab without thinking about when he will play again.
'It really just allows him to focus on what he's working on, which is full health, strength, best shape of his life to give him the best chance so when he comes back to us that he's running on all cylinders, that he doesn't have to think about it and think he could just play football and enjoy it again,' Canales said, via the team's website. 'And that's really what this is about. It's about him just being able to have a clear focus on what the goal is.'
Brooks had nine carries for 22 yards and three catches for 23 yards in three appearances as a rookie. Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Raheem Blackshear, and fourth-round pick Trevor Etienne will handle the backfield work in Carolina.