Some eyebrows were certainly raised on early Tuesday afternoon when the Carolina Panthers designated Sam Darnold to return from the injured reserve. But you might as well just put down brows back down.
Despite the move, and even getting Darnold back to the practice for the day, head coach Matt Rhule didn’t seem too optimistic about the fourth-year passer’s availability for the rest of the 2021 season.
“He can’t really practice practice yet,” Rhule said of Darnold. “He’s throwing, he’s cleared. But he’s not cleared to play. So, I’m not sure when that’ll be.”
Darnold is working his way back from a fracture in his throwing shoulder, a setback that kept him out for the team’s past four outings. His status for the remaining four games, however, remains very uncertain.
“I have no idea,” Rhule added when asked if we’ll see Darnold even suit up. “I don’t even know if he’ll be back.”
As of now, or at least for their Week 15 matchup with the Buffalo Bills, Carolina will seemingly move forward with some sort of mixture of Cam Newton and P.J. Walker under center.
In some more encouraging news, wideout DJ Moore participated despite the hamstring injury he sustained in this past Sunday’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He was also joined by a pair of starting linemen, guards John Miller and Michael Jordan—both of whom did not play in Week 14.
Here’s how the first report of the week panned out:
| Injury | Wed. | Thurs. | Fri. | Game status | |
| CB A.J. Bouye | Foot | DNP | |||
| WR DJ Moore | Hamstring | Limited | |||
| G Michael Jordan | Hamstring | Limited | |||
| G John Miller | Ankle | Full | |||
| LB Jermaine Carter Jr. | Groin | Full |
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