Carolina Panthers rookie Matt Corral isn’t having a storybook beginning to his NFL career. And hopefully, this first chapter isn’t about to take a damaging turn.
The 2022 third-round pick left Friday night’s loss to the New England Patriots after sustaining a foot injury. After the game, head coach Matt Rhule told reporters that Corral was stepped on and had been sent for x-rays.
Prior to his departure, Corral couldn’t find a rhythm for the second consecutive week. Following his bumpy debut, where he completed just one of his nine throws, the rookie connected on nine of his 15 attempts for just 58 yards.
Rhule, though, did see some positives in Corral’s performance.
“I thought he looked sharp early,” he said. “I thought, ya know, he completed balls. I thought at the end—ya know—a lot of those situations we’d normally probably, with four minutes left, timeouts, run a draw or something. A screen. And punt the ball and try to play defense. But those are invaluable reps for Matt. To be down there. There’s gonna come a time where he’s gonna have to lead a drive coming out of someone else’s end zone with the crowd being like that.”
The final drive of Corral’s night got backed up deep into his own territory. That, unfortunately, led to a bunch of pressure, a sack and the eventual injury.
Corral then, as first reported by Darin Gantt, left the locker room with a boot on his left foot.
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