The Carolina Panthers may have just lost yet another member of their defense.
As first reported by ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter, safety Jeremy Chinn has sustained a “significant” quad injury that is expected to keep him out for “up to six weeks.” Schefter also noted that Chinn is not expected to undergo surgery.
This reported setback is just the latest bump in a rough 2023 campaign for both the Panthers and Chinn, who has been playing at the lowest rate of defensive snaps in his four-year career. The former second-round pick has appeared in approximately 52 percent of the unit’s looks thus far—a stark drop-off from his 97 percent in 2020, 99 percent in 2021 and 91 percent in 2022.
Chinn’s underwhelming attendance record can be attributed to what’s been a less-than-perfect fit in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s new scheme. Evero recently explained the safety’s lack of snaps to reporters.
“Specialized packages for him,” Evero said last Thursday. “We’re obviously trying to play him and Troy [Hill] at the nickel position, and then have Jeremy in some of the dime positions. Again, it’s almost comin’ back to the situation on first and second down. Gettin’ more third downs is how we get him on the field, obviously. And then, some of those specialized first- and second-down deals, too. Our execution level, our ability to play the run game better, get into more pass situations is going to allow that to happen.”
The Panthers defense also has starting safeties Vonn Bell (quadriceps) and Xavier Woods (hamstring) on the mend as well as cornerback Jaycee Horn (hamstring) and linebacker Shaq Thompson (fibula).
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