Tag: Juston Burris

Panthers injury update: CB Jaycee Horn leaves with foot injury

On top of losing RB Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers saw rookie CB Jaycee Horn exit with a foot injury against the Texans.

Losing star running back Christian McCaffrey was bad enough for the Carolina Panthers. But it seems as though injuries don’t discriminate.

2021 eighth overall pick Jaycee Horn was the next Panther to leave Thursday night’s slop-fest against the Houston Texans. The rookie cornerback twisted his right foot while backpedaling on the turf early in the third quarter and did not put any weight on it while being assisted off the field.

He would then be carted away into the locker room, as noted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

Horn had been playing up to his billing to this point, allowing just two receptions over five targets for 18 yards in the first two games. His injury now comes just two games after Carolina lost versatile defensive back Myles Hartsfield, who will miss over two months of action.

And in another secondary setback, safety Juston Burris, who also exited, is doubtful to return with a groin injury.

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Panthers PFF grades: Best and worst from Week 2 vs. Saints

The Panthers aced their first big test of the season, but how did PFF grade their guys out in the win over the Saints?

The Carolina Panthers came up absolute aces in their dominant upset win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. But that’s just your ordinary, run-of-the-mill, proverbial school grade.

How about some Pro Football Focus grades instead?

Here’s who the film buffs had as the Panthers’ best and worst performers in the Week 2 victory.

Panthers Week 2 injury report: All systems go ahead of clash with Saints

Exhale, Panthers fans. RT Taylor Moton, and the six other players listed on this week’s injury report, will all be good to go against the Saints.

Some concern about the Carolina Panthers’ chances against the New Orleans Saints arose when starting right tackle Taylor Moton suddenly popped up on Thursday’s injury report. Well, we can probably put those worries to bed.

The Panthers returned an almost perfect final injury report on Friday, just two days ahead of their first divisional matchup of 2021. Although seven players remained listed, none were saddled with any type of game status designation. That suggests they’re all good to go.

Injury Wed. Thurs. Fri. Game Status
DT DaQuan Jones Groin Limited Limited Limited –
OT Taylor Moton Groin – Limited Limited –
S Juston Burris Neck Full Full Full –
S Sean Chandler Hamstring Full Full Full –
G Pat Elflein Hip Limited Full Full –
G John Miller Illness Limited Full Full –
WR Shi Smith Shoulder Full Full Full –

Losing Moton, or even having him the least bit compromised, would’ve spelled even more trouble for Carolina, who’s already a clear underdog to New Orleans on Sunday. Being without your best offensive linemen on what’s still one of the worst units in the league, of course, is not ideal.

But, fortunately for the Panthers, that seems like it won’t be the case as they shoot for the upset at home.

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Panthers injury report: WR Shi Smith back as full participant for Week 2

After being the only Panther on the 53-man roster to miss last week’s opener due to injury, WR Shi Smith was back at full go for practice today.

If you rewind back to the moment where Carolina Panthers receiver Shi Smith injured his shoulder in the preseason finale three weeks ago, there was no way anyone would’ve thought he’d be where he is today. And today, he’s back at a full-go.

The rookie wideout was listed as a full participant in Wednesday’s practice,  even in spite of the injury. He was joined by a handful of other Panthers in what was a relatively encouraging report for the team ahead of their Week 2 contest against the New Orleans Saints.

Injury Wed. Thurs. Fri. Game status
G Pat Elflein Hip Limited
DT DaQuan Jones Groin Limited
G John Miller Illness Limited
S Juston Burris Neck Full
S Sean Chandler Hamstring Full
WR Shi Smith Shoulder Full

As announced this morning, Miller has been activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list and will try to keep working his way back into the starting lineup. Dennis Daley filled in for Miller in last week’s win over the New York Jets.

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Panthers Preseason: All expected starters don’t dress vs. Colts

You’ll have to wait another week to see at least some of the Carolina Panthers’ Sunday best.

Sorry, Carolina Panthers fans. But you’ll have to wait at least another week to see your team’s Sunday best. Every. Single. One.

As expected, head coach Matt Rhule opted not to roll out any projected regular season starters this afternoon against the Indianapolis Colts. The team released its starting lineup an hour before kickoff while also confirming its headliners will not be dressed. So that means civilian clothes for:

Sam Darnold, Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Dan Arnold, Ian Thomas, Cameron Erving, Taylor Moton, Pat Elflein, John Miller, Matt Paradis, Brian Burns, Morgan Fox, Derrick Brown, DaQuan Jones, Shaq Thompson, Jermaine Carter Jr., Haason Reddick, Jaycee Horn, Donte Jackson, Jeremy Chinn and Juston Burris.

Also not in uniform will be the crop of running backs Rodney Smith and Reggie Bonnafon, center Mike Panasiuk and defensive tackle Caraun Reid. They will each be inactive due to injury.

Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood, offensive lineman Dennis Daley, cornerback A.J. Bouye, safety Myles Hartfield and linebackers Denzel Perryman, Julian Stanford and Clay Johnston are inactive as well and did not travel with the team.

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Panthers secondary gets below-average ranking from Pro Football Focus

Jeremy Chinn’s development in coverage will be a critical factor to watch as the schedule unfolds, as will A.J. Bouye’s performance playing in the slot as opposed to outside.

We’re expecting a better-than-average defense for the Carolina Panthers this season. Their defensive line should be able to generate pressure consistently, and they have a much better-looking depth chart at middle linebacker now compared to 2020. The x-factor will be how well their new-look secondary performs.

Carolina invested a lot of resources at cornerback this offseason. In theory that should help, but there are still questions about this unit. Pro Football Focus has their secondary ranked No. 23 in the NFL going into 2021.

“The Panthers have selected Jeremy Chinn, Troy Pride Jr. and Jaycee Horn in the past two drafts to join Donte Jackson in the secondary, showing that the team values speed and athleticism. . . Improvement from Chinn in his second season, along with immediate contributions from newcomers Horn and A.J. Bouye, could lead to an improved secondary for the Panthers in 2021.”

Jeremy Chinn’s development in coverage will be a critical factor to watch as the schedule unfolds, as will A.J. Bouye’s performance playing in the slot as opposed to outside. Assuming that Jaycee Horn lives up to the hype and Donte Jackson continues trending up, the only real worrisome spot might be at free safety.

Cutting Tre Boston for minimal cap savings was one of this team’s most questionable moves. They didn’t draft any safeties to replace him and the only notable free agent pickup was Lano Hill, who has just six career starts under his belt.

If this hole at free safety isn’t effectively filled by Juston Burris or somebody else on the roster, it could become the weakest link in the chain on the back end. Finding a workable solution at this spot should be at the top of the team’s to-do list on defense as training camp approaches.

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Panthers safety, long-time specialist identified as potential chopping block candidates

Which NFL team has undergone more personnel changes over the last few years than the Carolina Panthers?

Which NFL team has undergone more personnel changes over the last few years than the Carolina Panthers? It seems dozens of fan favorites and franchise legends have left the team since the start of 2018. Whether it was retirement, trade or free agency, the team has said good-bye to big names like Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, Julius Peppers, Ryan Kalil, Greg Olsen and Mario Addison to name just a few.

This offseason we could see their longest-tenured player finally move on, officially closing the previous chapter in this team’s history. According to David Newton at ESPN, long-time long snapper J.J. Jansen is is the top candidate to get cut before the season begins.

“Jansen has been one of the best long-snappers in the NFL since he arrived at Carolina in 2009. But when a team drafts a long-snapper — especially if it’s in the sixth round, when the Panthers selected Alabama’s Thomas Fletcher — it’s doing so with the mindset that he’ll make the roster. It simply doesn’t make sense to keep two long-snappers, particularly when one counts $1 million toward the salary cap.”

Fair enough. It was a strange flex to use a draft pick on Fletcher, but in any case the pressure is on Jansen to prove the job should still be his. Fletcher should probably be considered the favorite, but we can’t write off Jansen just yet. While Fletcher has that expended draft capital and youth working in his favor, Jansen has 192 games and 12 years of experience on his side.

There will be a lot more than just one cut come the end of the preseason, though. Rosters will be trimmed from 90 to 53 from Aug. 17-31.

Another potential cut is defensive back Juston Burris, who’s been named as a chopping block candidate by CBS Sports.

“But as they’re trying to level up the secondary, it comes time to decide if Burris is a capable starter to protect the back end behind Horn going forward. The Panthers might do well to instead lean more heavily on Jeremy Chin and to see what Sam Franklin can truly do if fully unleashed than to eat Burris’ salary in 2021. The 28-year-old will punch the Panthers cap for $4.83 million this season, but $3.78 million can revert to savings if they divorce him.”

That’s a decent chunk of change for the cap considering Burris’ value. However, it’s not enough reason to cut him.

Last year around this time we pinpointed backup running back Mike Davis as a seemingly obvious roster cut due to the cap savings involved. Instead, Davis stuck around and wound up balling out as a starter in the wake of Christian McCaffrey’s injuries. Despite what the analytics say about paying running backs, keeping Davis turned out to be the right decision.

Heading into 2021, the Panthers are pretty thin at the safety position, especially after the questionable decision to release Tre Boston. Burris may be able to keep his spot for no other reason than Carolina not having any better options to take his place.

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4 more Carolina Panthers players who could get cut before the start of free agency

Here are four more players who might get cut before free agency begins.

The Carolina Panthers appear ready to make a splash this offseason. So far, they have created a lot of extra 2021 salary cap room by making some cuts. Already, the team has released defensive tackle Kawann Short, free safety Tre Boston, defensive end Stephen Weatherly, punter Michael Palardy, defensive tackle Woodrow Hamilton and defensive back Natrell Jamerson.

With reports that we may see a “massacre” next week around the league as far as players getting cut, it’s possible we haven’t seen the last of them. Here are four more players who might get cut before free agency begins. All salary info comes via Over the Cap and assumes a post-June 1 designation.

Analysis: Panthers need to find an answer at free safety with Tre Boston out

For the second time in his career, the Carolina Panthers have released free safety Tre Boston.

For the second time in his career, the Carolina Panthers have released free safety Tre Boston. He was one of three players who we learned are getting cut by the team today. The others were defensive end Stephen Weatherly and punter Michael Palardy. Carolina is well set up at those two positions, but with Boston leaving they now have a rather significant hole to fill at free safety, which has become a common theme for this franchise regardless of who’s in charge.

While it’s true Boston didn’t have a great 2020 season, we’re not huge fans of cutting him at this point. For one thing, it didn’t save a whole lot of salary cap room for 2021 – only $3.55 million according to Over the Cap. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Panthers made a similar decision last March when they cut Eric Reid despite little cap savings and a sizable dead money penalty.

Clearly the safeties that the Panthers are signing are not meeting their standards, which makes picking up another veteran to replace Boston a wary proposition.

However, there are some excellent pending free agents at the position who deserve some serious consideration. Justin Simmons of the Broncos is just 27 and poised to cash in next month. Anthony Harris of the Vikings is two years older but in a similar situation.

The gem of course is Earl Thomas, formerly of the Seahawks and the Ravens. He’s still an otherworldly defensive talent based on what we saw from him in 2019. Thomas’ ugly exits from both Seattle and Baltimore are a concern, though. While his behavior might drive his price down, it’s also a big yellow flag. That said, if general manger Scott Fitterer believes Thomas wouldn’t be an issue off the field, then he has to at least kick the tires.

Internally, the DBs on the roster are all not ideal as far moving them to Boston’s former spot. Jeremy Chinn was going to be playing more safety anyway but he’s not the kind of defender you want playing the center field role, at least not until he improves dramatically in coverage. Juston Burris is a quality backup but also not someone you’d want starting at that spot.

Unless the Panthers are convinced somebody like Sam Franklin or Myles Hartsfield can make a dramatic second-year leap and take over for Boston, odds are they’ll have to acquire a new safety to meet this need.

Not every position can be filled via the NFL draft. This is one that likely should be added to an already-long list, though.

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Who are the 4 Panthers players most likely to get cut before next season?

Based on the structure of their contracts and the team’s roster situation, here are our top four candidates to be released.

The Carolina Panthers will only have about $16.2 million in salary cap space to work with for the 2021 season unless they do some trimming.

Some fans have suggested that they should release starting center Matt Paradis, for one. While cutting him would save the team $8.53 million, Paradis actually played well this season and is worth keeping around. In fact, if he leaves there’s a possibility all five starting offensive linemen will be turned over this offseason and that’s not a good idea to say the least. If anything, Paradis should be considered for an extension, which could save the team about $6 million this year, according to Over the Cap.

There are some good candidates to get cut, though. Based on the structure of their contracts and the team’s roster situation, here are our top four candidates to be released. All salary numbers are via OTC and assume a post June 1 designation.