Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 2

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard and WR Tetairoa McMillan are both expected to play Sunday against the Patriots.

Both were listed as questionable with calf injuries and were limited Thursday and Friday but are trending in the right direction. The Panthers are dealing with injuries in the passing game with WR Xavier Leggette and TE Ja’Tavion also injured. Hubbard is RB20 and McMillan is WR21 this week.

Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard is questionable for Sunday vs. the Patriots due to a calf injury, and WR Xavier Legette has been ruled out.

Related Players: Rico Dowdle, Trevor Etienne, Tetairoa McMillan, Hunter Renfrow, Brycen Tremayne

If Hubbard is out there, we'd still expect him to put up borderline RB2/3 numbers, but if he misses Dowdle could operate in the RB4 range.

Legette's continued absence shouldn't have much of an impact on the rest of the wide receiver room. McMillan is the only option we should be considered in fantasy.

Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan did not practice today due to a calf injury.

Related Players: Hunter Renfrow, Brycen Tremayne, David Moore

With Xavier Legette potentially sidelined and likely bad, missing McMillan this week would leave their pass-catchers in utter disarray. If TMac can go, he should still be locked in as a WR2, but if he's sidelined, we should be trying to stream the Patriots D/ST, if we weren't already.

The Panthers got their first win of the season on Sunday, but they also reportedly lost tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders for a while.

Sanders injured his ankle during the fourth quarter of Carolina’s 30-0 win over the Falcons. Joseph Person of TheAthletic.com reports that tests showed Sanders suffered a high-ankle sprain and is set to miss multiple weeks as a result.

Related players: Tommy Tremble, Mitchell Evans, James Mitchell

Sanders had two catches for 11 yards in Sunday’s win. He has 11 catches for 92 yards so far this season. The story added Tremble and Evans saw time at tight end in Week 3. Mitchell was inactive for the game and has not appeared in a game this year.

Bengals also are signing QB Mike White to their practice squad, per source.

So both White and Sean Clifford added to Cincinnati’s practice squad.

Related players: Jake Browning, Brett Rypien

After Joe Burrow injured his toe and will be out at least three months, the Bengals are stocking up on quarterbacks. Browning will take over the starting job and can be picked up in just about any format. Rypien will likely be the number-two with White and Clifford taking on the insurance roles.

The NFL game did not look too big or fast for Tetairoa McMillan, who caught five passes for 68 yards on nine targets. It was the third-highest receiving total by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only Muhsin Muhammad (96 yards) and Kelvin Benjamin (92).

“It’s cool,” McMillan said. “But everybody on this team wants to win games. I feel like I should have done more.”

The story said McMillan was especially bothered by another fourth-down play in the third quarter, when he couldn’t come down with a one-handed catch in the end zone, or it could have been a bigger fantasy debut for the rookie. However, the author went on to say McMillan looked the part of a No. 1 receiver, which may have been the best development for the Panthers on a lost Sunday.

Hunter Renfrow is listed as one of the starting wide receivers for the Panthers.

Related players: Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, David Moore

Renfrow was cut from the team and then brought back this weekend after Coker moved to IR. It's quite a fall and rise situation for Renfrow, who could find himself as a fantasy producer, with the upside being Adam Thielen-like from last season.

The Panthers signed WR Hunter Renfrow to their active roster Saturday.

Renfrow was among the final cuts for the Panthers as he competed for a role on the depth chart but was just squeezed out. The Panthers and general manager Dan Morgan had kept open the possibility of bringing Renfrow back in some capacity. Renfrow also essentially moved up a spot on the depth chart with the Panthers having since traded Adam Thielen to the Vikings and Jalen Coker suffering a quad injury Thursday and being placed on injured reserve. Renfrow likely mans tbe slot position at least until Coker returns, which he is expected to miss about 4-6 weeks.

Homecoming: Panthers and Vikings are finalizing a trade for WR Adam Thielen to return to Minnesota, sources tell ESPN.

The trade: Vikings get Thielen, a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick and a 2027 fifth-round pick.

Panthers get a 2026 fifth-round pick and a 2027 fourth-round pick.

Thielen starred for the Vikings from 2013-2022. Now he returns.

Related Players: Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker

This is a good move to ease J.J. McCarthy into the league with Jordan Addison suspended for the first three games. Thielen is heading into his age-35 (!!) season and doesn't offer nearly the run-after-catch ability as he did in his heyday, but he can operate as a consistent option for the young QB. He's unlikely to hit double-digit targets as he did a couple times last year with JJ and T.J. Hockenson around, but he could be playable for desperate deep-league managers.

Back in Carolina, this helps clear the runway for Jalen Coker to operate as the Panthers' primary slot option after a pretty impressive rookie season for a UDFA. He's an interesting stash.

Vikings and Panthers have tried to work out a trade for Carolina WR Adam Thielen.

Related players: Tetairoa McMillan, Xavier Legette, Jalen Coker, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor

Schefter's post said Thielen would like to return to Minnesota, but the two sides continue to struggle to agree on compensation. The Vikings could use help at WR with Addison suspended. Thielen would likely be the team's WR3 when at full strength in a couple of weeks, probably pushing Nailor down the depth chart. In Carolina, Thielen could be considered the team's WR2, but if he departs Legette likely takes that role behind McMillan with Coker moving up to the team's WR3 role. Whatever the hurdles seem to be, one would think this deal gets done at some point.