Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 7

The Panthers will be without one of their key offensive players for at least four weeks.

Carolina is placing Adam Thielen on injured reserve after he suffered a hamstring injury during Sunday’s victory over the Raiders, according to multiple reports.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo, David Moore, Chuba Hubbard

Thielen sustained the injury while catching a 31-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Thielen is expected to return to the field at some point in 2024, the story said. The rookie Legette and Mingo, along with Moore, all move up the depth chart. Legette had two catches for 42 yards and Mingo caught three for 18 in Week 3. Both players have six total catches this season. Look for Hubbard to likely remain heavily involved in the passing game, too.

There wasn’t much suspense about who will be starting at quarterback for the Panthers in Week 4, but head coach Dave Canales made an announcement at his Monday press conference anyway.

“Andy Dalton is our quarterback. He gives us the best chance to win,” Canales said. “That’s the approach as we get ready for the Bengals.”

Related players: Bryce Young

Andy Dalton was 26-of-37 for 319 yards and three touchdowns in Carolina’s 36-22 win over the Raiders in Las Vegas. That was a huge leap up from what the Panthers did on offense with Young running the offense in back-to-back losses to open the season. Even better, fantasy owners of Chuba Hubbard and Diontea Johnson saw signs of life from those players.

Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, the Panthers are benching Bryce Young to start Andy Dalton — beginning with this week’s matchup against the Raiders.

As the story said, after the Week 2 loss HC Dave Canales said, "Bryce is our quarterback." But as the story added, Young has looked overmatched so far this season after struggling to a 2-14 mark last year. Young has completed just 55.4 percent of his throws for 245 yards with three interceptions. His passer rating is 44.1 and he’s averaging just 4.4 yards per attempt. As for Dalton, he's 36 and likely won't be considered a must-acquire fantasy target. But, he will have some weapons to work with in Diontae Johsnon, Adam Thielen and Xavier Legette, so he may have some value in deeper superflex leagues.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts (hamstring) fully participated in practice for a second straight day and is good to go for Sunday vs. Pittsburgh.

Related Players: Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley

Pitts should be locked in as a top-10 option as he faces off against the Steelers and Arthur Smith.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts is dealing with a hamstring injury and will be limited at practice today, per HC Raheem Morris.

Related Players: Charlie Woerner, Ross Dwelley

Nothing to worry about quite yet, as a limited Wednesday practice doesn't mean he won't be a full-go by kickoff. We'll keep an eye on practice reports over the next two days.

Running back A.J. Dillon was placed on injured reserve and was not designated to return, meaning he is done for the year.

Dillon recently suffered another stinger and last week said he was awaiting test results. Head coach Matt LaFleur had said “absolutely there’s a concern” with Dillon’s injury, noting that Green Bay would proceed cautiously.

Related players: Josh Jacobs, MarShawn Lloyd, Emanuel Wilson, Ellis Merriweather

Dillon, 26, was expected to be the primary backup to running back Jacobs, and the team recently announced the rookie Lloyd will start the season on the PUP list and miss the first four games of the season at least. Wilson and Merriweather are now behind Jacobs, but it's possible the Packers will have to make a move at the position at least until Lloyd comes back.

A bit of a shocker: Panthers are releasing WR Terrace Marshall.

Related players: Diontae Johnson, Adam Thielen, Xavier Legette, Jonathan Mingo

Some who follow the team thought Marshall was having a good camp and potentially turning things around for himself. But, the Panthers paid a lot of attention to the WR position the last couple of years. They traded for Johnson this spring after signing Thielen the previous year. Also this spring, they drafted Legette at the end of the first round, after selecting Mingo the previous season, that left Marshall buried down the depth chart.

Marshawn Lloyd is expected to start the season on IR -- they can do that now without missing 2024.

Related players: Josh Jacobs, A.J. Dillon

Lloyd is a rookie who injured his hamstring in the first preseason game. He was expected to slide right into the team's RB2 role behind Jacobs. But, that role looks like it now goes back to Dillon, who was unimpressive last year behind Aaron Jones. Lloyd will miss the first four games of the season.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Panthers will leave Jonathon Brooks on the non-football injury list for the start of the regular season. That will remove him from the active roster and will leave him ineligible to play in the first four games of the regular season.

Related players: Miles Sanders, Chuba Hubbard, Mike Boone, Raheem Blackshear, Jaden Shirden

Brooks tore his ACL during his final season at Texas, but the Panthers still selected him in the second round in April, the story said. The story added the team was hoping to have Brooks back by Week 3 or 4, but are taking it slow with him. Hubbard should be the guy to own in terms of fantasy with Sanders also getting his work. Brooks is still expected to be back, and is very likely to take over the RB1 role at some point soon after his return.

Multiple teams have reached out to the Texans to see if WR John Metchie III would be available in trade.

As the post pointed out, the Texans have a "plethora of receivers" on their roster. The post added it's unclear if Houston would move him, but several team are keeping a close eye, according to Schultz. Metchie certainly has the pedigree. He's a former second round pick out of Alabama and had 10 catches for 100 yards and a TD in the preseason. He missed all of 2022 battling Leukemia.