Oh no. Kelvin Benjamin down with an apparent knee injury. pic.twitter.com/pxM7AfCxwa
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) August 19, 2015
When the players are circled around someone, praying, that’s never a good sign. That was the scene during the Carolina Panthers and Miami Dolphins inter-squad practice Wednesday morning after Panthers stud receiver Kelvin Benjamin went down with an apparent left-knee injury.
Jeff Zell of WCCB Sports was able to capture footage of the injury in which Benjamin simply collapses after trying to make a cut during a 1-1 drill and instantly grabs his left knee.
Kelvin Benjamin goes down with an injury when running a route, doesn't look good. pic.twitter.com/e4VOTjEW5A
— Jeff Zell (@Jeff_Zell) August 19, 2015
Eventually Benjamin had to be carted off the field while he was accompanied by Cam Newton. Clearly if the injury is serious it will have a huge impact on the Panthers’ season, as Benjamin is the best weapon at Newton’s disposal on offense. If he’s out for any period of time, Carolina will look to second-round pick Devin Funchess to step up and shoulder some of that load. Carolina’s receivers are sparse beyond that with journeymen Jerricho Cotchery and Tedd Ginn, Jr. making up the rest of the Panthers corps.
The Panthers won the NFC South with just a 7-8-1 record last year and looked to be in the hunt to repeat in the wide open division again in 2015, but this injury may make that much more difficult.
(Via Adam Beasley and Jeff Zell)
