Panthers rule Jaelan Phillips out against Buccaneers after hamstring evaluation
Jaelan Phillips will miss Carolina’s game against Tampa Bay, with the Panthers treating his hamstring injury more intensively after imaging
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The Carolina Panthers will be without Jaelan Phillips against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week. Dave Canales said the edge defender's hamstring injury requires more intensive treatment following an MRI, according to Panthers beat writer Joe Person.
Joe Person (@josephperson): Canales says Jaelan Phillips will not play this week against the Bucs and Panthers will "see" about the quick turnaround next week at Green Bay.
Phillips' Wednesday absence is no longer merely a practice-status question. Canales ruled him out for the Buccaneers game and said the team would reassess him ahead of its quick turnaround to face Green Bay next week. A separate account of his MRI findings illustrates why the Panthers are being careful.
That leaves Carolina planning for one game without him while preserving uncertainty about the next one. There is another availability concern at the same position. Thomas Incoom, dealing with a calf injury, is week to week. Canales said it took four players to replace Incoom's special-teams work against Philadelphia.
Phillips had been listed out of Wednesday's walkthrough in the team's injury report. The subsequent game-day ruling is the substantive change: Carolina knows he will not face Tampa Bay, while its assessment of his status beyond that game remains open. The Panthers' immediate task is filling those snaps rather than projecting a return date before the hamstring responds to treatment.