The Panthers suffered what appeared to be a catastrophic injury of their season opening win over the Dallas Cowboys in the first quarter when Greg Olsen left for the locker room; later returning on crutches and in a walking boot on the same foot that cost him more than half the 2017 season – two quarters later they may have suffered another.
Right tackle Daryl Williams, who had fought his way back from a dislocated patella and torn MCL suffered the first weekend of training camp to start Week 1, was removed from the field on a cart after suffering what appeared to be a right knee injury – Ron Rivera was able to clarify after the game that the fourth-year pro who was voted second-team All-Pro in 2017 did not suffer a reinjury, but that doesn’t rule out a knee injury, just the specific knee injury that Williams had already suffered.
Williams crumpled to the ground with just under nine minutes left in the game and was being attended to by trainers – they attempted to help the tackle to the sidelines, but he was unable to make it and the cart was sent out to bring him to the locker room.
The Panthers sent Matt Kalil to injured reserve last Sunday after he had an arthroscopic procedure on his knee last month with the expectation that he would return after eight weeks. Should both Olsen and Williams be seriously injured and require stays on injured reserve, a decision will need to be made as the Panthers can only reactivate two players from IR over the course of the season.
“Just seeing Nostrils [Newton’s nickname for Williams] go down too,” said Cam Newton. “I know how hard he worked to battle back and I hope it’s not as bad as it seemd. I’m being optimistic about both of their injuries but we’ll be good. This is the NFL where injuries happen…at the end of the day, you’re only as good as your weakest link.”
With Williams out, Amini Silatolu spent the rest of the evening at right tackle for the Panthers – five plays after Williams left, DeMarcus Lawrence sacked Cam Newton to force a fourth down. The Panthers had newly acquired tackle Corey Robinson second on the depth chart at right tackle behind Williams, but elected to use Silatolu, who spent some time at tackle during the 2017 season when Matt Kalil missed time, albeit on the other side.
Williams’ injury is expected to be updated tomorrow.
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