Mitchell Evans Carted Off, and the Panthers' Injury List Just Keeps Growing

Second-year tight end Mitchell Evans was carted off the practice field Tuesday with a lower-body injury, leaving his status uncertain heading into the preseason. He's currently listed as Questionable, which is better than the alternative, but the image of another player leaving on a cart is not one Carolina needs right now.

The timing is rough. This offense was already operating without both starting tackles — Taylor Moton is Out with the blood clot in his lung, Ikem Ekwonu is Out as well — and the tight end position had been one of the quieter spots on the depth chart heading into camp. With Evans's availability now in question, the Panthers are leaning on Wyatt Houston, Feleipe Franks, and Caden Prieskorn at the position. None of them have meaningful regular-season production on file.

It's worth noting that the tight end role matters more when the offensive line is shorthanded. A healthy, reliable tight end helps with protection, gives Bryce Young a short-area outlet, and takes some pressure off a wide receiver room that just lost rookie Chris Brazzell II for up to eight weeks. Lose Evans for any significant stretch and those functions either fall to unproven players or don't get filled at all.

I've written three notes on this team's injury situation since mid-July. Each one has been about a different position. That's the story right now — not any single injury, but the accumulation.