Defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who went through a season-ending knee injury of his own last year, shook his head when asked about Ekwonu, the team’s 2022 first-round pick.
“I mean, it’s tough,” Brown said. “I mean, I know God’s got him. I know the type of person Ickey is. God gives the best warriors his toughest tests. So I mean, I got a lot of faith that he’ll bounce back 100 percent.”
The question is when, and the Panthers have other concerns there. Right guard Robert Hunt, who missed 15 regular-season games with a torn biceps tendon, was getting an MRI later Sunday on his pectoral injury. He left the game in the first half but returned to play the second.
“Literally a couple of plays in my right pec pops,” Hunt said Saturday night. “But I don’t think it’s off of the bone, so if it wasn’t off the bone, I was going to play.”
So Hunt’s threshold for pain seems high, and he admitted it was difficult to hear the diagnosis for Ekwonu.
“Unfortunately, he went down, it’s pretty serious,” Hunt said. “Obviously we don’t want to be at home, but we’re done for a while, so you’re going to get a chance to heal up, and I’m sure he’ll be ready to go whenever he’s up.”
