Panthers starting left tackle Ikem Ekwonu’s status for their pivotal match-up against the Bucs is in jeopardy after he sustained a knee injury in the first half of Carolina’s 20-17 loss to the Saints.
“He made it through the game,” head coach Dave Canales said when we asked him why Icky didn’t practice. “He was battling out there. You can kind of sense there was
some stuff going on, but in the post game evaluation and as we started doing tests on him, there is something in there. There is something going on with his knee, so we had to make sure we took care of him today. He’s going to be day to day. We are going to look at him tomorrow and see if we can get him out there to practice, but we’re not really sure right now.”
Ekwonu wouldn’t give any details about the extent of the injury or even which knee he hurt, but he did say he played most of the game Sunday injured.
“The team knows and the guys in the locker room know that if I can be out there I will,” Ickey said.
When asked if playing through the injury could worsen it, Ickey said there’s always a risk involved.
“At the end of the day it’s going to be a decision I’m going to have to make. I want to be out there for my teammates and for the coaches. I want to be out there representing the Panthers to the highest of my ability.”
Veteran offensive lineman Yosh Nijman worked with the first team at left tackle Wednesday and Canales said Jake Curhan, who has experience at tackle, may be used there as well.