Carolina Panthers Injury News 2017: Wide Receiver Kelvin Benjamin Avoids Serious Injury, No Structural Damage on Left Knee
Carolina Panthers fans probably held their collective breaths when wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin injured his left knee after he was tackled from behind by Kenny Crawley on the final play of the opening quarter of Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints.
The injury looked bad because Benjamin tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the same knee back in 2015, but fortunately, he got lucky this time because tests have revealed that he didn't sustain any structural damage to his knee.
"He got an MRI last night, and it came back pretty good. We'll see how his treatment goes. They told me that it had all come out negative and there was nothing structurally wrong, which was good news because it was his repaired knee," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said on Monday, via the team's official website.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
It's a relief to hear that Benjamin has dodged a serious injury to his surgically repaired left knee. The Panthers are already without Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen after he broke his right foot in their loss to the Buffalo Bills last week. He's expected to miss six to eight weeks after he had surgery and the team has placed him on the injured reserve list.
"He broke the fifth metatarsal on his right foot — it's called a Jones fracture. He had a screw inserted to repair the fracture," Panthers head athletic trainer Ryan Vermillion said, via the team's official website.
"The only thing that he has to do now is heal. I know Greg will be around and he'll be involved," he added.
Starting quarterback Cam Newton is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery as well and he's still not 100 percent.
The Panthers' offense will continue to struggle while Olsen is on the shelf, but at least Benjamin's not going to be out for long.
