- - Panthers rookie Nic Scourton suffers collapsed lung in practice in Houston

Ayrton Ostly, USA TODAY August 17, 2025 at 6:58 AM

The Carolina Panthers may start the regular season without one of their top draft picks on defense.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Saturday, Aug. 16, that second-round pick Nic Scourton suffered a collapsed lung during practice Thursday ahead of Carolina's preseason game against the Houston Texans.

Scourton was initially diagnosed with heat-related symptoms after practice.

"It was presenting like heat exhaustion because he was having trouble breathing so we kind of cooled him down," Canales said. "We couldn't get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable about putting him back into practice ... The symptoms grew after practice, so we checked him into the hospital."

Dave Canales details the steps the #Panthers training staff took while initially treating Nic Scourton for what they thought was a heat-related illness, later to be confirmed as a collapsed lung@WCNC | #NFL pic.twitter.com/JQqth66Z3z

— Danielle Stein (@Danielle_Stein9) August 16, 2025

How did Dillon Gabriel play today? Grading Browns rookie QB vs. Eagles

Key word for Cam Ward? Patience. The Titans still have a long way to go

He was later diagnosed with a collapsed lung. He's on his way back to Charlotte, North Carolina while the team remained in Houston for its game against the Texans. Houston won 20-3.

"We'll keep evaluating him," Canales said. "I don't really know the timeline, it's really week-to-week with those types of things. I've heard from the trainers and different coaches where a guy played the next week but, you know, we got to be smart with that one."

Carolina selected Scourton in the second round, No. 51 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M. He was the second edge rusher from the school selected in the draft following fellow Aggies prospect Shemar Stewart, who the Cincinnati Bengals selected No. 17 overall.

He's also one of four draft picks by the Panthers on defense as they look to improve what was the worst unit in the league by points, total yards and rushing yards allowed in 2024.

Scourton had two tackles and a sack in the Panthers' preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns.

'Imagine if this falls apart': Eagles GM reveals how AJ Brown trade nearly fell apart during 2022 NFL Draft

Panthers OLB depth chart

Carolina lists Scourton as an outside linebacker in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero's scheme. Though he wasn't expected to start right away, he'd likely see lots of work early on as a rotational rusher.

Here's how the depth chart looks as the Panthers head home after the loss to Houston:

Pat Jones II

D.J. Wonnum

Princely Umanmielen

Nic Scourton

Thomas Incoom

DJ Johnson

Boogie Basham

J.J. Weaver

Panthers preseason schedule

Carolina's down to its final preseason game as we inch closer to the start of the regular season.

Cleveland 30-10 Carolina

Houston 20-3 Carolina

Carolina vs. Pittsburgh: Thursday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. ET

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Panthers rookie Nic Scourton has collapsed lung, is week-to-week

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Sports”