Panthers Draft Pick Nic Scourton Suffers Collapsed Lung, Expected to Miss Time

A key Carolina Panthers rookie is expected to miss time after suffering an injury this week.

Per ESPN's Adam Schefter, pass rusher Nic Scourton, a second-round pick, suffered a collapsed lung during Thursday's practice. Head coach Dave Canales said the injury is more serious than the team first thought.

Canales said the team initially thought Scourton was dealing with heat exhaustion, but the collapsed lung was revealed after he went to the hospital.

"It was a very physical play," Canales said, per the team's website. "It was presenting like a heat exhaustion, because he was having trouble breathing. He was getting tired and all that, so we kind of cooled him down we couldn't get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable about putting him back into practice."

Scourton was in Houston for the Panthers' preseason game against the Texans on Saturday but drove back to Charlotte with team staffers and his family because the collapsed lung kept him from flying.

According to Canales, vice president of player health and performance Denny Kellington described Scourton's status as week-to-week. The Panthers open the season against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 7.

Scourton is currently behind D.J. Wonnum on the Panthers' depth chart.

He had an impressive preseason debut last week against the Browns, logging a sack and two tackles for loss.

Scourton started his college career at Purdue before spending a season at Texas A&M last year. He finished his collegiate career with 109 tackles and 17 sacks, including 10 sacks during the 2023 campaign.