Tim Hightower Video: Watch Redskins RB Suffer Knee Injury vs. Panthers

Tim Hightower's playing status has been a heavily-searched topic across the Internet for a few weeks now.

The Washington Redskins' starting running back missed last week's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles because of a sore shoulder but now has something even more serious to worry about.

Less than five minutes into the third quarter Hightower received his 17th carry of the day and wound up on the turf without anyone even touching him.

The running back instinctively reached for his knee on the way down and it looks like the type of injury that nobody wants to hear about.

ESPN.com's John Clayton tweeted, "The Redskins carted Tim Hightower to the lockerroom. The knee injury looks bad."

The fourth-year running back had already rushed for 88 yards on the day prior to the injury.

He looked to be on the way to his best performance of the season. Hightower was struggling to find consistency and was averaging only 3.5 yards per carry.

Now the Redskins, who started John Beck at quarterback this week over Rex Grossman, will turn to Ryan Torain and Roy Helu Jr. to be the primary ball carriers for the club.

The full extent of the damage to Hightower is still unknown.

Washington cannot be pleased with the way things have gone since their 3-1 start.

They are on their way to losing a second straight game and also saw star wide receiver Santana Moss suffer an injury as well.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for Hightower as he finally had an opportunity to be the feature back.