Carolina Panthers place Juston Burris, Keith Kirkwood on injured reserve list
The Carolina Panthers have placed starting safety Juston Burris on injured reserve after he suffered a rib injury Sunday against the Bears.
Along with Burris, wide receiver Keith Kirkwood was also placed on IR with a clavicle injury. He broke his left clavicle during training camp and then had surgery on the injury. The wide receiver missed the first five games of the season, but was activated for the Panthers’ Week 6 loss to the Bears. Kirkwood had one catch for 13 yards in the football game.
He was evaluated for a concussion and cleared during the game, but also re-injured his clavicle, resulting in him being placed on injured reserve.
The Panthers filled the two players’ roster spots by signing fifth-round pick safety Kenny Robinson and undrafted offensive lineman Sam Tecklenburg from the practice squad. Tecklenburg played for head coach Matt Rhule at Baylor and Robinson is a former XFL player.
Earlier Tuesday, the Panthers are signing safety Sean Chandler off the Giants’ practice squad. The team has not yet officially announced the move. Both Chandler and Robinson will give the Panthers’ depth at safety with Burris out.
Tecklenburg gives the Panthers an additional offensive lineman on the active roster after Tyler Larsen and Michael Schofield were both placed on the reserve/COVD-19 list in the past few days.
Burris suffered the injury in the third quarter while making a tackle to prevent a touchdown. He had trouble walking off the field and had to be carted to the locker room.
The safety had played well this season. Burris had a game-saving interception in the end zone in a 23-16 win against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 5. Through six games this season, he has 24 tackles, two tackles for loss and the interception. When he got hurt, the Panthers subbed in undrafted rookie Sam Franklin.
For both Burris and Kirkwood, being placed on injured reserve means that they will be out for a minimum of three weeks, missing games against the New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs. They will be eligible to return in Week 10 when the Panthers host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Teams can take an unlimited number of players off of injured reserve this season.
The Panthers filled the four open spots on the team’s practice squad by signing cornerback Josh Hawkins, defensive tackle Mike Panasiuk, defensive end Greg Roberts and running back Michael Warren. Hawkins was previously with the Panthers in 2018 and had limited playing time.
Roberts played under Rhule at Baylor and was on the Packers practice squad at the beginning of the season. The four players address areas that the Panthers have experienced injuries as of late with defensive tackle Kawann Short (shoulder), running backs Christian McCaffrey (high ankle sprain) and Reggie Bonnafon (high ankle sprain) and rookie defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos (high ankle sprain) all on injured reserve.
McCaffrey is the only Panthers player eligible to come off injured reserve at this time — with this being his fifth game week on injured reserve — but he won’t return until he is fully healthy with a return more likely toward the end of the four-to-six week window.
Cornerbacks Donte Jackson (toe) and Eli Apple (hamstring) have also both dealt with multiple injuries this year and Hawkins gives the team additional secondary depth. Players added to the practice squad are more important than in year’s past due to the policies in place because of COVID-19 that require five days of testing before a player can be officially added.
With the moves, the Panthers have filled both the active roster and practice squad.
▪ The Panthers did not add any other players to the league’s COVID-19 list Tuesday, which is a positive sign for the team to return to the building Wednesday after working from home Monday and Tuesday as a precaution.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 3:48 PM with the headline "Carolina Panthers place Juston Burris, Keith Kirkwood on injured reserve list."
