Panic meter: 10 | Initial reports had Brazzell out roughly eight weeks with a knee injury, but the Panthers prioritized the rookie receiver’s long-term outlook on second opinion by announcing the 2026 third-rounder (No. 83 overall) would undergo season-ending knee surgery.
Brazzell’s loss could have a huge impact, potentially ruining head coach Dave Canales’ plans of using 2025 Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year wideout Tetairoa McMillan more often in the slot. Brazzell (6-foot-4, 198 pounds) ran a 4.37s 40-yard dash at the scouting combine, and his field-stretching ability would have stressed defenses already focused on taking away McMillan.
Canales has a full month to figure out a Plan B, and he might need every second of it.
Panic meter: 8 | Bresee, the Saints’ 2023 first-round pick, is believed to have torn his ACL in practice this week, removing a key defensive piece off the chess board for coordinator Brandon Staley.
Rookie Christen Miller, 2025 third-rounder Vernon Broughton and 2024 sixth-round pick Khristian Boyd will be among those responsible for picking up the slack, and until they perform in the regular season, we won’t know Bresee’s absence’s impact. Boughton and Boyd combined for 101 snaps a season ago, while Miller has the most upside coming from Georgia’s defensive tackle factory.
Bresee’s production will be missed, but perhaps most worrisome is the injury’s impact on depth at the position. Instead of the team’s unproven backups easing into rotational roles, they’ll be thrown into the deep waters out of the gate, where they’ll sink or swim.
Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson
Panic meter: 5 | Gardner-Johnson was carted off during Saturday’s practice with a calf strain. Buffalo signed the seven-year veteran to a one-year, $3.5M contract in March after he spent 2025 on three teams.
While he doesn’t last in one place for often, Gardner-Johnson still provides value with his ability to create turnovers (20 career interceptions), hard-nosed playing style and leadership, which the Bills are already learning.
“In limited time with the team,” ESPN Bills reporter Alaina Getzenberg wrote, “Gardner-Johnson has been a vocal leader for the unit.”
While he avoided major setback, a strained calf leads to greater risk of a much more serious Achilles injury, which should make the Bills extra cautious in Gardner-Johnson’s rehab.
Panic meter: 6 | This was supposed to be a breakout season for Stewart, who missed most of his rookie camp due to a contract dispute and only had one sack a season ago. He’ll miss time again this training camp after hyperextending his knee during practice on Wednesday.
It’s a blessing considering how bad the injury looked that Stewart avoided a worse fate, but it puts him on an uphill climb heading into his second season. The Bengals need to start seeing something out of their 2025 first-round pick, yet that will have to continue waiting.
