Carolina Panthers injury update: CB Josh Thomas leaves game with concussion
By Sydney Hunte
The Carolina Panthers lost Josh Thomas to a concussion in the 1st half of their game against the Buffalo Bills.
In the 2nd quarter, Thomas, the third-year player out of Buffalo, went into make a tackle on Bills receiver Robert Woods. Both players connected helmet-to-helmet, and Thomas lay on the ground a for a bit, clearly shaken up by the play.
It was a homecoming for Thomas, who played his college ball with the Buffalo Bulls of the Mid-American Conference before being drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2011. He spent time with the team’s practice squad before being cut; the Panthers then signed him, where he has been ever since.
It’s a loss for a team that had hoped for big things from the young corner despite some early season struggles. Earlier in the week, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera gave him a vote of confidence, even after giving up a 43-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in a 12-7 loss last week.
“It was one play. Hopefully it doesn’t become two,” Rivera would warn, however, according to the AP.
Today was only Thomas’s sixth NFL start. He was looked to as a possible replacement for veteran Chris Gamble, who the Panthers cut in the offseason as a cost-cutting move.