Panthers' Offense Just Got A Whole Lot Scarier After Jonathon Brooks Practice Review

One of the most interesting storylines for the Carolina Panthers during training camp is the return of running back Jonathon Brooks.

Brooks has had a rough go of it early on in his NFL career, to say the least. The former second-round pick missed most of his first year in the league while recovering from a torn ACL suffered in college, and then he suffered another ACL tear that same campaign, leading to his missing all of 2025.

Brooks is now back and healthy and he was taking part in the first day of training camp on Thursday, which was also his first full training camp practice in the NFL.

Head coach Dave Canales was pleased with what he saw.

“He feels great. He feels strong. He looks fast," Canales said of Brooks after practice. "He looks like the guy that I remember and I'm really excited for that, but more so just for a guy to go through things and to be able to have the emotional, mental resiliency to go through that and training twice to get himself back.

"This is a celebration and you can feel the gratitude on him, you can feel the focus and how important this opportunity is for him."

#Panthers Jonathon Brooks reps in his first training camp practice in the NFL.@CSLonQCN #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/XdvMmasy92
— Gabe McDonald (@GabeMcDonald_) July 23, 2026

The Charlotte Observers' Mike Kaye reports that Brooks was "cutting well through traffic early on" at practice and he was getting first-team looks, also.

Canales' review tracks with what we saw out of Brooks in the spring, when he looked to be in great shape and moving well.

An opportunity for RB1?

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks (24) before the game at Bank of America Stadium. — Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Brooks is slated to split work with fellow back Chuba Hubbard to begin the season, but NFL Network's Cameron Wolfe believes there's a path for him to become Carolina's lead back.

"Belief is if (big if) healthy, Brooks forms strong 1-2 punch (with) Chuba Hubbard (and) eventually (becomes) lead RB," Wolfe said.

After we saw Rico Dowdle temporarily supplant Hubbard in 2025, the door is certainly open for Brooks to overtake him in 2026 if he can return to the form we saw that made Brooks such a highly-touted prospect coming out of college.

At the very least, Carolina should have an effective one-two punch at running back and that's great news for Bryce Young, as a potent rushing attack will take a ton of pressure off him.

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