CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Chris Brazzell’s debut for the Carolina Panthers will have to wait a while.

The rookie wide receiver sustained a moderate tear of his lateral collateral ligament in his left knee on Wednesday, and he is expected to miss up to eight weeks, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer. Joe Person of The Athletic had the news first.

Brazzell is getting a second opinion later Wednesday, according to a league source.

If eight weeks is indeed the timetable, Brazzell will miss all of the preseason and at least the first two weeks of the regular season. Eight weeks from now marks Week 3 of the regular season, when the Panthers are slated to go up to Cleveland on Sept. 27. The Panthers’ bye week is Week 5.

The Panthers will have plenty of roster decisions to make in-between now and then. It is possible they place Brazzell on the Physically Unable to Perform list prior to the season — meaning he’ll miss at least the first four games of the year. Such a prospect will open up an extra roster slot on the Panthers’ 91-man training camp roster, as well as their 53-man final roster.

Brazzell returned to the practice field Wednesday after missing practice Friday and Sunday due to left knee soreness. And then during a 7-on-7 rep on Wednesday, the rookie out of Tennessee went down without contact, favoring his left leg. Head coach Dave Canales confirmed after practice that it was an injury to the same left knee.

“He felt weird on it, sat down, we took him in,” Canales told reporters of Brazzell after practice. “We’ll get a full evaluation and get a picture of that, and we’ll give you guys more information there.”

Brazzell has impressed in his short time in Charlotte. His speed has been evident on the practice field, and his 6-foot-4, 198-pound frame has furnished a catching radius that all Carolina quarterbacks in camp have benefited from — from Bryce Young, to Kenny Pickett, to Haynes King.

On Sunday, he caught a touchdown pass from Young against rookie cornerback Will Lee, flashing the deep threat potential he could bring to this offense.

Brazzell was drafted in the third round of April’s draft by the Panthers. The day he was selected, Canales said that Brazzell was one of his “favorite” prospects in the 2026 class thanks to his linear speed (a 4.37 40-yard dash) and agility.

“Just his film over the last two years, when you look at Tulane (where he played from 2022-23) and you look at Tennessee and combine all of it, you’re going to get a full picture of a route tree,” Canales said in April. “Body control. Ability to do those things.”

Canales added: “We weren’t expecting Chris to be there. We were sitting there, waiting, and he just kept dropping right to us. And what a great opportunity for us to just again add to that room.”

The Panthers have kept seven receivers on their initial 53-man roster through the first two seasons of Canales’ tenure. Brazzell was expected to compete in a room comprised of Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan, newly signed-to-an-extension Jalen Coker, Xavier Legette, John Metchie, Brycen Tremayne, Jimmy Horn Jr., David Moore and Ja’Seem Reed, among others.

This is far from the first bit of bad injury news Carolina has received this month. The team entered training camp without offensive linemen Ickey Ekwonu and Taylor Moton — each of whom are hopeful for a return midseason — and also lost second-year pass rusher Nic Scourton for the season thanks to an ACL tear he suffered on the first day of camp.

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