The rave reviews for Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks continued on Wednesday.
After garnering some praise from head coach Dave Canales and right guard Robert Hunt on Tuesday, Brooks was a topic of conversation for offensive coordinator Brad Idzik this morning. And Idzik, like Canales and Hunt, is excited to see the 22-year-old rusher on the field for organized team activities.
“He looked great out there yesterday,” Idzik stated, per Darin Gantt and Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com. “He’s attacking and everything he does, and then there’ll just be continued dialogue with him of saying, ‘Hey, here’s what we need out of you.’ Let us know too if there are other ways to feature your skill set, because I love the two-way street from player to coach, from coach to player, to make sure that they’re communicating with us. You guys have ownership in this offense, too. I want to make sure we’re highlighting everything that you do.”
Brooks, the team’s second-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft, has been limited to just three career games due to a pair of ACL tears. He sustained the first while at the University of Texas, which sidelined him for the first 10 games of his rookie campaign, and the second during the third week of his return, forcing him out through the final four outings of 2024 as well as the entire 2025 season.
Yesterday’s session marked the first time where Brooks was a go at OTAs. He is projected to begin as the No. 2 back behind Chuba Hubbard, who is coming off an injury-plagued 2025 of his own.
If Hubbard is unable to keep a grasp of the starting job, similarly to last year, then Brooks may be able to jump up the totem pole and break through as the dynamic playmaker that Carolina believes he’s always been.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers OTAs: OC Brad Idzik says RB Jonathon Brooks looks ‘great’