The Carolina Panthers will be getting back a pretty important piece of their offense.
As announced by head coach Dave Canales on Friday afternoon, wideout Adam Thielen is expected to make his return in the team’s Week 12 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. Thielen, Carolina’s leading receiver from a season ago, has missed the last seven games due to a hamstring injury.
Thielen sustained the injury while reeling in a 31-yard touchdown pass during the Panthers’ Week 3 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders. He would be placed on injured reserve two days later.
Carolina has gotten some encouraging production from rookie receivers Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker throughout Thielen’s absence. From Week 4 to Week 10, Legette tallied four touchdowns while Coker averaged 15.5 yards per catch.
Coker, in addition, has seen most of the offense’s work out of the slot in Thielen’s stead. His team-leading 121 snaps from the slot account for 76.1 percent of his alignments on passing plays.
Thielen recorded 69.1 percent of his snaps on passing plays from the slot (472) in 2023.
