The hopes of a bounce-back season for second-year guard Chandler Zavala may have been hampered on Thursday.
Last year’s fourth-round selection sustained a hamstring injury during this morning’s joint practice between the Carolina Panthers and the New York Jets. Panthers head coach Dave Canales didn’t seem too positive about the status of the 25-year-old moving forward.
“So, we’re concerned about that one,” Canales said while listing off today’s setbacks to reporters. “Feels like it could be a little bit of a longer deal. And he was doing fantastic in this camp.”
Zavala had himself a particularly rough rookie campaign in 2023. Pro Football Focus charged the young hog molly with the 14th-most pressures amongst all guards (33) as well as a 7.1 pass-blocking grade—by far the lowest amongst all players at his position with at least 300 snaps.
He’d also miss much of his first NFL season due to neck and knee injuries.
