Carolina Panthers tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders might’ve gotten really lucky yesterday.
The rookie pass catcher was carted off the field amidst a scary scene in the second quarter of the team’s 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Sanders, upon running out of bounds on a 10-yard completion, landed on the top of his head following a hit from cornerback Trent McDuffie and linebacker Drue Tranquill.
Panthers Ja’Tavion Sanders is being carted off after landing on his neck/head. Very scary incident.pic.twitter.com/FgZsdSmCU2
— IG: NFLPreme (@premefootball) November 24, 2024
After the game, head coach Dave Canales told reporters that Sanders was discharged from his visit to a local hospital and was able to return to the stadium later that evening.
Canales provided another update on the 21-year-old this afternoon.
“Yeah, scary moment,” he stated. “Right now, what it appears is that we avoided a really, pretty bad injury—based on the nature of the play. It is a neck injury, he’s here, he’s in the building, he’s getting worked on, we’re still evaluating all of that, we’re gonna have to take that all the way to Wednesday to see what his availability might be for this week.
“But, again, that’s something that we still have to be really, really diligent about, in terms of collecting all the information and data we have, with the nature of the injury.”
Sanders recorded three receptions for 43 yards before his exit.
