Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns will most likely not be playing in his team’s Thursday night matchup with the Chicago Bears.
Burns suffered a concussion during the Panthers’ Week 9 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, and with the short turnaround for Carolina heading into Week 10, Burns taking the field against the Bears seems unrealistic.
“I’m not even thinking there’s any chance of getting him [back for Thursday], honestly,” said Panthers head coach Frank Reich, via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “Even if there were, there’s a part of me that I can’t imagine letting him out there — even if he wanted to go out there.”
Burns has also been dealing with an elbow injury, but the concussion is obviously the bigger issue for the star pass rusher at the moment.
In eight games this season, Burns has logged 25 tackles, five sacks and a forced fumble.
There was rampant speculation that Carolina was going to move Burns at the NFL trade deadline last week, as Burns is in the final year of his deal and is set to land a major payday this offseason. However, the Panthers ultimately held on to Burns, signifying that the club may think it can retain him in the spring.
Carolina held extension talks with Burns prior to the season, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement, as Burns was apparently seeking a deal worth in the neighborhood of $26-28 million annually.
The 25-year-old, who played his collegiate football at Florida State, was selected by the Panthers with the 16th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft.
He posted 25 tackles and 7.5 sacks during his rookie campaign and followed that up by registering 58 tackles, nine sacks and three forced fumbles in 2020.
Burns then made his first trip to the Pro Bowl in his third season after tallying 50 tackles and nine sacks and made his second Pro Bowl appearance last year courtesy of racking up 63 stops and 12.5 sacks.
Carolina owns the league’s worst record at 1-7.
Want the latest NFL analysis, breaking news, and insider information? Click here. Interested in reading storylines and analysis about the NBA? Check out our partner NBA Analysis Network.
