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Dave Canales provides worrisome injury update on one of the Panthers top offensive weapons heading into favorable Week 5 matchup

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Kole Noble | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 6:41 PM ET

The Carolina Panthers are in desperate need of a get-right game after suffering a blowout defeat in Week 4 and will be facing another AFC East opponent on Sunday against the Miami Dolphins.

Considering how last week went down, injuries included, the Panthers have made a lot of roster adjustments this week in preparation for this game, but still have some major question marks still left to be figured out before Sunday's game.

One of the biggest ones involves the availability of starting running back Chuba Hubbard and while talking with the media on Wednesday, head coach Dave Canales provided a worrisome update for Hubbard's status in Week 5.

Chuba Hubbard still considered "day-to-day" with calf injury

"The calf needs more treatment. The calf needs more time," Canales told reporters after practice. "We're just taking it day-to-day with Chuba now. We needed to give him a rest day today, not put him out there, and try to get him back on the other side of it."

"He was able to play (in Week 4), and still played at a high level, the way that we expect him to play around the ball hard all the way through it. But, coming out of it, we just didn't feel like he wasn't in a better spot coming out of the game than he was the week before."

Dave Canales says Chuba Hubbard came out of game with calf worse than at this point last week. He’s day to day. pic.twitter.com/HXjZRx5iKw
— Joe Person (@josephperson) October 1, 2025

It truly seems like a day-to-day situation with Hubbard in terms of monitoring his status going into the rest of the week and leading up to Sunday. Hubbard played 35 offensive snaps in Week 4 and carried the ball 10 times for 49 yards along with having three receptions for 20 yards.

Behind Hubbard, the Panthers have been mixing in Rico Dowdle a ton as a change of pace back, although the usage in the backfield has been questionable. Against the Patriots last week, rookie Trevor Etienne saw seven carries as well and totaled 33 yards on the ground.

Ideally, Hubbard is able to recover fully in time for Sunday's game and be able to exploit the Dolphins' defense which as allowed 632 rushing yards (3rd-most in NFL) and 5.1 yards per carry. If not, Dowdle will step in as the lead back with Etienne also available as an option. DeeJay Dallas was also promoted from the practice squad to the active roster to give the team more depth at the position.

In the passing game, Canales added he wants to take more shots down the field with his play-calling and hinted at getting rookie wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. more involved to use his speed threat. One good news for the passing game that can help with that, wide receiver Xavier Legette was a full participant on Wednesday after missing the last two games with a hamstring injury.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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