Carolina Panthers rookie Nic Scourton will miss time due to a concerning injury suffered at Thursday's joint practice with the Houston Texans.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales confirmed on Saturday that — what was initially thought to be heat exhaustion — was a collapsed lung for Scourton.
"It was a very physical play," Canales said via the Panthers. "It was presenting like a heat exhaustion, because he was having trouble breathing. He was getting tired and all that, so we kind of cooled him down we couldn't get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable about putting him back into practice."
The Panthers' medical staff noticed the issue was more serious when the team returned to their hotel in Houston on Thursday. Scourton was taken to a nearby hospital and stayed overnight.
Since Scourton cannot fly due to the injury, he was driven back to Charlotte, N.C., by his family and some of the team's athletic training staff.
Canales doesn't have a timeline for the second-round pick's return, but believes it'll be a week-to-week issue.
The injury is a tough setback for Scourton, who was having a great showing at training camp. Naturally, the Texas A&M product missed Saturday's game against the Texans and will likely miss the preseason finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, as Canales said the team intends to be "smart" with how they handle the injury.
Scourton is the No. 2 right outside linebacker on the depth chart, behind D.J. Wonnum. The 20-year-old had a chance to earn more playing time by impressing in the preseason, but the Panthers will have to wait for the promising pass rusher to recover before he takes reps in the regular season.
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