Panthers Injury Update: LB Frankie Luvu not expected to miss time, S Xavier Woods out 4-6 weeks

The Panthers injuries continue to mount.

Well, we have good news and bad news. Good news first! Frankie Luvu likely won’t miss a ton of time due to his hip pointer injury, could even play this week, per his teammate and a league source.

Bad news: the Panthers will likely be missing another key piece of their secondary for at least a month, as S Xavier Woods joins CB Jaycee Horn on the “defensive backs with hamstring injuries” report.

Luvu avoiding a lengthy injury is very good for this defense, as they’ve already lost Shaq Thompson for the season and were forced to default to Kamu Grugier-Hill and practice squad call up (but veteran) Deion Jones against the Seattle Seahawks. Keeping the centerpiece of the defense in the rotation should be helpful, as Luvu is currently on the warpath to his best season as a pro. On the back end, the Panthers lost another starter in Xavier Woods in their secondary for the foreseeable future. Sam Franklin filled in admirably in his stead, and this could be his chance to show his skills as more than a special teams ace.

Compounding this issue is the unknown status of CB CJ Henderson, who also left Sunday’s game with an injury. While Henderson isn’t exactly a favorite of Panthers fans, he became a starting cornerback after Jaycee Horn also went down with an injury that will keep him out for a bit. Henderson’s status should be monitored, but the secondary as a whole is limping into the Vikings week 4 tilt. More to come as the week goes on!