Panthers wake up to bad Chuba Hubbard injury news

Billy Heyen

Panthers wake up to bad Chuba Hubbard injury news image

The Carolina Panthers don't have a ton of firepower.

They'll have even less on Sunday, at least based on the latest injury news for Chuba Hubbard.

The star running back has been iffy all week, and on Friday morning, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport made him worse than iffy.

Rapoport reported: "Chuba Hubbard, who has been dealing with a calf injury the last couple of weeks and hasn't practiced this week, is expected to miss Sunday's game against the Dolphins."

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It's a tough break for Carolina, which continues to try to find some semblance of momentum in its season but has already dealt with a whole chunk of various injuries.

The Panthers, if Hubbard is out, will likely turn to Rico Dowdle as their lead back.

Dowdle is a bit of a luxury for a team like Carolina to have. He surpassed 1,000 rushing yards last season for the Dallas Cowboys, and his lack of free agent market was a tad surprising, but the Panthers gladly brought him on board as a backup.

He received nine carries last week and will likely get double-digit totes this week.

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Also in the picture is Trevor Etienne, the younger brother of Jags' RB Travis Etienne.

Trevor Etienne got seven carries last week and may split the workload closer with Dowdle than might've been expected heading into the season.

But either way, the Panthers sound like they'll be without Hubbard. That's bad news even if they've got solid backups to take his place.

Carolina fans will just be hoping Hubbard can find his way back to the field sooner rather than later.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle