For Carolina Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks, the 2024 season has been all about taking steps. And according to his head coach, he took another one on Sunday.
Dave Canales spoke with reporters this afternoon, less than 24 hours after his team’s crushing overtime defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 26-23 loss featured a bit more of Brooks, who didn’t see many opportunities in his NFL debut last week.
Canales was asked about the rookie’s performance this time around.
“I thought it was a great step, from the first week to the second in terms of his confidence,” he replied. “Saw him break a couple of tackles, finishing runs aggressively, some of those things. So I was really pleased with the way he just took another step.
“And that’s all we expect—is just weekly improvement, the daily improvement, just dialing yourself into the protection plan, the runs, how we’re trying to press the runs and those things like that. And so, another great step for Jonathon.”
Brooks was sidelined for the first 10 games of the campaign as he continued to recover from an ACL tear. His first piece of in-game action came in the Week 12 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he took only two carries for seven yards over five offensive snaps.
The 21-year-old saw his workload bumped up to 15 snaps yesterday. Brooks ended up with 18 rushing yards on six attempts and 23 receiving yards on three catches—including this impressive 18-yard gain:
JB busting out the moves
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/mlmEf0uS18
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 1, 2024
Team rushing leader Chuba Hubbard still shouldered the vast majority of the responsibilities out the backfield, recording 16 carries for 43 yards.
