Panthers LB Luke Kuechly to Miss First Career Game

Photo Credit: Bob Leverone/Associated Press

With a new contract extension, it looked like the 2015-16 season was going to be another killer for Luke Kuechly. Kuechly became the highest paid LB in the NFL ever and the Panthers intended on using him as much as they could. However, week 1 was not kind to Kuechly and now he will not be playing in week 2.

Kuechly left the game during the first half and didn’t return after that. It was discovered that he suffered a concussion. However,  it looked like Kuechly would be fine to at least practice. Unfortunately for the Panthers defense, though, Kuechly will miss his first game of his whole career and his loss will be a serious hit to their depth chart. Along with Kuechly, the Panthers defensive line will be missing DT Star Lotulelei and DE Wes Horton, so the Panthers defense will have their work cut out for them against the Houston Texans.

The Panthers have decided to put A.J. Klein in as Kuechly’s replacement and he did a pretty good job. Klein racked up six tackles, in comparison to Kuechly’s seven tackles during the first half of the game. While the Panthers didn’t do horribly without Kuechly and didn’t allow the Jaguars to score a single point, the loss of Kuechly was certainly felt on the field. However, the real test will come on Sunday during the game, but the Panthers will certainly be feeling the loss no matter what the score ends up being.