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| Ryan Kalil will undergo season-ending surgery. (US Presswire) |
Back in the summer, Panthers center Ryan Kalil took out an ad in the local paper, promising a Super Bowl victory for Carolina.
If the Panthers look to make good on that guarantee -- and if so, at 1-4, they’d better get a move on it -- they’ll have to do so without Kalil in the lineup.
Coach Ron Rivera said Wednesday that Kalil’s foot injury, suffered against the Seahawks on Sunday, was a Lisfranc injury. Kalil will have season-ending injury surgery and will be placed on the IR list.
That’s a stark contrast to what Rivera thought Monday, when he said the issue was a foot sprain. Two days later, after Kalil had seen Dr. James Anderson, the news had gotten much worse.
“It’s really not looking good right now," Rivera said, via the Charlotte Observer, before the team announced Kalil’s move to IR. "It's scary.”
Without Kalil, Rivers said the team will move right guard Geoff Hangartner to the center spot and use either Jeff Byers, or Garry Williams in Hangartner's place.
While Kalil has been considered one of the top centers in the game in recent years, he has struggled this season, according to Pro Football Focus -- which ranks him 27th among all centers (the website had him as a top-seven center in each of the previous three seasons).
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