Panthers’ Chandler Zavala leaves game with neck injury
Carolina coach Frank Reich said it was “scary” when Zavala first went down.
“We think it was a bad stinger, but our medical staff is always going to take every precaution to protect our players,” Reich said.
Zavala went down on a first-and-10 play from the Carolina 25-yard line with 4:44 left in the quarter. He lay motionless face-down on the turf until the medical staff rolled him over.
He was eventually placed on a spine board and on a golf cart. Zavala gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as the cart left the field.
“We get out there, and it didn’t look like he was moving a lot, but a minute or so into it, I saw him move his arm,” Reich said. “So I was hopeful there. And the medical team just did a good job, right?
“It’s hard; sometimes you want to think the worst, but you really have to think the best. And I think guys have been around this league long enough to know that the medical teams do a great job. They’re always going to be overcautious and protect for worst-case scenarios. So your heart goes out. You don’t want it to be anything severe, but you also understand that we got the right medical people in attendance, and they’re going to do a great job.”
The injury occurred on a run play in which Chuba Hubbard gained 1 yard with the Panthers down 14-0. Teammates quickly moved toward the sideline as medical staff evaluated the 6-foot-3, 322-pound player.
The entire Carolina team and staff gathered around their teammate as he was loaded onto the cart.
Panthers quarterback Bryce Young said Zavala told teammates to “keep going” as he left the field.
“He was telling us to work; he was telling us to finish, he was encouraging us,” Young said. “That speaks to the person he is, the competitor he is, even in a time like that he was still encouraging us, still pushing us to try to be better. He still was — all he cared about was the team, and that speaks to who he is.”
Zavala was a fourth-round pick out of NC State. He is the son of Demetrio Zavala, a frequent contestant on the Food Network’s cooking show “Chopped.”