Carolina Panthers linebacker Nic Scourton was able to return to the practice field Monday less than a week after he suffered a collapsed lung during Carolina’s joint practice session with the Houston Texans. Scourton did not go through team drills, but he was outside and participated in individual movement work.
“Significant improvement, he was actually running today,” Panthers coach Dave Canales said. “They were monitoring really closely, checking his oxygen levels, everything. Huge improvements. That guy’s 20 years old, so he bounced back pretty quick. The hope is to just continue to just progressing daily and get him more and more work.”
Carolina Panthers second-round pick hospitalized with collapsed lung after hit in joint practice
Will Backus
Scourton, who was selected with the 51st overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, was considered “week-to-week” after Carolina’s preseason game against Houston Saturday. Scourton was not present for the game, as he was driving back to Charlotte with team staff and family members following his release from the hospital.
Canales said last week that the incident occurred on a “very physical play” during practice and was initially “presenting like a heat exhaustion, because he was having trouble breathing.”
“He was getting tired and all that, so we kind of cooled him down but we couldn’t get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable about putting him back into practice,” Canales said.
The 6-foot-2, 257-pound Scourton was able to play in Carolina’s first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. He finished his professional debut with two total tackles and one sack.
Prior to entering the NFL, Scourton spent two seasons at Purdue, where he led the Big Ten with 10 sacks in 2023, and one year at Texas A&M. He earned first-team All-SEC honors with 14 tackles for loss and five sacks during his lone season with the Aggies.