CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are going to have to adjust the offseason planning after the "significant" knee injury to left tackle Ikem Ekwonu.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales said on Sunday that Ekwonu suffered a ruptured patella tendon in last night's loss to the Rams, an injury that could put his availability in question.

"All those times vary and all that, but it's significant," Canales said. "It's going to require surgery, so prayers and thoughts for Ickey. Just battled for us, and worked through some things along the season. Just a guy that I love, a guy that I really trust out there, and so we'll all be with him the whole way and wish him a speedy recovery as he comes back."

When Canales was in Seattle, tight end Jimmy Graham tore his in November of 2015, but was back on the field for the start of the next season. But he's also a smaller human, and with Ekwonu's happening in mid-January, it creates a complicated future for the team. Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater tore his in August, and Bears left tackle Ozzy Trapilo suffered the same injury Saturday night.

Yosh Nijman replaced Ekwonu in the first quarter and finished the game.

Nijman is among the five offensive linemen who are unrestricted free agents, along with Brady Christensen, Austin Corbett, Cade Mays, and Jake Curhan.

"It certainly is something that we have to consider, just depending on the duration of the injury," Canales said. "Knowing that we're going to go through a full offseason, and what's the timeline and how does that affect training camp and roster numbers and all that."

Defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who went through a season-ending knee injury of his own last year, shook his head when asked about Ekwonu, the team's 2022 first-round pick.

"I mean, it's tough," Brown said. "I mean, I know God's got him. I know the type of person Ickey is. God gives the best warriors his toughest tests. So I mean, I got a lot of faith that he'll bounce back 100 percent."

The question is when, and the Panthers have other concerns there. Right guard Robert Hunt, who missed 15 regular-season games with a torn biceps tendon, was getting an MRI later Sunday on his pectoral injury. He left the game in the first half but returned to play the second.

"Literally a couple of plays in my right pec pops," Hunt said Saturday night. "But I don't think it's off of the bone, so if it wasn't off the bone, I was going to play."

So Hunt's threshold for pain seems high, and he admitted it was difficult to hear the diagnosis for Ekwonu.

"Unfortunately, he went down, it's pretty serious," Hunt said. "Obviously we don't want to be at home, but we're done for a while, so you're going to get a chance to heal up, and I'm sure he'll be ready to go whenever he's up."