Three takeaways from Friday, including Trevin Wallace out after shoulder surgery

Dec 26, 2025 at 01:06 PM

by Darin Gantt & Kassidy Hill

The Carolina Panthers face the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, Nov. 30, 2025 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE — The Panthers have been without starting inside linebacker Trevin Wallace for a couple of weeks, and they will be for the rest of the regular season.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Friday that Wallace had shoulder surgery and would not return this season.

Wallace was ruled out last week with a shoulder injury. He also missed two weeks earlier this season with the same problem.

"He was a stud about it," Canales said. "And it was a playable condition, but he wasn't really turning the corner to be able to play confidently the way that we know he can.

"And so we reevaluated that and really just collectively made that decision to make sure we can get this thing right, get ahead of it right now, and we have him getting ready to go for the spring and get him strong."

In 12 games, he had 61 tackles, 2.0 sacks, five tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and four passes defensed.

Injury updates remain positive

As a season wears on towards the end, bangs and bruises accumulate, leading to various injuries that need proper management. That is essentially where the Panthers currently stand with Tetairoa McMillan, Ikem Ekwonu, and Tershawn Wharton.

McMillan did not practice on Wednesday due to a non-injury-related rest day. The Panthers didn't hold a practice on Christmas Day, but if they had, coaches estimate the rookie would have been a full participant. The Friday injury report won't be released until closer to 4 p.m., but the receiver was on the field today, and Canales feels confident in his availability.

"TMac's good to go," Canales told reporters on Friday. "He had a great practice today, as you can understand, this late in the season, things come up and we work through those things and he's been a real pro about it, getting his body ready and his mind right, being in tune when he's not out there full time.

"But today he had a great full practice, and he looked great."

Ekwonu was back at practice this week after a knee injury suffered in Week 14 kept him sidelined last Sunday. Canales told reporters Ekwonu worked to be ready for the Bucs game in Week 15, but couldn't quite get there. He should be available on Sunday.

"He looked great, worked through it, through the weekend," Canales said. "(VP of player health and performance) Denny (Kellington) did a great job with his crew down there getting Ickey ready.

"And Ickey applied himself and tried—he took it all the way to game day, last week, trying to get out there for his teammates and was able to get back on the field this week and practice for us."

Wharton will be day-to-day with a hamstring he's been nursing since Saturday, ahead of the Saints game in Week 15. His status will take into account both this week and next week.

"We were able to do a little bit more, a little more stuff with him," Canales shared. "He looked better each day, and right now we're going to have to reevaluate him all the way through the weekend to see if we can get him back out there, knowing how important this game is, also knowing how important the next one is.

"But for Turk, just making sure that he can do his job well and so he's trending in the right direction, but it's day to day."

The Carolina Panthers prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

"Locked in" the day after Christmas

Even after taking Thursday off for Christmas, the Panthers were right back into their normal routine Friday, and Canales described his team as "locked in."

"Just hopped right into our normal routine and just ask them to be in it," he said.
"You know, we can't ease into this thing. Took advantage of a great opportunity around Christmas to spend time with family, that's wonderful. It's always good to just be able to reconnect with people and remember what we're playing for, and when we do that though, we have to go right back to work and so the guys were, were ready to go, captured them in the meetings, the coaches did an excellent job bringing the energy and led them to a really good practice."

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The Carolina Panthers prepare to face the Seattle Seahawks on Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025 at Bank of American Stadium in Charlotte, NC.