Panthers Christian McCaffrey to be sidelined multiple weeks with ankle injury – USA TODAY

The Carolina Panthers will be without their star player for a minimum of a couple of video games.
Running back Christian McCaffrey is anticipated to miss multiple weeks with a high-ankle sprain he sustained Sunday in a 31-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Panthers coach Matt Rhule confirmed on Monday.
McCaffrey said the preliminary timeline offered to him for a return was 4 to 6 weeks.
” They say four to 6 weeks, well, thats a challenge to me,” McCaffrey said in a news conference Monday. ” Hopefully I can return a lot earlier than that, however Im gon na attack this.”
Rhule did not say whether the group would put him on injured reserve, which would rule him out for a minimum of three weeks.
McCaffrey left the game after scoring his 2nd goal of the day on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter, but both Rhule and the running back said the injury occurred a couple of plays earlier. He did not return after exiting, ending up the game with 59 lawns on 18 rushing efforts while adding four receptions for 29 yards.
McCaffrey, 24, has actually not missed a game in the previous three-plus seasons of his profession. An All-Pro pick in 2019, he led the NFL in lawns from scrimmage last season with 2,392, the third-best total in league history. He likewise became the 3rd running back ever to eclipse 1,000 rushing backyards and 1,000 receiving lawns in the same season.
Carolina signed McCaffrey to a four-year, $64 million agreement extension this offseason, making him the highest-paid running back in the NFL.
The Panthers deal with the Los Angeles Chargers on the roadway in Week 3 before hosting the Arizona Cardinals and Atlanta Falcons in the following 2 weeks.
Follow Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz on Twitter @MikeMSchwartz.