Carolina Panthers Superstar Carted Off After Suffering Gruesome Knee Injury vs. Rams [VIDEO]
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.

Carolina Panthers star offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu was carted off early in the first quarter of Saturday’s playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams with a serious-looking knee injury.
Ikem Ekwonu made his long-awaited NFL debut on Saturday, with the NFC South champions hosting likely MVP winner Matthew Stafford in the Wild Card Round. Unfortunately, Ekwonu’s first career postseason game was short-lived.
In the first quarter, Ekwonu suffered a knee injury after attempting to block Rams linebacker Josaiah Stewart. The latter pushed through Ekwonu, who went down awkwardly on the play:
Panthers’ Ickey Ekwonu goes down with an apparent right knee injury 🙏 #NFLWildCard pic.twitter.com/F6f7U6DYNm
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 10, 2026
A cart then came out to take Ikem Ekwonu away, leaving the underdogs short-handed for the rest of the game.
Ikem Ekwonu was carted to the locker room 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KM2yAlgFFn
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 10, 2026
Ekwonu finished the 2025 regular season with a 69.8 grade at Pro Football Focus. This placed him 37th among 89 graded offensive tackles. That was boosted by his solid run-blocking grade of 70.4.
The 25-year-old Ekwonu was drafted sixth overall by Carolina in 2022 after a strong career at NC State. He helped Rico Dowdle rush for 1,076 yards and a career-high six touchdowns in the regular season.
