The Carolina Panthers found themselves in a bind Sunday morning when, during warmups before their game against the Buffalo Bills, kicker Zane Gonzalez was injured.
Gonzalez was helped off the field and then ruled out of the game, which left Carolina without a kicker. They do have punter Lachlan Edwards on the roster for kickoffs but they apparently felt the need to do some impromptu tryouts to see if anyone else might be able to do some spot duty in a pinch.
Turns out that answer appears to be no.
The team trotted out quarterback P.J. Walker, linebacker Frankie Luvu, running back Reggie Bonnafon, and wide receiver Brandon Zylstra and none of them appeared to have much mastery of the kicking arts. Walker’s pregame kicks, in particular, did not inspire many.
WR Brandon Zylstra has a kicking tee. This is gonna be interesting. LB Frankie Luvu and RB Reggie Bonnafon also practicing kicking off. https://t.co/s5u8DgttWk
— David Newton (@DNewtonespn) December 19, 2021
Here it is pic.twitter.com/dw0XZj2LeT
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) December 19, 2021
The Panthers might as well just take this as a sign to go for it on fourth down or go for two on any touchdown. At 5-8, they don’t really have anything to lose at this point in the season. But in the meantime, they did provide NFL fans with a good round of chuckles on social media Sunday morning.
Panthers wearing 16, 39, 49 practicing kicking in Buffalo. pic.twitter.com/72jkUEyptT
— Jim Szoke (@jimszoke) December 19, 2021
Looks like the Panthers will be going for 2 a lot today.
— Jon Helmkamp (@JonHelmkamp) December 19, 2021
I'm convinced that P.J. Walker is the fallback plan for anything that goes wrong for the Panthers at any position within the organization https://t.co/K5SgYnlSHz
— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) December 19, 2021
feels like we can infer from these @josephperson tweets that the Panthers are probably not going to attempt field goals with their kicker suddenly hurt. they have emergency backups practicing… but not FGs, just kickoffs pic.twitter.com/hGPsE5Gy5w
— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) December 19, 2021
As of the time of this writing, the Panthers trail the Bills 14-0 late in the second quarter. So not only are they not likely to attempt many field goals, but they’re not even in the ballpark regarding extra points either.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.