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The Carolina Panthers suffered a tough loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football and once again squandered an opportunity to grab the NFC South by the throat. Carolina fell back to .500 at 6-6 and will have its hands full with the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, who are the leaders in the clubhouse for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Despite the loss, the Panthers’ defense has been doing a solid job of late and managed to pick off Brock Purdy three times in the first half on Monday. We’ll see if this improved defense can continue trending upward on Sunday when it faces off against an explosive Rams offense led by MVP front-runner Matthew Stafford.
Even though Carolina’s defense is doing a nice job, it never hurts to keep an eye out for potential upgrades. In an effort to find one, ESPN’s Adam Schefter shared that the Panthers are picking up a cornerback to help atone for Corey Thornton’s broken fibula he suffered on Monday.
“With Carolina CB Corey Thornton suffering a season-ending broke fibula on Monday night, the Panthers are signing veteran CB Robert Rochell off the Cowboys’ practice squad and on to their active roster,” Schefter posted on X.
With Carolina CB Corey Thornton suffering a season-ending broke fibula on Monday night, the Panthers are signing veteran CB Robert Rochell off the Cowboys’ practice squad and on to their active roster.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 26, 2025
Thornton had 14 tackles, three pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 12 games this season and will be a tough guy to replace. To make matters worse, No. 1 corner Jaycee Horn exited the Niners game with a concussion, leaving this team scrambling for solutions in the secondary.
Rochell has plenty of experience and has appeared in 50 regular season games over the past five years for the Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, and Los Angeles Rams. It’s a wise move for Carolina to sign someone with this kind of experience to the active roster, and we’ll see if he can make his presence felt in a revenge game on Sunday against his old team.
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