Panthers rookie linebacker Nic Scourton out with collapsed lung

HOUSTON (AP) — Carolina rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton is expected to miss some time after he sustained a collapsed lung during a joint practice with the Houston Texans this week.

Coach Dave Canales said Saturday that they first believed it was a heat-related issue on Thursday, but when he wasn’t getting better they checked him into a hospital to be evaluated.

“It was a very physical play,” Canales said. “It was presenting like heat exhaustion because he was having trouble breathing, getting tired and all that. We kind of cooled him down. We couldn’t get him to respond good enough to where we felt comfortable about putting him back into practice … then, the symptoms kind of grew after practice, so we checked him into the hospital and that’s where they told us what was happening and the symptoms all say this is what it was.”

The second-round pick from Texas A&M was driving back to Charlotte instead of flying with the team as a precaution.

“When you have that type of a chest injury, the cabin pressure, the elevation and all that can present issues,” Canales said. “The best course of action was to get him in a car, drive him back to Charlotte and continue his treatment there.”

Canales said he wasn’t sure how long this would keep Scourton off the field.

“He will be back in Charlotte, and we will keep evaluating him,” he said. “I don’t really know a timeline. It’s really week-to-week with those types of things. I’ve heard from the trainers and from different coaches who have been around this where a guy played the next week. We have to be smart with that one, and I’ll let you know where we’re at when we get back to Charlotte.”

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