An NFL rookie made an unexpected trip to the hospital for what was thought to be heat exhaustion, but has now proven to be a collapsed lung.
Carolina Panthers outside linebacker Nic Scourton is out indefinitely after suffering the injury during a joint practice with the Houston Texans this week, according to head coach Dave Canales.
Scourton has since addressed the injury online, writing: ‘Minor setback we good.’
Canales told reporters Saturday that the team initially thought the issue was related to the summertime heat, but when the former Texas A&M star didn’t respond to treatment, they sent him to Houston’s Memorial Hermann Medical Center for observation.
‘It was a very physical play,’ Canales said in Houston. ‘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.’
Scourton has since addressed the injury online, writing: ‘Minor setback we good’
As a precaution, Scourton was driven back to Charlotte rather than flying with the team.
‘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.’
Although he wasn’t being handed a starter’s job in Carolina, Scourton was considered a potential key player for the team after the release of Jadeveon Clowney.
Scourton remains out indefinitely.
‘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.’
The former Aggies star is part of a defensive makeover in Carolina after the Panthers ranked dead last in the NFL in points and yardage last season.
Surprisingly, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero retained his job in Charlotte.
