Panthers lose kicker Zane Gonzalez to quad injury suffered in warmups
from Adam Stites, with YardBarker.com/www.yardbarker.com
The Carolina Panthers were without a kicker for their Week 15 game against the Buffalo Bills, after Zane Gonzalez suffered a right quad injury in warmups.
Gonzalez, 26, was helped off the field by trainers a little over an hour before kickoff. According to Darin Gantt of Panthers.com, the likely replacement for Gonzalez would be punter Lachlan Edwards, although backup quarterback P.J. Walker had some experience kicking.
Several Panthers players were seen warming up for the possibility that they’d be asked to kick.
(Panthers’ WR Brandon Zylstra ended up handling the kicking duties.)
Gonzalez has been a reliable player for the Panthers in 2021. He has made all 17 of his field goals inside 50 yards and three of his five tries from beyond that distance. Gonzalez is one of eight kickers in the NFL who has made more than 90 percent of his field goal attempts this season.