Less than a day after a breakout performance, concerns have been raised about Carolina Panthers’ WR Jalen Coker. During the 59-37 shootout loss against the Bears, Coker pulled in eight of his nine targets for 138 receiving yards and two touchdowns. He tallied 36.8 fantasy points based on DraftKings scoring, which ranked fifth among all players and was the top performing fantasy football wide receiver of the week.
Unfortunately, Coker was spotted in a boot at today’s Panthers’ practice. The 24-year-old did his best to downplay the extent of the injury when facing the media. Coker says the injury initially occurred in the first quarter of the matchup, and he does not expect to miss time.
Coker and the entire Panthers’ offense were a major bright spot in Week 1. The Holy Cross product tallied 872 receiving yards and five touchdowns across his first two seasons in the league, and there is plenty of hope this could be his full breakout season. The early returns are encouraging as Coker has already tallied over 35% of his receiving production from last year and is one shy of his total touchdowns.
For the time being, we will take Coker at his word and remain optimism about his outlook. The injury clearly did not impact his performance in the Week 1 opener, and being proactive in his recovery is the best path to getting back on the field as soon as possible. But his status will be worth monitoring as the week progresses, and the official injury report will be of note.
The Panthers will face off with the Atlanta Falcons during the 1:00 p.m. ET window of the Week 2 Sunday slate. Carolina enters as narrow 1.5-point favorites and hold -125 odds of winning outright on DraftKings Sportsbook.
