Saints’ Bresee, Bengals Stewart’ and Panthers Brezzell Suffer Leg Injuries

The Saints might have already lost a key player for the season, as NFL Network reports that defensive tackle Bryan Bresee has suffered a torn ACL and will miss the entirety of 2026. Bresee played in 15 games in 2025, all starts, after appearing in 17 games and making 11 starts the previous two seasons. He hit the QB eight times in 2026 with 13 pressures, and posted career-bests in total (37) and assisted (22) tackles. Bresee had previously torn his left ACL in 2021, while playing for Clemson. He was a first-round pick of the Saints in 2023. Bengals defensive end Shemar Stewart was carted off the field during the team’s first practice of training camp on Wednesday with an apparent left leg injury. The Bengals haven’t released any details on Stewart’s injury, but he was seen with crutches and a brace on the leg after practice. Coach Zac Taylor met with the media before practice. Stewart, the Bengals’ first-round draft pick in 2025, is entering an important training camp as he works on solidifying his role on the depth chart. His rookie season was inconsistent, and the hope entering camp was that he’d get enough reps to put the challenging season behind him. Stewart wasn’t a participant at the start of training camp last year because he still hadn’t signed his rookie contract. He also didn’t participate in rookie minicamp or any offseason practices because he didn’t sign a practice waiver. Given all the time off the field, Stewart was behind when he started practicing. He showed flashes in the first two weeks of the season but then suffered an injury in Week 2 against Jacksonville, missed time and was banged up for most of the eight games he played. The Bengals invested heavily at defensive end in the offseason with free agent Boye Mafe and second-round pick Cashius Howell. Myles Murphy, their 2023 first-round pick, is a projected starter. Cedric Johnson, a 2024 sixth-round pick, and Isaiah Foskey, claimed off waivers last season, are behind Stewart on the depth chart. Defensive tackle BJ Hill and tight end Josh Kattus are out with undisclosed injuries at the start of camp. Everyone else on the roster was in uniform on Wednesday. Carolina Panthers promising rookie wide receiver Chris Brazzell III was carted off the practice field on Wednesday with a left knee injury. Coach Dave Canales said Brazzell would undergo testing to determine the extent of the injury. According to the Athletic, that testing revealed Brazzell sustained an LCL tear and could miss up to eight weeks recovering. Brazzell missed the previous two days of practice with soreness in the same knee before being cleared to return. “Same knee, something happened,” Canales said. “He felt weird on it, sat down and we took him in. We will get a full picture of that.” The third-round draft pick out of Tennessee became the latest Carolina player to sustain an injury since the start of training camp last week. Carolina lost second-year pass rusher Nic Scourton to a season-ending torn ACL last week and backup tight end Mitchell Evans was carted off on Tuesday, although that injury was not as severe. Canales said Wednesday that exams revealed Evans has a low ankle sprain, and he could return later this week. The Panthers drafted Brazzell in the third round with an eye toward him becoming a valuable deep threat to pair with last year’s NFL Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette in a young but developing wide receiver room. Brazzell ran a 4.37-second, 40-yard dash at the NFL scouting combine in February and has big-play ability that can stretch a defense. He had 62 catches for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Volunteers. It’s been a rough summer so far for the defending NFC South champions. The Panthers will be without both starting offensive tackles, Taylor Moton (blood clot/lung) and Ickey Ekwonu (knee), to start the regular season, while starting guards Damien Lewis (calf) and Robert Hunt (back) have missed time at practice because of injuries. Several others players have missed practice time with nagging injuries as well. The Associated Press contributed to this report.