DETROIT — After suffering a neck injury during the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Lions, left guard Chandler Zavala of the Panthers was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
After the play, Zavala was face-down as members of the team’s medical and athletic training staff rushed to help him.
Players gathered around the rookie guard as it was hauled off the field and many of them knelt as the Ford Field crowd became silent.
After around a seven-minute intermission, Cade Mays took his place at left guard and the game resumed.
Watch this space for further information about his condition.
Zavala is still being treated at a local hospital as of 2:51 PM ET. All of his extremities are moving, and he is attentive.
DEARBORN — On Sunday, the Panthers suffered yet another defeat, but that wasn’t what they were thinking about right afterwards.
The Panthers, who are now 0-5, lost to the Lions 42-24 at Ford Field, and their first thoughts were of rookie guard Chandler Zavala, who had been rushed to a local hospital with a neck injury.
Although Zavala was awake and able to move all of his limbs, the accident was worrisome for the Panthers and resulted in a seven-minute break in play while he received treatment on the field.
Players knelt respectfully around him as team medical staff immediately stabilized and loaded him onto a trolley. He did offer them the kind of encouraging sign they needed to see as he walked off the field after lying down there for a while.
At that time, the game seemed like an afterthought, and a host of issues cost them against the Lions (4-1) early.
With Bryce Young throwing two interceptions and Miles Sanders fumbling (his second of the year and first since the opener at Atlanta), the Panthers lost possession of the ball three times in the first half.
The Lions kept applying pressure to Young because they lacked the offensive balance they required in the early going.
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