Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Luke Kuechly has been ruled out of the Week 7 game against the Chicago Bears, as per ESPN's David Newton.
Newton also pointed out that Keuchly, who suffered the head injury last Sunday against the Eagles, will miss his 10th National Football League game due to a concussion.
The former Defensive Player of the Year has missed time on the field due to the same injury in each of the last three seasons, with three sustained in 2015 and six in 2016 before last week's incident.
The good news — relatively speaking, of course — for Luke Kuechly is that he was seen doing individual drills this week despite being listed as a non-participant in all three of the Panthers' practice sessions. Head coach Ron Rivera is optimistic that his star defender will not miss as much time compared to last season, saying that Kuechly's “progressing nicely through the protocol.”
Kuechly is scheduled for another checkup on Monday and could very well make a return in Week 8 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers if doctors clear him. However, the Panthers must be 100 percent certain that Keuchly's showing zero symptoms whatsoever from his latest concussion, given that he's had on too many concussions in a short amount of time.
The Panthers are two games over .500 and are set to face a mediocre Bears team this weekend. They can probably survive another another game without the heart of soul of their defense, especially with Keuchly being an integral part of the team for a probable playoff run.
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