Carolina Panthers starting left guard Damien Lewis is expected to miss Sunday night’s game against the Detroit Lions after injuring the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow.
NFL Network reporter Mike Garafolo said Tuesday that Lewis will be out a few weeks. The Panthers have a bye in Week 5, which leaves open the possibility he misses only one game if the timeline holds.
Lewis suffered the injury during Carolina’s 21-18 loss at Cleveland on Sunday. He still finished among the team’s highest-graded offensive players that day before the full extent of the damage became clear.
Coach Dave Canales told reporters Monday that the team was conducting imaging on the elbow. He said the bye week would be factored into any decision on when Lewis can return.
A follow-up report described the injury as a tear and said Lewis planned to seek a second opinion. Medical evaluations were still underway.
Lewis has started all three of Carolina’s games this season. Through those contests Pro Football Focus gave him an 85.9 overall grade, third among 73 qualified guards.
He allowed zero sacks and one pressure on 123 pass-blocking snaps. His 89.7 overall grade in Week 3 led the Panthers offense.
The 29-year-old signed a four-year, $53 million contract with Carolina in March 2024 after four seasons in Seattle. The deal included $26.2 million in guarantees. His 2026 base salary is $12.24 million.
Carolina is 1-2 and hosts the 2-1 Lions at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. Detroit’s defensive line ranks among the more disruptive units in the league early this season.
Lewis previously tore the same ligament in 2024, sat out one game, and then played through the rest of that year. He started every regular-season game in both 2024 and 2025.
Corey Bullock is listed as the next option at left guard on the current depth chart. Right guard Robert Hunt remains in place on the other side of the interior.
Lewis has started 93 career games, including every contest he has played since the Panthers signed him. He logged 187 offensive snaps this season before the injury.
The loss removes one of the more reliable pieces in front of quarterback Bryce Young. Young himself was scheduled for tests after appearing sore following a first-half sack in Cleveland.
After Sunday’s game the Panthers are idle in Week 5 and then travel to Philadelphia in Week 6. That extra week of rest is the main reason the absence might be limited to a single game.
Lewis was a third-round pick out of LSU in 2020. Since arriving in Charlotte he has consistently ranked among the better interior linemen by both snap count and pass-protection metrics.
The Panthers will need to decide how much of the load Bullock can handle against Detroit’s front and whether any other interior adjustments are required for the short week of preparation that follows.
