Carolina Panthers: Matt Kalil week-to-week after procedure on knee

The Carolina Panthers have lost their third starting offensive lineman of the summer with Matt Kalil having arthroscopic procedure on his left knee.

The Carolina Panthers’ offensive line has been hit hard this summer with the team seeing their third starting linemen go down with a knee injury. The latest injury is to starting left tackle Matt Kalil, who traveled to see Dr. James Andrew and had an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee, according to the team’s site.

Right now the team says Kalil is week-to-week, which likely means that he is done for the rest of preseason.

Prior to Kalil’s injury, the Panthers lost starting right tackle Daryl Williams during one of the first training camp practices with a torn MCL. A few weeks later, Amini Silatolu suffered a torn meniscus prior to the first preseason game and has yet to return to practice.

While it is tough to lose three starters, the good news is that none of the injuries appear to be season ending.

Matt Kalil, was selected fourth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings, and had a promising start to his career. However, the final few years in Minnesota was injury-riddled and was one of the reasons it was surprising to see the Panthers offer such a big contract last offseason.

While it will be tough for Kalil to live up to that contract, the veteran was actually having a strong training camp according to Ron Rivera:

"Rivera said Kalil showed up to Wofford in good shape and has looked confident in his daily matchups with defensive end Mario Addison, who has collected 20.5 sacks the past two seasons."

The coaching staff will need to do some shuffling now and for the remainder of the preseason. The depth across the offensive line is thin and it would not be surprising to see the team bring in a few lineman to help for the remainder of the preseason.

However, the biggest issue is that the offensive line will not be able to build any familiarity. These preseason games would have been great to gain some experience heading into the season. This now could cause problems the first few weeks of the season once Kalil, and possibly Williams, are able to return.