Carolina Panthers Superstar Carted Off After Suffering Gruesome Knee Injury vs. Rams [VIDEO]

Carolina Panthers star offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu was carted off early in the first quarter of Saturday’s playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams with a serious-looking knee injury.

Ikem Ekwonu made his long-awaited NFL debut on Saturday, with the NFC South champions hosting likely MVP winner Matthew Stafford in the Wild Card Round. Unfortunately, Ekwonu’s first career postseason game was short-lived.

In the first quarter, Ekwonu suffered a knee injury after attempting to block Rams linebacker Josaiah Stewart. The latter pushed through Ekwonu, who went down awkwardly on the play:

Panthers' Ickey Ekwonu goes down with an apparent right knee injury 🙏 #NFLWildCard pic.twitter.com/F6f7U6DYNm

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 10, 2026

A cart then came out to take Ikem Ekwonu away, leaving the underdogs short-handed for the rest of the game.

Ikem Ekwonu was carted to the locker room 🙏 pic.twitter.com/KM2yAlgFFn

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 10, 2026

Ekwonu finished the 2025 regular season with a 69.8 grade at Pro Football Focus. This placed him 37th among 89 graded offensive tackles. That was boosted by his solid run-blocking grade of 70.4.

The 25-year-old Ekwonu was drafted sixth overall by Carolina in 2022 after a strong career at NC State. He helped Rico Dowdle rush for 1,076 yards and a career-high six touchdowns in the regular season.