It's not just the Detroit Lions (2-1) that have issues in the secondary heading into "Sunday Night Football."
The Carolina Panthers
(1-2) placed their two starting cornerbacks, Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, on injured reserve on Wednesday morning. In its corresponding moves to fill their spots on the 53-man roster, the Panthers signed wide receiver David Moore and running back Anthony Tyus III from the practice squad.Horn, a 6-foot-1, 212-pound corner, is in his sixth season out of South Carolina. The two-time Pro Bowler (2024, 2025) was a first-round NFL draft pick by the Panthers in 2021 and he has totaled 196 tackles, 36 passes defended, 10 interceptions, three quarterback hits, and two sacks in his career thus far.
Panthers place Jaycee Horn
and Mike Jackson on injured reservehttps://t.co/O7xTrfskSz
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 30, 2026
Jackson, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound corner, was originally a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2019 out of Miami. The veteran has started 58 games in his career, including all 37 over the past three seasons with the Panthers. Jackson has registered 262 tackles, 55 passes defended, 12 tackles for loss, seven interceptions, and two fumble recoveries across his eight NFL seasons.
Though he was drafted by Dallas, Jackson spent the end of his rookie season with the Lions before Detroit traded him to New England in August of 2020.
First-year Lions offensive coordinator Drew Petzing met with the media on Thursday. Petzing said that Detroit is focused on itself first, but that the Lions are aware the Panthers might look a little different schematically minus Horn and Jackson.
"It adds to the unknown. There's an element of: Do they change? Do they not? Who's going to be in the game? How are they going to organize it? What personnel packages do they want to play with?
"At the end of the day, and I think this has got to be the mindset regardless of the opponent, it's about us first and making sure that we handle our business and we're on the same page and we're doing the things that we can do to be dynamic and be difficult to defend. But, there is some unknown and we have to be ready to adjust on the fly, communicate in-game and deal with some things that maybe we haven't seen on tape," Petzing said.
Kickoff between the Lions and Panthers is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday night from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.
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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Panthers place starting CBs Jaycee Horn, Mike Jackson on injured reserve
