Carolina Panthers wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin, hurting his left knee during

There’s a reason the Panthers were excited about their depth at receiver, but it all began with Benjamin. He’s worked tremendously hard to put himself in a position to have a strong year.

The 6-foot-5 receiver tried to make a cut toward the sideline during individual drills, slipped and fell to the ground holding his knee. Reggie Wayne, Brandon Lloyd and Santonio Holmes are also available for the taking as any of the veteran options would sign for cheap and a low-risk, high-reward type of player for Carolina.

At the field, the trainers attended to Benjamin and quickly called for the cart to take him into the locker room. Benjamin was originally diagnosed with a sprained knee, but Ian Rapoport of NFL Network has confirmed that an MRI revealed a season-ending torn ACL.

“You can plan not to be in one of those altercations, but you never know”.

Benjamin was the 28th overall pick by Carolina in the 2014 National Football League (NFL) Draft and became a major part of their offense last season.

Benjamin was targeted 144 times last season, more than any rookie.

Funchess suffered a hamstring injury late in Wednesday’s practice and is unlikely to be available for Thursday’s joint practice.

Unfortunately for the Carolina Panthers, Benjamin went down with a torn ACL during practice on Wednesday.

“Cam was right there with his teammate”, Rivera said.

Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. said he talked to Benjamin after practice but didn’t get a sense of the severity of the injury or how long his teammate might be out.

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said the goal of this week’s scrimmages against the Miami Dolphins is for both teams to get better, not start fights. “There was a gradual buildup and progression that I think we were comfortable with as a coaching staff, our medical staff was comfortable with, and most important the player was too”.

In theory, Jonathan Stewart’s value increases with a lack of reliable wide receivers on the team. It won’t be the same as having a big-bodied number one guy like Benjamin, but the team will still be able to use Funchess in that role. “At 6’5”, Benjamin is a walking mismatch as soon as he gets on the field. Tripp injured his ankle during last week’s Preseason Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears, Parker was activated off the Physically Unable to Perform list this week as he recovers from foot surgery, and Misi has been dealing with a calf injury recently.