After dethroning last season's National Football Conference (NFC) champions the Seattle Seahawks, the Carolina Panthers have another concern as starting defensive end Jared Allen fractured his foot in Sunday's win.
It is undetermined when Allen suffered the injury, but he already had a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), according to ESPN, with his playing status for their NFC Championship Game versus the Arizona Cardinals still uncertain.
"For the most part, it's going to be a day-by-day [issue], and we'll see how he is by the end of the week," Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said, according to the report.
"He will be listed as doubtful. As he reacts to it, hopefully we'll know going forward," he continued.
Rivera added that Allen will likely not be with them during Wednesday's practice and it remains to be seen if he can participate in the one on Thursday.
Since joining the Panthers via a trade deal from the Chicago Bears early in the 2015 National Football League (NFL) regular season, Allen became a huge part of the Panthers' defense.
The Panthers acquired Allen after defensive end Charles Johnson went down with a hamstring injury.
Most likely to step up in Allen's place if he is unable to play will be defensive end Kony Ealy, who was pushed down the depth chart when Allen came to Carolina and Johnson returned from injury.
Allen is the NFL's active sack leader with a total of 136 in his career playing for the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, Bears, and now the Panthers.
In another report by ESPN, the 33-year-old defensive end who still has one-year left in his current contract, expressed his desire to continue playing in the NFL for one more season but only for the Panthers.
Following his performance and contribution to the team this season, it is likely that Allen will stay with the Panthers in 2016.
