Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason will have surgery on his troublesome knee and be placed on injured reserve.
Beason told News 14 Carolina that the operation was likely unavoidable.
“I’ve been pretty banged up; it’s been week to week,” Beason said. “And we decided to take another look at the knee, see what’s going on. (I) got the MRI (Monday), and it didn’t look good. So I’m probably going to have to have surgery. And if I do that, I’m going to end up on the IR. So that’s probably what we’re going to do, moving forward, probably early next week.”
The Panthers on Monday placed one of their other top defensive players, cornerback Chris Gamble, on injured reserve. The same day, GM Marty Hurney was fired.
Beason was out for much of training camp with a hamstring injury. He missed most of last year with a torn Achilles tendon.
Since he signed a six-year, $51.338 million contract in July 2011, Beason, 27, has appeared in five games. The contract made Beason the highest-paid middle linebacker in the NFL.