Brady Christensen played all 77 offensive snaps in the Carolina Panthers’ season-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons in September. He wouldn’t add to that total in 2023, though, as a torn right bicep and subsequent surgery to fix the injury shut him down for the season in Week 2. Christensen’s season-ending injury sparked a dramatic turnstile at left guard. The Panthers started six different players at left guard this season, all while starting seven different players at right guard. The Panthers’ offense struggled mightily with both guard spots in flux. Former head coach Frank Reich was fired after a 1-10 start, and the Carolina finished with a league-worst 2-15 record. Christensen, 27, had to watch most of the chaos away from the field. But as the losses, injuries and departures mounted, Christensen gained a heightened appreciation for his teammates and his future. “I think, one, I’m amazed at the players in here,” Christensen told The Observer. “The way they kept battling through it all. I mean there was not one day where they didn’t come in and give their effort and work hard. So that was the first perspective I gained. “The second: I’ll never take for granted this game again. I’ve been, knock on wood, relatively healthy through my whole career, and this season was taken away from me because of a little bicep (tear) — I’ll never take for granted this game and enjoy every minute, wins, losses, everything — I’ll enjoy it. And that’s something — not that I didn’t enjoy it before — but I’ll have that extra enjoyment going forward.”
Panthers offensive linemen Brady Christensen (left) and Bradley Bozeman sign jerseys on the ping pong table in the Carolina locker room on clean-out day – Monday, Jan. 8, 2024. The Panthers finished 2-15 with their second straight shutout loss the day before, then cleaned out their lockers Monday in preparation for the offseason. SCOTT FOWLER sfowler@charlotteobserver.com Christensen, a 2021 third-round pick, is entering the final year of his rookie contract. The BYU alum was drafted by former head coach Matt Rhule, who was fired in late 2022, and former general manager Scott Fitterer, who was fired before the players cleaned out their lockers last week.
