Adam Thielen Receives Bad News at Worst Possible Time
Just when the Carolina Panthers showed signs of life, former Minnesota Viking wideout Adam Thielen will hit the shelf.
Adam Thielen Receives Bad News at Worst Possible Time
The Panthers smoked the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, a bounce-back effort after benching former first-overall pick Bryce Young in favor of veteran quarterback Andy Dalton. For their troubles, Carolina immediately played wonderfully, routing the Raiders 36-22.
Meanwhile, Thielen scored a touchdown in Las Vegas — and promptly injured his hamstring. He’ll miss games, though his exact prognosis is unclear as of Tuesday. NFL insider Jordan Schultz tweeted Monday, “Sources: Panthers WR Adam Thielen is expected to miss some time with a hamstring injury he suffered Sunday in Las Vegas. An exact timetable is currently unclear, but he will be out a little. Thielen had 3 catches, 40 yards and a TD before leaving the game.”
Thielen had found instant chemistry with Dalton — a connection most of the NFL world and fantasy football community foresaw — but caught the touchdown and left the game with the hamstring injury in the 2nd Quarter. He had produced 3 receptions for 40 yards to that point.
The 34-year-old sounded upbeat after the win over Las Vegas, however. “We made a mindset that we’re going to go out there and put our best foot forward and see what happens,” Thielen told reporters. “And obviously, Andy did a great job of just communicating and leading us and starting fast. That was his message to us. Like we’ve got to go start fast, and he was able to lead that first drive and get the momentum.”
“I mean, I think when you go and score early, that’s a huge help. But yeah, his communication, his confidence, and then again, just being able to start fast, and he really controlled that by the way that he played,” he added.
The Thielen biography is everywhere and beloved, but the Minnesotan rose to power late in the 2015 season and clawed his way up Minnesota’s depth chart to WR1 by 2016. Thielen earned instant chemistry with then-QB1 Sam Bradford and took off as a household name in Minnesota and later the country.
An undrafted free agent in 2013, Thielen was “supposed to be” just a special teams guy, but he used the following three seasons to prove legitimacy. He tallied 967 receiving yards in 2016 — while starting 10 games — and truly blossomed as the real deal in 2017, with 91 receptions for 1,276 yards and 4 touchdowns. Thielen and storybook passer Case Keenum created folkloric harmony, and Minnesota damn near won a Super Bowl in a season riddled by injuries — that it had no business even making the playoffs.
Thielen is the Vikings third-leading receiver in catches (534), third in receiving touchdowns (55), and fourth in receiving yards (6,682) throughout franchise history.
Without Thielen in the lineup this week and possibly beyond, Dalton’s Panthers will lean on pass-catchers Diontae Johnson, Xavier Legette, and Jonathan Mingo, among others.
Last year, Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson injured his hamstring and missed seven games.
In March 2023, Thielen claimed he joined the Panthers via free agency because he believed they could win the Super Bowl. Carolina has a 3-17 (.150) record since the statement, the worst in the NFL.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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