UPDATE: 10:58 a.m.: The Panthers have waived J.T. Ibe.
ORIGINAL STORY: A scary moment unfolded Tuesday morning at Carolina Panthers training camp.
Tuesday marked the first day NFL teams could hold padded practices, and things got a little out of hand in Carolina. Wide receiver Keith Kirkwood darted across the middle of the field on a route and attempted to make a catch in traffic.
Kirkwood dropped the pass as he got tackled by his ankles, at which point safety J.T. Ibe, an undrafted rookie, connected with the wideout on a helmet-to-helmet hit.
Unable to get up from the collision, Kirkwood had to get carted out of practice and taken away in an ambulance, causing a delay in the session over 10 minutes. Ibe, meanwhile, was promptly kicked out of practice by head coach Matt Rhule.
You can watch the hit here.
It’s up for debate what the intention was of Ibe. In addition to the logical argument that he probably didn’t want to injure a teammate, it also seems like Ibe was going low to make a play on Kirkwood had he caught the ball in stride. If Kirkwood had been able to stay up, then Ibe probably lays a clean hit.
Whatever the case, it was an ugly scene.
