Panthers’ J.T. Ibe Cut After Practice Hit To Head Gets Teammate Carted Off

Scary scene at Panthers camp

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.

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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.