Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey out for season with ankle injury

Christian McCaffrey's 2021 season is over after just seven total games. The Carolina Panthers announced on Monday that their star running back will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury he sustained in the first half of Sunday's loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Sunday's game was McCaffrey's fourth since returning from a completely different injury. He hurt his hamstring in Week 3 and missed the next five games, reappearing in Week 9.

McCaffrey tried to reenter the Miami game in the second half, but couldn't get his ankle loosened up and ended up standing on the sidelines in uniform for the rest of the contest. Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported that McCaffrey was seen in a walking boot after the game, but head coach Matt Rhule didn't give much of an update in his postgame presser beyond saying McCaffrey had rolled his ankle.

Another familiar ending for McCaffrey

If any of this sounds familiar, that's because we (and McCaffrey) have been here before. McCaffrey missed all but three games in the 2020 season due to two separate injuries: a high ankle sprain in Week 2, and then a shoulder injury in his return game in Week 9 that ended his season.

Now he'll miss the final five games of the 2021 season with an ankle injury the Panthers have declined to describe in any detail.