Wow. This isn't good at all. Tonight, Panthers Pro Bowl linebacker Jon Beason told News 14's Mike Solarte that he may need surgery to repair his injured knee after an MRI revealed more damage to the hobbled limb than previously thought. If Beason were to go to injured reserve, it would be the second straight season the linebacker and team captain ended up on the reserve list.

If there is a bright side to this fiasco, it's that we will get to see rookie LB Luke Kuechly play the Mike position for the rest of the season. In the previous two games, Uncle Luke has shown that he's probably more suited to play in the middle than on the outside, as his play - along with the play of the rest of the defense - has improved over the previous five games when Kuechly was splitting time with Thomas Davis at WLB.

While a move to IR isn't set in stone yet, there's no reason for Beason to reveal this to Solarte if there weren't an element of truth to it. It's no secret that he's been injured this year, and whether it's because he was rushed back from his achilles injury or just an instance of extremely bad luck; the fact of the matter is it makes sense to go ahead and put Beason on IR now and give Kuechly the MLB position for the rest of the season.

As always, stay tuned to CSR for updates to this breaking story as we will provide any new information as soon as it becomes available.