Trevor Etienne rushed one time for four yards in the Panthers’ Wild Card Round loss to the Rams.

11 January 2026

His most important contribution against the Rams was letting one punt return clank off his helmet to be recovered by the Rams, then nearly losing a second one later in the exact same way. Etienne never truly entered the backfield derby in Carolina, topping out at 7/33 against the Patriots in a 42-13 drubbing where he mostly played late. The 114th overall pick in last year’s draft, Etienne could wind up as Chuba Hubbard’s No. 2 back this offseason if the Panthers don’t add anyone else to the room, but this year’s usage doesn’t exactly demonstrate a commitment from the Panthers that leads us to think they want him to be that player.