Carolina Panthers Jonathan Stewart Injury Update

The Carolina Panthers have invested $36.5 million in top running back Jonathan Stewart over the next five years, so there was naturally some concern for one-half of the Panthers two-headed running back monster after his apparent calf injury on Friday against the Miami Dolphins.

The good news is that Stewart “is fine” (tweet from The Charlotte Observer’s Joe Person) per his agent Ben Dogra. X-rays turned up negative, so one of the game’s best weapons on offense should be back to practicing soon.

Jonathan Stewart is going to have a bigger role than fellow star RB DeAngelo Williams in 2012, so it’s good to hear that nothing serious came of the injury. He’s good to go after only being able to carry the ball five times, but Stewart did manage to catch two passes for a total of 14 yards. There’s always concern when a star running back has a leg injury, and there’s always relief when things end up looking okay.

In other running back news, LaMichael James tweeted himself yesterday that he is fine and ready to practice. That’s great news for the San Francisco 49ers, because powerful back Brandon Jacobs suffered from a knee injury. X-rays turned up negative, but Jacobs will have an MRI today and has likely suffered from a severe knee sprain. Not much is known about the injury, but he hasn’t torn anything so that’s good news. We’ll see how long Jacobs is out, but it’s good to hear that two Oregon products at the position are not injured.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.