John Penisini 'Can Add a Lot' to Panthers' Defense if Healthy

From retired to playing on a top-10 defense, John Penisini makes his return to football.

Defensive lineman John Penisini was a sixth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions in 2020 but only played two years with the team before surprisingly announcing his retirement from football.

He dealt with some serious shoulder pain during the 2021 season which could be what led to his initial decision to leave the game.

“John had what looked like softballs in his shoulder that he had repaired after the season after the fact,” Campbell explained in a press conference last year. “It just looked like a bunch of calcium deposits that had been in there. You wonder why when you watch the film last year why he’s not using his arm. It’s because he had issues. It’s a credit to him playing through it and all of those things.”

After taking a year off, Penisini unretired and eventually signed with the Carolina Panthers back in April. He was not seen at a few of the team's practices during OTAs and mandatory minicamp due to an unidentified injury.

Head coach Frank Reich didn't know the latest update on his status at the time of his final availability with the media but he believes Penisini can help this defense in the fall, given that he remains healthy.

"He's worked hard. He just got a little tweak the other day, so still waiting to hear the full report on that tomorrow. But love him," Reich said. "Just think he can add a lot to our team but we've got to kind of see where he's at with his injury and getting back into it but excited about it."

In two years with the Lions, Penisini tallied 49 tackles, four tackles for loss, one QB hit, and one forced fumble. He will provide depth at nose tackle for the Panthers.

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