CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Austin Corbett and Robert Hunt were side by side in the visitors locker room Sunday night at State Farm Stadium, just as they'd lined up during the game at center and right guard.

Now, the two offensive line mainstays will be rehab buddies in the Carolina Panthers' training room after MRI exams Monday confirmed the team's fears.

Hunt will undergo surgery to repair a torn left biceps sustained in the second half of the 27-22 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Corbett also left in the fourth quarter after re-injuring the medial collateral ligament in his left knee. The 30-year-old underwent ACL surgery on the same knee after the 2022 season before being sidelined the final seven games in 2023 after tearing his ACL.

Both Hunt and Corbett are headed to injured reserve. Panthers coach Dave Canales said it's possible one or both could be back this season.

David Chao, a former NFL team doctor now with Sports Injury Central, said Hunt could return in three months if not sooner. Chao put Corbett's recovery at six to eight weeks, but added: "If he has surgery it gets closer to season-ending."

Monday's news was a tough, 1-2 punch to the face of a franchise already reeling from its fourth consecutive 0-2 start.

"Two studs. Two guys we count on in the locker room, on the field -- their leadership, their positivity, their hard work, all those things," Canales said. "We're certainly going to miss those guys being out there."

The Panthers brought back their top nine offensive linemen from last season after re-signing Corbett, Cade Mays and Brady Christensen to team-friendly, one-year deals. Mays will replace Corbett, just as he did the second half of last season after Corbett tore his biceps. Chandler Zavala will step in for Hunt, who went to his first Pro Bowl last year after landing a five-year, $100 million contract.

The injuries come at a bad time for the Panthers, whose history of slow starts has now spanned three coaching staffs. This was supposed to be the easiest part of the schedule, with the first seven games coming against teams that missed the playoffs last season.

But sloppy play early by quarterback Bryce Young -- whose five turnovers include four in the first half -- have buried the Panthers in 20-3 halftime holes in their losses at Jacksonville and Arizona. That has forced Canales to abandon the run game and become a one-dimensional play caller.

"For the last two weeks we've made mistakes early in games on both sides of the ball, and put us in situations where we're going into the half with a pretty good deficit and I'm in a different mode at that point," Canales said.

Young threw three touchdown passes and established career highs in completions (35), attempts (55) and passing yardage (328) against the Cardinals. But he went 0-for-6 on the final drive after the Panthers recovered an onside kick.

In past seasons, throwing nearly every down might not have been an issue against the Atlanta Falcons, the Panthers' Week 3 opponent at Bank of America Stadium. But the Falcons' offseason emphasis on improving their pass rush looks to have taken: Atlanta's six sacks in a 22-6 win over Minnesota were its most in seven years.

The Falcons received big plays from their first four draft picks against the Vikings. Jalon Walker, the 15th overall pick who many thought was a Panthers' target, and Charlotte native James Pearce notched their first career sacks, while safeties Xavier Watts and Billy Bowman came down with their first interceptions.

Given how Carolina struggled against the Cardinals' blitzes in the first quarter, the Falcons (1-1) could be primed for another big pass-rushing day against the Panthers' patched-together line.

"Losing those two guys, it's big. But next man up," left guard Damien Lewis said. "I have confidence in Cade and Chand to get out there and step in and help the team."

Young's turnovers and the blitz pickup issues weren't the team's only problems. Xavier Legette, whom general manager Dan Morgan traded up for last year, has regressed after a rookie season marred by drops. Legette caught one pass on eight targets at Arizona -- for minus-2 yards.

Legette's 26.7 catch percentage (4 receptions on 15 targets) is the third-lowest in the league, while his 2.0 yards-per-catch average is tied with Tampa Bay running back Bucky Irving for last among players with at least four receptions.

Canales didn't hesitate to bench Young after two games last season, but said he has no plans to sit Legette down or cut back on his snaps. With Adam Thielen now in Minnesota and Jalen Coker recovering from a quad injury, it's not like Canales has a ton of other options outside of Brycen Tremayne.

"I believe in Xavier. This is a guy I truly believe (in) because of the way he's wired, the way he works at it, the way he continues to train," said Canales, noting that Legette had a good week of practice before the Cardinals game.

"He had some opportunities on the field where the ball didn't go his way. I tried to give him a few early touches. They didn't amount to much," Canales added. "But as the game went on, a few of the other targets, they were close plays. He didn't make 'em. But I think it's a matter of just finding opportunities."

There were a few bright spots in Arizona. The Panthers rallied for 19 unanswered points to make a game of it, the defense finally looked competent against the run and rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan again looked like an emerging star.

But fans' patience is already wearing thin after watching the Panthers compile a 36-82 record since David Tepper bought the team in 2018, tied with the New York Jets for the NFL's worst over that span. Meanwhile, Young has lost 24 of his 30 starts since the Panthers gave up four high picks and wideout DJ Moore to draft him No. 1.

Lewis, who arrived in Charlotte last year along with Hunt, said fans shouldn't bury the Panthers yet.

"Everybody in the league, we're coachable. It's the next man up," he said. "It's gonna be a normal routine. These guys practice. They work their tail off and they're gonna show up on game day. So I'd tell people, 'Don't give up. Don't count us out.'"

Panthers' OL takes 2 big hits, just in time for the Falcons and their revived pass rush