CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carolina Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton said Tuesday that he coughed up blood before being diagnosed with multiple blood clots in late June. The ailment sidelined him throughout training camp and preseason, and well into the second month of the regular season.
Moton, the longest tenured nonspecialist in Carolina, participated in his first padded practice of 2026 on Tuesday after the Panthers activated his 21-day practice window on the non-football injury (NFI) list. Moton's early season stand-in, first-round pick Monroe Freeling, worked with a trainer off to the side because of a knee injury.
Following practice, during his first conversation with reporters since OTAs, Moton detailed his illness and the steps he took to get back onto the field. Moton said upon returning from a youth football camp in Lansing, Michigan, he experienced symptoms that would eventually lead to the discovery of multiple blood clots in his right lung.
"I started coughing up blood -- and it was like a lot of it," Moton said. "And I could start feeling it leaking through my chest even -- something like really different. So, after 15-or-something minutes, I was like 'Yeah, I've got to go to the hospital.' Went to the hospital, they were doing CT scans, ultrasounds, trying to find what was going on. And that's when they found a multitude of clots in my right lung.... So from there, they put me on blood thinners, and other than that I was just working. I just couldn't have contact on the blood thinners cause having contact on blood thinners can lead to like a brain bleed... but ultimately doing everything I could to just work and simulate football without the contact up until then."
Moton said he felt as if his chest were congested, but he soon realized the discomfort was more than just typical congestion when he started tasting blood in his mouth. Moton said doctors aren't sure what caused the ailment, but the 32-year-old lineman is more concerned about future prevention. He was told staying hydrated is part of that prevention, as well as moving around when he travels.