Source - Baker Mayfield tests OK but QB likely out 2-6 weeks

Tests on Carolina Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield's high ankle sprain revealed no other structural damage, but the injury is expected to take two to six weeks to heal, a source told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler on Tuesday.

Mayfield wants to try to play on the injury as early as possible, but that will be an uphill battle, the source said.

PJ Walker is expected to start Sunday against the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the first game for interim head coach Steve Wilks. Head coach Matt Rhule was fired Monday after a 1-4 start that left him with 11 losses in his past 12 games.

Mayfield suffered the injury late in the first half of Sunday's 37-15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The first pick of the 2018 draft played most of the second half but arrived for his postgame news conference wearing a walking boot on his left foot.

Mayfield's subpar play contributed to this year's slow start. He had what Rhule called a «gut punch'' pick-six near the end of the first half against the Rams, and his 16.5 Total QBR is the second lowest after five games of any quarterback since ESPN began tracking the stat in 2006.

Walker, 2-0 as a starter for Carolina the past two seasons, is the only healthy quarterback currently on the active roster. Sam Darnold, the 2021 starter, remains on injured reserve recovering from an ankle sprain he suffered in late August.

ESPN's David Newton contributed to this report.