Nathan Cleary has reportedly been ruled out for up to a month with a hamstring injury.
Multiple reports are suggesting the club's co-captain has been rubbed out after coming from the field at the back-end of last weekend's clash with the Brisbane Broncos.
It was believed at the time that Cleary had simply been given an early shower after helping his Penrith teammates dominate the Broncos in one of the season's biggest contests between last year's grand finalists.
It now appears there was more to it though, with Cleary to miss this weekend's crunch clash with the Sydney Roosters, and potentially a handful more pending on how the injury recovers in the coming weeks.
The star half, who is also the New South Wales Blues State of Origin number seven, will likely be replaced by Brad Schneider this weekend, with the former Canberra Raider to make his club debut for the men from the foot of the mountains.
While Fox Sports and News Corp have reported the longer injury timeline and return to play for Cleary after scans, Channel 9s Danny Weidler has suggested Cleary may be back after the club's Round 5 bye which would be a boost for the Panthers who have started the season with mixed results by their own lofty standards.
Meanwhile, the Panthers will reportedly be without Scott Sorensen who has also been struck by injury.
He may be out for a similar length of time to Cleary, with Fox Sports reporting he has suffered a knee injury that could leave him sidelined for a month.
Mavrik Geyer is the expected replacement for this weekend's clash with the Roosters, and teams will be confirmed at 4pm (AEDT) on Tuesday.