CHARLOTTE — Panthers running back Jonathon Brooks knew he was going to have to be patient.

Fortunately for him, he has experience, and some newfound mentors who can offer the kind of advice he needs.

The second-round pick was placed on the active/non-football injury list Friday, meaning he won't be practicing with the rest of the team next Wednesday. But he knew that already, as he was working his way back from a November ACL tear during his final season at Texas. The recovery is going well, but it takes time, and Brooks has accepted that.

"You kind of just have to look at your future, Brooks said earlier this offseason. "Like my running back coach says, Rome wasn't built overnight. You've kind of just got to look at yourself as somebody who wants to play the game for a long time.

"I just have to know that for me to have patience is going to help me further my career, especially with this injury because if I try to rush it back, I get hurt again, then it could potentially affect the rest of my career. So I just have to look at it as a bigger picture."

A long recovery can be frustrating for any player, especially one as decorated as Brooks. He ran for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns last season at Texas (in just 11 games and 187 carries, a 6.2 yards per carry average), and the Panthers were excited enough about him to trade up to get him in the second round after some other deals. But they did it with a recognition the timeline wasn't going to offer immediate gratification.

That's something Brooks already knew about after his college days.

While he was stuck on the Longhorns' depth chart behind a pair of NFL backs in Bijan Robinson and Roschon Johnson, he got just 51 rushing attempts in his first two seasons. Robinson becoming a top-10 pick of the Falcons helped him keep that in some degree of perspective, but it wasn't always easy for him.

"I had to be patient but I think what helped me was being behind two great backs," Brooks said. "I knew that I need to get my body right physically and then getting my brain right mentally, just learning the game in all aspects of it.

"I was really trying to develop my body and become a grown man because I was immature when I came to college. And really just learning off of those two guys and then finding my role on the team, special teams or whatever, trying to get reps in practice, get reps late in games whenever I could and wherever I could, and really just trying to be a positive person throughout the whole team."

And when Brooks says he was immature, he doesn't mean he was acting like a spoiled baby. He showed up in Austin at 185 pounds (he's a solid 216 now).

"I was really, really small," he said with a laugh. "I needed to put a lot of weight on it and just take the weight room in my diet and nutrition very seriously."

But after growing up in the small central Texas town of Hallettsville (population 2,733), he found out in a hurry about the temptation of living in a bigger place.

"Even in college, even though everybody's got a nutrition department, that's the one area where when you're 18 or 19 you're just going to eat," Brooks said. "I come from a small town. We didn't have many fast food places. So for me, a city like Austin where I can have all the fast food in the world just at the tip of my finger, I really just had some bad habits that I had to break."

In Hallettsville (about halfway between Houston and San Antonio), he didn't have to worry about that. So realizing the world offered delights such as Whataburger or Chick-fil-A or Raising Canes was hard for a sheltered teenager. (Wait until he learns about Bojangles.)

"I had a Dairy Queen, a Subway, and a Pizza Hut," he laughed of his small-town roots. "That's all I had. Then I get to Austin, and there was so much stuff less than 10 minutes away at most spots.

"They did us bad. They put all the good food chains on campus or right by campus."

But heading into his junior year, with the way cleared on the depth chart, he was ready to rebuild his body. That meant becoming serious about building it the right way, making adult food choices, and following the examples of Robinson and Johnson.

"When I went to college, I wasn't expecting to play much at first, but I've learned so much from those two dudes as far as on the field and off the field," Brooks said. "I think that was really a blessing in disguise as far as my career and for my future at that time, just because I got to learn off of those two dudes and learn their habits, pick up their habits and, and really dig into what they were doing to be so successful."

And it didn't take long, once he arrived in Charlotte, for him to pick up another pretty good role model for a player in his position.

Brooks said he connected early on with former Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis, who came back from three torn ACLs to become an even better player — going to three Pro Bowls and leading the Panthers to a Super Bowl after that devastating series of injuries. Former Rams running back Todd Gurley also touched base to share his story, but Brooks doesn't have to look far for someone to commiserate with.

His position coach, former NFL running back Bernie Parmalee, dealt with knee issues of his own during his NFL career.

"We bonded that way because I had the right knee, he had the right knee," Parmalee said. "So I know what you're thinking and some of the things by my experience I said, don't think it don't do it. You've got to stay focused because it's still a process. As much as our mind says, I want to get out there, your body's going to tell you when you can get out there.

"So, you know, as long as you keep it like that and then understand the process and, within the process, learn the offense because it's more mental than physical. Let's make sure we stay sharp mentally so when it's time to go, it's time to go. Whenever that time is, I don't know. Nobody knows because everyone heals differently. But when it's time to go, it's time to go."

And Parmalee knows from the scouting process, and getting to know Brooks, that the rookie has the ability to go.

"I did all my homework on him in college," Parmalee said. "So very excited about him. . . .

"He's what you want in a back. I mean, he's got good size, vision, a playmaker. Can do it all, position flexibility, plays hard, right? And when the ball's in his hand, he makes things happen. So that's all you ever want."

The Panthers also have the benefit of a deep running back room, so there's no need to rush Brooks back. Between starter Chuba Hubbard, and a group that includes Miles Sanders, Raheem Blackshear, and others, there's time to make sure Brooks gets right.

And with time, and patience — and experience — he's learned that lesson.

"I don't want to rush it back," Brooks said. "I believe in the plan that I have with the strength coaches, the rehab people, the training staff. So I think to be honest, it's really just a feel thing.

"I feel good. But just really just having long talks to God, making sure I know when the time is right."