Quarterback Baker Mayfield will return to the starting lineup for the Carolina Panthers on Sunday after an MRI taken over the weekend revealed that PJ Walker suffered a high ankle sprain in Thursday night's victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Sam Darnold, who lost the open competition to Mayfield for the starting job during training camp, will be the backup for the Week 11 game against the Baltimore Ravens.

This will be Mayfield's first start since he suffered an ankle sprain in a Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He was replaced by Walker the next week against the Los Angeles Rams and had remained the backup the past four games despite being healthy enough to play.

Mayfield's only playing time the past month came in the second half of a 35-17 blowout loss at the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 7 in which he led three scoring drives, going 14-for-20 passing for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

Mayfield struggled to a 15.3 Total QBR during a 1-4 start that was the lowest in the NFL this season and the worst since ESPN began using the statistic in 2006. He had four interceptions and four touchdown passes during that stretch.