How the Panthers think Derrick Brown can up his game, even after record-breaking season

Derrick Brown had a season to remember in 2023 — one that saw him break the all-time NFL tackles record among defensive lineman, receive his first Pro Bowl bid and earn a lucrative contract extension.

But there’s more to unlock in his game, as Brown has previously said.

His defensive coordinator thinks so, too.

“I think it’s the sack production,” Panthers defensive coordintor Ejiro Evero told reporters on Thursday when asked about the next level Brown could go. “In my opinion, he’s arguably the best run defender in the NFL, and like I said earlier, the pressures were there. He affects the quarterback. He’s a hard man to block — run or pass — one-on-one. But at the end of the day, we want to translate that into more sack production.

“I can’t remember what he had last year, but I think this guy can get eight-to-10 sacks this year.”

The 3-4 scheme ushered in by Evero last year unlocked a bunch of Brown’s greatest strengths. Brown finished with 103 total tackles and one interception. He also added two sacks, which has been precisely on par in his eight-sack career through four seasons with the Panthers.

But for the Panthers to truly unlock their potential, Brown will have to unlock his — which to Evero means becoming a great interior pass rusher as well as a run-stopper.

Carolina, after all, doesn’t have a great pass rush on paper to date: Opposite Jadeveon Clowney, the 31-year-old All-Pro EDGE rusher, question marks about the position ensue. Second-year OLB DJ Johnson is a first-stringer on the depth chart as of now after notching a few healthy scratches in his rookie year. DJ Wonnum (quad) and Amare Barno (knee) are on the team’s physically unable to perform list. The team released K’Lavon Chaisson, a former first-round draft pick who signed with the Panthers this offseason, earlier this week.

Jadeveon Clowney offered similar praise of Brown on Thursday — and has offered him some pointers this offseason.

“I always tell him, man, you gotta change up your angles,” Clowney said. “Like everybody’s gonna play you because you’re big and strong. Changing those angles up, I think, will help him get those extra sacks this year. I’m looking forward to see him play. The guy works extremely hard, like I tell everybody. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever played with since I’ve been in the NFL.”

Clowney said being next to Brown on the line should spell problems at the line of scrimmage for opposing offenses. The million-dollar question: How can they manipulate the offensive lines to force one-on-ones for either one of them?

That’s how this defense can thrive, Clowney said.

“I said, ‘I need you to play at the highest level you’ve ever played this year,’” Clowney said. “Because I’m beside you — and the better he does, the better I’m gonna do.”

Thompson agreed.

“I think he’s capable of doing whatever he puts his mind to,” captain linebacker Shaq Thompson said of Brown. “I got my brother’s back regardless. I think he can get 10, 15 sacks if he wants to. He just gotta go out there and play his game and know that he’s unstoppable. Once he knows that, the sky’s the limit for him.”

The first display of such progress will be put on display against the New Orleans Saints at 1 p.m. Sunday in the Superdome.

Defense excited for Shaq Thompson, too

Evero isn’t only excited for Brown’s return. He’s also excited for a veteran who he’s seen so much on the practice field but hasn’t on the actual field since arriving in Carolina last year.

Shaq Thompson.

Thompson, the inside linebacker and staple in Carolina since arriving in 2015, has had a lot to smile about this offseason. Among the many reasons: He is healthy, at long last, after suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 of last year’s season.

“We were actually talking about this on the practice field the other day,” Evero said. “I’m excited to watch him play. Because as great as he’s been on the field, and you see it in the communication, in the way he moves around, all those different types of things, we haven’t really seen him play a lot of game football since we’ve been here. So we’re excited about it. I think he’s going to do really well.”

Thompson is equally excited. Emotional, too.

“Not too high, not too low, you know what I mean?” Thompson said, when asked what his goal to Sunday will be. “My emotions (might) get the best of me, just because I got hurt last year playing these guys. I gotta go out there, even-keeled, and just go out there and play ball. It’s not all about me, it’s about my teammates. The biggest thing is getting this win. It doesn’t matter if I get 10 tackles, no tackles, I just want to come away with a win.

Thompson has played “a lot of football,” Evero reiterated, and has played a lot of positions — from big nickel to ILB in the 3-4 and 4-3 schemes. He’s joined by Josey Jewell, who thrived in his single year under DC Evero in Denver.

Another guy who might be joining this ILB room is Trevin Wallace. The third-round draft pick has impressed all camp — finding interceptions, making plays across the field, learning from Jewell and Thompson.

It might be hard to keep a guy like Wallace off the field. It’s also hard to do so when your two linebackers are two of your more experienced players and are leaders. It’s a good challenge to have as a coach, Evero said.

“You always want to try to get your best players on the field,” Evero said. Trevin has done such a great job. But it’s really not a surprise, just getting to know him through the draft process, watching his film, spending time with him when he did his visit here pre-draft. He’s got everything it takes. ... Like we talked about in the past, there’s so much going on in the NFL in terms of offensive football, and the biggest stress, especially in our scheme, is on that position to be able to do so many different things and have to do it in a really short amount of time. And so he’s done a great job.

“And he has grown so much that we feel very confident if he has to go in the game and play for Josey or Shaq, but at the same time, we gotta balance out, who are the best 11 players, and how do we fit this thing together where you’re getting your best 11 guys on the field as much as possible.”

New kickoff rule? New experiments all around

While Panthers fans will see a largely new team Sunday — one led by a new coach and new offensive coaching staff and 24 players who weren’t on this 53-man roster a year ago — they should also prepare to see something else.

The new kickoff rule.

New this year, the kickoff will feature a different set-up. The kicking team players other than the kicker will line up on the receiving team’s 40-yard line. The receiving team will line up in the setup zone: a five-yard area from the 35- and 30-yard lines. Neither team will be able to move until the kick returner catches the ball. The kicker must hit the landing zone — between the 20-yard-line and the goal line. If he boots it into the end zone, it’ll result in a touchback on the 30-yard line.

These rules are supposed to incentivize bringing one of the more exciting plays in football back into the fold without reintroducing the risk of injury that so often came with the play.

As a result, Panthers special teams coordinator Tracy Smith has been hard at work experimenting what he’ll do and studying what the rest of the league has already done.

“Nationally, it was very similar to previous years (in the preseason), as far as guys kicking the ball to the returner and seeing what happened,” Smith said on Thursday. “And that’s how it’s always happened, whether or not that matched the regular season.

“Can I give you a big, ‘We’ll see,’ on the rest of it? I think it’ll be team-to-team, probably week to week, especially in the first part of the season.”

Smith suggested that, at least in one way, his team is at an advantage.

“(Kicker) Eddy (Piñeiro) gives us a lot of options with his soccer background, with the way he can move the ball around,” Smith said. “So he kind of opens up the field in this particular way, it decreased the pure-power necessity in the kicker. So some of the guys with better placement, better accuracy, some of the better field goal kickers can do some things that others can’t on the kickoffs. So we week-by-week learn what we can do and what we can cover.”

Quick hits

▪ Neither Tommy Tremble (hamstring/back) nor Ian Thomas (calf) practiced with the rest of the team on Thursday, keeping that tight end room thin days before the season-opener. Miles Sanders, who showed up as limited (finger) on Wednesday, was a full-go Thursday. Limited in practice Thursday was offensive tackle Yosh Nijman (tibia) and defensive back Troy Hill (heel).

▪ It turns out Jordan Matthews ended Brad Idzik’s college playing career. During a tangent about Matthews’ professionalism, Idzik told a story about how Matthews caught a game-sealing pass while he was at Vanderbilt while defenders were draped over him. That punctuated an 11-catch, 125-yard day over Wake Forest — the school Idzik was at. Idzik joked that Matthews forced him to flee into coaching.

▪ That wasn’t the only memorable moment from Idzik’s news conference Thursday. The young OC (32 years old) was asked about what his late grandfather, John Sr., might say if he saw his grandson in such a position so young. John Sr. was the head football coach at the University of Detroit and held assistant coaching positions in the NFL and CFL as well. The youngest Idzik responded as tears welled in his eyes.

“I never got to see my grandpa coach, but ... my dad said, I remind him of my grandpa, just because like keeping it simple, trying to reach the person that’s in front of you,” Idzik said. “I would have loved to see him coach. I know he was a phenomenal coach. He was on so many winning teams — has a Super Bowl ring with the Colts. And I know he pushed my dad into the realm, right? He pushed my dad into football and I know who he was as a man.

“So for my dad to like echo that to me, that just means the world to me, because I hold him in the highest regard. I would have loved to see him coach and I know he would have loved to be here as well.”