October 2, 2024 • 42 mins
Get a front-row seat to Carolina Panthers football with Sideline Pass! Hosted by team reporters Kristen Balboni and Sharon Thorsland, this show takes you right into the heart of the action with exclusive insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and the latest buzz from Bank of America Stadium. This week Kristen and Sharon are joined by Kurt Coleman and Mike Jack to discuss Shaq Thompson's injury, recap the Bengals game, Mike Jack's relationship with Jaycee Horn, and so much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow, Jeers, Kristen Balboni and Sharon thors lond with your
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Sideline Pass, Kristin Balboni and Sharon Thorslan your
Panthers sideline reporters, and every week we take you behind
the scenes and on the field with the Carolina Panthers. So, Sharon,
it was a home game, which meant I was on
the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
For this one.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
So I'm gonna give you a couple of things that
I saw, and I'm guessing they've matched your experience last
week in the Andy Dalton era. Let's say so this team,
I'm not just saying this because we are.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Panthers sideline reporters.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I think you know, we can both be honest about
what is going on if it's not positive.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
This team seems really positive.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And really optimistic despite the loss against the Bengals, and
I imagine you're seeing that as well with the media
with you know, after the win with the Raiders.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It just it feels a little different.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Absolutely feels very different. And I felt this last year
in Seattle, the one game that Andy Dalton played.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Guys just have a lot of faith in him.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
They have a lot of belief in him and it's
just sort of changed the vibe has changed, the energy.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
And then they went out to Las Vegas.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
You saw what the offense could do and had the
defense fed off of that and made it just a
complete team win. And against the Bengals, you know, there
are some things that they need to clean up. Obviously,
they still were in this game, and you know, as
Andy Dalton said, that was an NFL football game, I
mean it really was. I think that just despite the fact,
like you said that they lost, there were so many
positives that came out of that game as well, and
(01:36):
they were in it. They had chances to win it.
And you know, minus a few eras and mistakes that
they can fix, this was It was a great football game,
and I think it bodes well for this team for
the future.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, speaking of some of those errors that are fixable,
you know, the defense had some tough moments.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
The tackling was the thing.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
You know, I was standing behind as you know, Sharon
and anyone who doesn't know this, I think it's really
need to explain. As a sideline reporter, you can stand
behind the benches and you know, within reason, right, we
don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. But you could stand
the benches listen in on what is being said. Here,
the tone, here, the tenor, and I will tell you
(02:15):
what I take that D line. And those outside backers
are gonna I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Sure they, I'm so.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Tim Lukabu, the outside backers coach, was letting them know
what he thought of the performance there in the second half,
and he just said, you know, I mentioned this on
the broadcast. He just said, they're playing harder than us.
They are playing harder than us, and it is not okay.
And he wasn't he wasn't yelling, he wasn't using Criswards.
He just that was what he was saying. And Ashaan
(02:43):
Robinson was saying the same thing to these guys. And
like you said, those things are fixable. These are professional athletes.
They care, they are are playing hard, and those things
are fixable. Everyone just has to get on the same page.
You know, we've seen this offense really really take a
leap forward, and we saw everything come together offense, defense,
(03:06):
special teams against the Raiders, and I think it's gonna
come together again very shortly. And you know, these things
are not as you said, these things are not huge
issues despite all of the injuries that are mounting, I
think we've seen that people can come in and still
play well.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Absolutely Trevin Wallace. Case in point when Shack Thompson went down,
And oh boy, do I hate that. Shack Thompson has
been around here such a long time, such a great
veteran leader. He has just been like the heart and
soul of this defense this season. It was so excited
to get back out there this year after having the
season end an injury last year.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
So I just hate it for him.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
But Trevin Wallace, the rookie, you know, got thrown into duty,
and they've been high on him since he arrived here
in the draft, and they like what they have out
of him. He's big, he's tall, he's fast, he's got
great hands, and he's a solid linebacker and there, and
they feel like he's going to really make a lot
of strides. And now this is his opportunity to go
in and take over that that middle line of the defense,
(04:07):
and he's going to be calling the plays. We're in
the green hel the green dot on the helmet, and
you know, he's got a chance to really step up
and make his presence known this week. So I think
that you're right with all the injuries, which are just
it's it's unbelievable how many injuries they have on the
defense now, but guys are are stepping in and Nick
Scott stepped in for Jordan Fuller last week didn't miss
a beat in the secondary. You've got guys who know
(04:30):
what's expected to them. They know what's expected to be
a member of this defense. They have a standard and
you need to uphold it. And guys are are ready
to play again this weekend, I think absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
And then on the offensive side, if for talking about
things that can be fixed, we saw some drops and
but we also saw some young receivers who are going
to be really exciting. So I'm thinking of Xavier league it.
You know, a couple drops in the game, but man,
that first NFL T touchdown some of the catches that
(05:02):
he had. You know, we were on the broadcast with
Luke Keigley as you are on the road games, and
he just could not say enough great stuff about Exavier.
I feel like when Luke is talking about how big
and physical you are, like, what better compliment you have,
especially a receiver, right, you know, And so it's exciting
(05:24):
to not just see the defense take a step forward,
which I have full confidence that they will, and some
of those young guys like you mentioned Trevin Wallace, get
these opportunities. But there are some There are some young
receivers that we can see. The potential and excel as
they call them, is the first one that comes to.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Mind, absolutely, and for people that maybe have not had
a chance to be able to actually, like really see
him in person, watching him on TV and see him
on TV, you can see he's a big, solid, physical guy.
Maybe when you see him on the football field up
close and personal, he is huge. I remember walking by
him in the locker room and day and thinking, oh
my gosh, he's like a linebacker. Yes, he is big
and solid and physical. And they love how the yards
(06:03):
that he's able to get after the catch and the
way he fights for that extra yardage. And yeah, it
was so excited to watch him on Sunday and to
get that first touchdown.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
And I'm sure we're going to be seeing lots more
coming out of him.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
And you know, he's a rookie, as you mentioned, he's
gonna have to learn go go through these mistakes, you know,
learn what he did wrong and fix them and you know,
have a few growing pains, but the future is very
bright with Xavier Leaguette because he's a special talent and
it showed us that on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And another thing, Sharon, you mentioned that when you see
him in person. Another thing that's really interesting about being
on the sideline. You can hear him right like when
you hear a physical player, like you said, yards after
the catch, like he's running through guys, and you hear
it on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
You know, the more physical the.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Player, the more you can hear the helmets, the more
you can hear all of those things.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
You can tell her the.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Heavy breathing, like you can hear all of it when
you have a really physical player, and he is one
of those guys. And so it's really really exciting to
watch such a physical, giant receiver and know that he's
on our team, which is great.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Absolutely absolutely say it's such a compliment to Deontae and
Adam when he gets back and Amingo, he's he's sort
of a different type of player than them, So it's
a good combo to have him fitting in there with
those other guys.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Another guy that you can just hear his presence on
the field Chewba Hubbard, right, we see it. But gosh,
when he runs through guys, you can just hear those
helmets clacking like it is just so interesting. And we
have talked about him, I want to say maybe every week,
but Sharon, just watching him up close, I just continue
to come away more and more impressed. And we know
(07:44):
that his training regimen is crazy. You know, we talk
about the jugs machine. I mean he's out there for an
hour before the game and an hour after practice on
the drugs machine. We have seen the muscle that he
has put on. But Sharon, I saw there was a
run that he took. Gosh, it must have been like
a twenty thirty yard run. The exact moment is escaping me.
(08:05):
And he had a guy Turner on him and they
went out of bounce and let me tell you about
Turner was breathing heavy. You know, he had to take
a minute to collect himself after getting Cuba down. Cuba,
pop right back up through the ball to the referee,
jump right back in the huddle. And it was almost
like a mental game that he was doing with him.
(08:26):
It looked like it didn't even face him. Yeah, and
it was just it was just neat to see that
kind of thing, the confidence that comes with all of
the work that he's put in.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, and they talk about a guy who is so
prepared and you know, all summer long, all off season,
he just puts in the work to prepare his body
and he's really taking We saw him take the leap
last year and he's just building on that this year.
And his leadership we've discussed that as well, but Miles
Sanders was just talking about that this week. With the
loss of Shaq, who steps in, you know, to take
(08:56):
over some of that missing leadership And he said that
Cuba is one of the guys who really sets the
tone in practice, and he said, you know when energy
is down, and Miles chips in with this as well,
but they want to be the guys that get the
team going. You know, if the energy levels or they
want to get it back up, you know, they're out
there vocally and physically, you know, really leading the way
(09:17):
out there for this Panther team. So it's it's really
fun to watch how Cuba has come such a long
way and has just really turned himself into I mean,
he seems like a grizzled little vet, even though he's
not just but that's really what he's looking like and
what he's acting like out there. And yeah, the physicality
he brings to his his rushing game and his run
style is just discreat and.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
He got to learn behind Christian McCaffrey and it seems
like he has really taken those lessons to heart, right absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, the work on your body, all of that.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Speaking of him, I want to talk about some of
the aggressive play calling that we saw, and I mentioned
him because you know, they went for it after that
first drive. It was like a six to seven minute
drive to start the game. They ended up going for
it on fourth down. Didn't get it, Although Sharon, I
don't know if you saw or heard this, Cuba. I mean,
he was convinced that he got in on third down.
He was watching that, he was watching the big screen
(10:11):
over and over again. I don't know, I was down there.
I don't know that he got it, but I mean
he was sure, he was absolutely sure, and then you know,
it just didn't happen on fourth down. But again, this
is not something I'm saying because I am a Panther's
sideline reporter. I liked the call and I think a
lot of people liked that call, even though it didn't
(10:33):
work out. We saw some aggressive calls going forward on
fourth down that did work out. But there were two
calls that I thought were really aggressive and didn't work out,
but I liked to see them. And that was going
for it on fourth down right there instead of taking
the easy points with the field goal, and then that
Johnny Hecker fake punch.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Oh yeah, he did not.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Turn into anything, unfortunately, but man, I really like to
see them. And I talked to Dave Canalis about it
yesterday and I said, tell me what went into those
aggressive play calls, you know, even though they didn't work out,
and he said it is It is us scratching and
clawing to give ourselves any opportunity to win.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
And he said, that is my job. So I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Put us in these positions. I'm going to be aggressive
whether they work out or not. And I do believe
that they will continue to work out and they'll only
get better those chances and connecting on those.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But I just really liked the attitude on that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Chairing, absolutely, and that's something that even dating back to
the preseason when we were talking with coach Canalis about
you know, when are you going to start throwing the
ball down the field more? When are you going to
start being more aggressive? And he said, you know, there's
a plan for it, and we have to have everything
sort of be in place and guys be confident in
the offense, so you know, when you put them out there,
they know what they're doing and they have confidence that
(11:52):
it's going to work. And he also has a a
sort of a method to the madness was when with
when they're going to go forward on fourth down to
we're they are on the field. You know how they've
been doing with fourth downs or third den conversions throughout
the game and that kind of thing. So he wants
to be aggressive. That's part of this offense, and he
wants to be able to get those plays in place,
as he told you, and he's going to keep doing
(12:12):
it when he knows that it will give them a
chance to be successful. And you know, the more you
practice it, the more those plays are going to work.
So I definitely believe that as we continue to go
through the season, they keep on pulling out those those
plays out of the hat, that they're going to start
converting those and then that just builds the confidence even more,
you get one of those that work, You get the
fake punt that produces something, and then you're like, all right,
(12:34):
we've done that, We've been there, done that, we know
it can work. It just gives them more confidence to
do it again, you know, down the road.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And Sharon, finally, you know, of course we're going to
talk game stuff, But how about Julius Peppers and the
Ring of Excellence. You know, he received that at halftime
of the Bengals game, and he gave a great speech,
which we I think we've come to expect after his
Hall of Fame speech, and it was incredible, and he
gave a great speech about supporting the team, supporting the
(13:06):
players and how much that means to the players. What
did What did you make of what he had to say?
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah, you know, I just I just love it with Julius.
You know, I've been covering this team since he was
drafted by this team, and so I've seen him come
such a long way with speaking. And he used to
just hate talking to the media, did like, did not
like to do it. Now he feels like he owes
it to people and he owes it to you know,
players now to be able to pass on his knowledge
(13:33):
and pass on his wisdom and things like that. So
I think that it's just phenomenal of him to come
out here and make the speech that he did and
to thank the fans, you know, who have supported him
since day one here in North Carolina, back you know,
in high school and then in college with guitar heels,
and even when he left to spread his wings and
you know, go up to the NFC North for a
few years before he came back here to Carolina. So
(13:55):
I think that it's just so great and he's just
his message is just phenomenal. Hall of Fame speech was incredible,
and I thought it was just really awesome to see
him out here again on Sunday and be so thankful
and just be able to share that with the fans
and the players.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And you know, there were over one hundred legends or
about one hundred legends at that game this past weekend.
And one thing I have noticed, and I'm sure you have,
for you know, as long as you've covered this team,
guys want to come back and they want to be
associated with the Panthers. You know, you have guys that
have played for two three different teams or may have
played at another team longer and this organization means something
(14:37):
to them, And I don't know that that's the case
all across the NFL, And I just think that's really special.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
No, absolutely, because that is definitely not the case everywhere
you go, and more and more have started to come
back here every year, and I think it's so great
that this organization is trying to make that happen. They're
reaching out to these guys, They're getting them so involved,
like with what we do, with what the media BROG
has to have, you know, Thomas Davis, Jonathan Stewart, Kurt Coleman,
and of course Luke Keigley and Jake Delom and all
(15:05):
those guys. I mean, it's so great to have them
involved in so many different ways with the organization. But
then the guys who are you spread far and wide.
The fact that they, you know, come back for a weekend,
They come back here to Carolina and come to Bank
of America Stadium and participate in their their dinners and
their panels and things like that, and then come out
on the field and just you can just see them
just soaking up the applause and soaking up the whole
(15:28):
feeling of being back here on their home field at
Bank of America Stadium, and probably I'm sure reliving some
of the glory days for when they were players here.
So I think it's awesome that so many guys came
back and I think we'll continue to see that grow
in the future.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Well, Sharon, I have to say, what a great segue
that you had, because next we are talking to Kirk Coleman.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
He's doing some media stuff for us, so that is perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
On this podcast, Sharon is as wonderful as always to
do our weekly catch up.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Thank you, Kristin.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
All right, now we are joined by my buddy, Kirk Coleman. Kirk,
thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I appreciate it absolutely. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Kristen all right, I think this is the perfect week
for you to be on this podcast because I want
to hear your opinion on the tackling in the last
game against the Bengals. You know, I was on the
sideline for it. We could see that there were some mistackles.
Our friend Luke Keithley was not the happiest in the
booths seeing some of those, and then talking to Dave
(16:30):
Canalis yesterday he said, look, people are coming out and
taking accountability.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So I just want to.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Get your perspective on what you saw and then also
why things like that happened because we know these guys
can tackle.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean the one thing that I always heard
in a meeting room is you know, those guys are
making money too. So I don't want a sugarcoat or
excuse anybody for their mistakes. But let's be honest. I
mean you talk about the Jamar chase. I mean that
was a humongous catch. The problem is the catch alone
is fine. It's what he does after the run is
(17:04):
really what we look at and say that that's not acceptable.
And I think as a player, you have to take
accountability for yourself as a leader in the locker room
you say this is not a representation of who we
are as a unit. And then obviously and then you
look at as a team like, hey, I know one
thing is for sure. This Panthers team was built onto
trying to be tough. And when you talk about tough,
(17:25):
there's levels to toughness. And to me, I look at
tackling as an effort. It's one hundred percent effort. It
doesn't need to look pretty more often or not. I
promise you when you tackle somebody, your face is all
scrunched up.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Thought?
Speaker 6 (17:41):
So I saw I saw a funny picture of during
the Olympics, the professional divers going off the you know what,
the fifteen meters or thirty meters, and their faces as
they're doing it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It looks it looks pretty gruesome.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
All right, So just imagine this face as you're getting
ready to tackle somebody, you know as a jamar cha,
says a Derek Henry. I mean, you're not trying to smile,
you're gritting your teeth, you're biting down in your mouth piece.
But at the end of the day, it's it's it's
the will, and it's the want to get that person
down by any means. I mean, I I've probably dislocated
(18:14):
every single finger, I've dislocated shoulders. I mean, you put
your body on the line, and to me, I mean
people would say you're a human wrecking ball. I mean
I didn't care what I did to my body, and
it sounds kind of barbaric, but to me, it was
going to be me versus him, And at the end
of the day, I was going to win that one
on one matchup. I never wanted a minus for a mistackle.
I may have a missed assignment or someone may just
(18:36):
make a great play on me, and that's just what
it is.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
But tackling, to me was a will to want to get.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Them down and and and unfortunately, what we saw last
week was just across the board where there was this mistackles.
So it's not some it's not a fingerpoint of one
person not doing it. It's just a and I think
when you lose, you know, uh, you know, a Shaq
Thompson and and and some some critical leaders, even in
Derek Brown. You know, it's one thing to be on
the sideline, but it's the next thing had that guy
(19:03):
in the huddle because that was the one thing that
we could always do. You know, you reset after a play,
you come together and we say, hey guys, we need
to lock back in.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
And I think those leaders, those key pieces, you.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Got to have them there and to hold everybody accountable
every single play because the coaches can only do so
much from the booth or from the sideline. You got
to have your leaders inside that huddle.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Well that's actually a great segue into the next thing
that I want to ask you about now, I do
want to go back to the Shack injury and just
what that means for him and this team. But you're
talking about having accountability in the huddle, having leadership in
the huddle. So with both Shack out for the season,
with that Achilles and then Josie Jewel out for at
least a few weeks, it will be Trevin Wallace wearing
(19:46):
the green dot. You know, I talked to Dave Canalis
about that yesterday. Tell me about what it would be
like to be a rookie with that responsibility.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Well, I'll say this, I think covering Trevin during the
pre season, I saw a lot of growth through them,
just from the first few weeks of from what it
looked like a training camp, and then he got those
game reps and it was actually, you know, I think
beneficial for him, especially during the preseason, because.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
He got to start.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
He got to get those what does it look like
to prepare to be the starter into a real game simulation,
and so I saw a lot of growth.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He's fast, I think.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Sometimes as a player, because you rely so much on
your speed, you can make up for some deficiencies, and
I think especially, what I would tell him if I
were in the huddle with him is a be patient
and it's going to come.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Like you don't have to try to do too much.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Just play within the defense because that's the most important
thing is when you rely on all ten of your
other guys, just do your partner. Then you are playing
lights out. I mean, I just think about how great
Luke and TD play, next to Roman play, next to
Trey playing at great corners every year that I played
in the Carolina is like, and you have a.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Great front four.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Guess what, I just have to do my job, which
allows me to play so much faster. When you're a
rookie that trust you don't you don't know it.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Because you don't have the experience yet.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
So he may try to play faster and unfortunately that
may put him out of position. So what I would
tell him is, hey, just play within yourself, go fast
when you know it. Otherwise let it come to you.
But you know, I think for him, it's it's it's
going to be a growth. But I think I'm excited
to see him grow. I think this is a great opportunity.
I mean they only come, you know, for every position
(21:28):
once and every few years. I was very fortunate enough
during my rookie season something very similar happened and I
never looked back. But that doesn't always happen for everybody.
This is a great opportunity, and I think this league
does give people these chances, but they don't always come
back often, so you don't always get that second chance.
Unfortunately for you know us as an organization, me as
a friend, as a teammate. To see Shat go down again,
(21:51):
I mean, this is He's had a great career in
Carolina and the unfortunate pieces these last several years have
been just one different injury or another after another.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I know him coming back after surgery, he was excited.
I had a great conversation with.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Him at the beginning of the season and it's just
like he was ready to go, and he changed his
number back to five to four. It was just one
of those things. I was so excited frohim. Just play,
just play seventeen games, like get a whole season. It
doesn't need to be Pro Bowl eplick. And as much
as this game gives, it takes away. And so you're
losing two big pieces experience, pieces of Josie and shack
(22:27):
And it's not to say that we can't fill in
those gaps, but it's tough to replace experience with inexperience.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
You just can't do that.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
But I do expect though with Trevin out there, there's
gonna be a lot of volume, There's going to be
a lot of speed flying back around at that position,
and I'm excited. At the end of the day, you
have who you have, it's the fifty three man, and
that's your locker room. Those guys have to step up.
But that's where I fall back into the leaders. Whoever
these leaders are right now, and you can only do
(22:55):
so much leading from the sideline. So I think Shaq's
going to do as much as he can. I think
dB will do as much as can't. I think Josie
will do as much as he can. But at the
end of the day, they're not playing anymore right now,
so it's those guys that are going to be on
the field. We need people to step up and take accountability,
make sure that everyone's on the same page and flying around.
Like I said, you get that, that's your resume, that's
your that's your identity. When you leave it all out
(23:16):
there every Sunday.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
That's such a good point about the leadership needing to
be on the field. You know, I saw Ashawn Robinson
really try to rally those guys that DeLine those outside
backers during that game. I think he's someone you know
that can be that j C.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Horn.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's probably his time to to get into that mode.
And I think he is in that mode. You know,
he said it himself, Xavier Woods, Kurt, who who do
you think it is is going to be those those
veteran voices, Well.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
I mean it's it's it's everyone that you just mentioned.
I think, you know, I think of a Jordan Fuller,
who's he's been in this defense. I mean at the
you need your your your guys that like I said,
even a Troy Hill. I mean, these guys that have
that that experience you got, they have to make plays.
That's the that's the that's the mojo of the game.
(24:08):
And and I think with where this team is going,
we've been able to score some points. Now now we
got to start getting some more stops. Like It's it's
funny I always say, there's that the ebb and flow
of a season.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
You have your highs, you have your lows.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
I think going in this season, we had high expectations
for our defense. You suffer a few injuries and then
it's like you're trying to refigure yourself as a defense.
And then just as you think the offense doesn't you know,
it's trying to get their footing boom.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Offense is putting up twenty four points in the game.
So it's like, man, can.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
We just put it all together? And that's the Yeah,
that's the complimentary football. That's like, that's the magic piece.
That's what the great teams do. I mean, you think
about the Kansas City's all right, their offense is not
looking prolific as they have, but guess what their defense
is playing complimentary to that. It's just it's just fascinating
the game of football. As much as we want to
(24:58):
say it's changed, it always comes back to the few
things people always just say. It's it's running the ball,
it's turnovers, and it's tackling. If you can do those
three things really well, guess what you're going to be
in the ball game more often than not. So I
think for us as as a team, I think our
offense is really starting to find who they are.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
We've seen. We saw Xavier get his first touchouf.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
Guess what, I expect a lot more as he's coming,
and we're going to start seeing him get gaining more
confidence in himself to now say, hey, coach, I think
I can run this, right or I think I can
do this, and like we're going to start to see
this offense really start to I think kind of go.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And I think that was Dave's vision all along. We
needed to figure it out.
Speaker 6 (25:36):
And I think as we do this, guess what our
guy that I know, you know, I want to give
a huge shout out to the team, but also to
my guy Bryce. I mean, look, he's handled this situation
incredibly well. Yep, and I'm very proud of how he's
really taken on. He's still a leader and he's learning
how to continue to lead from I guess a different
position and guess what, those are sometimes your best learning opportunities.
(25:59):
So I can't wait for whenever that time is that
he gets to go back out there and showcase who
he is.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
But sorry, I feel like I'm on. Like I feel
like I'm on like a that's what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yes, yes, keep going.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
But I do I do think this team has has
as an opportunity. Now as a defense, we got a
rally around each other and whoever's healthy, whoever is let's
go out there and we got to put our best
foot forward to give our team another opportunity taste that win.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
We got one on the board.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
Let's continue to put those things together and then guess
what the special teams have to be special. That's that's
the last link of this chain is whatever we can
do on special teams, you know, and I think about
a guy that got injured earlier before the preseason even started,
with Sam Franklin.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Franklin, oh god, the energy.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
Exactly teams, just think about these pieces that we're missing
right now. That it's just these things that you know
as as a fan base outside you may not think
how much weight it carries. But a Sam Franklin that yes,
did he get a little bit the defensive nets, but
he was a key piece to our special teams. And
how many times you pin a team back on their
(27:06):
three yard line. Guess what your defense gets to stop them? Boom,
it's a short punt. You set your off Like these
things all add up and we just don't understand the
I think the rhythm of a game. More often than not,
we just see the score or we see maybe the deficiencies.
But there's so much to it and there's so many layers.
I'm excited about what we have as far as the
offense and the growth that they're making. I think our
(27:27):
special teams has to continue to grow. But then again,
this defensive piece, you got who you got? You're missing
your all Pro defensive end or defensive tackle. You're missing
some great pieces at the middle linebacker, the linebacker position.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
But guess what you got? Who you got? You need
a JC Horn to go Ley, Hey, it's time, just time.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
He's a very vocal guy. He can make his mark.
And guess what corners in this league? You shut down
the number one wide receiver. I promise you, I promise
you this defense will be in a great position every
single week.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, it's such a good point.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
You know, obviously our linebackers were healthy for that game
against the Raiders, but you look at what you know,
Derek Brown was out, Shy Tuttle was I believe out
off the top of my head in that game. You
look at what they went out and did against the Raiders,
Like you said, they shut down I think DeVante Adams
had forty yards in that game, and so there's got
to be something to do.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Yeah, I don't want to say he may have started
that trade that trade request. I mean, we might may
have got him started on that, but it could.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Be which is you know, which is I hope everything
works out there, but which is something you know that
you can put in your back pocket. I want to
go back to something that you said about Bryce, because again,
we try to take people behind the scenes here and
just I.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Completely completely agree with you.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
And if you're watching on TV, let's say, or you're
listening on the radio, you don't get to see what
we see necessarily. And I'm telling you from the sideline, genuinely,
he is still a leader, and he is still super involved,
and he is taking this time to learn, and he
is congratulating Andy, he is congratulating Chew, but he has
(29:03):
his handshakes with his receivers. He has taken this in stride,
and I think he is, like you said, Kurt, really
looking at this as a learning opportunity because, as you said,
he is going to get that he was the number
one overall pick for a reason. He is going to
eventually get that opportunity, and he has been able to
learn from Andy Dalton as as you know, a quarterback coach,
(29:27):
really and now he gets to see it with Andy
on the field, and I just I have admired so
much the genuine happiness and leadership that he has shown
with this team in the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
Absolutely, I mean, I think you've listened to a lot
of the outlet medias, and I think the quarterback position
always gets over glorified and over scrutinized all too often.
And in this particular case, I look at just from
the from the very beginning, what if he would have
(30:00):
had this opportunity at the very beginning of his career,
no one would have made much of it. We're not
starting him right away, yep. There wouldn't have been all
this this, this I think commotion about it, and unfortunately
sometimes you do need a reset. I keep telling people
he didn't play his first year in Alabama. He had
a chance to learn from what a what a winning team,
(30:21):
what a winning structure, how to lead it, how to
actually lead.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
And he's still so young.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
I met him, my family met and my son loves him,
I think, and I don't know why my son, but
he says Alabama is his second favorite team.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Now Ohio State still is first. But but I would
like to.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
Think it was some of those encounters with Bryce and
and his talks with you know, Roman Harper.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Just but there's so.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
Much I think that lies ahead of him and if
he can really take this opportunity to just look, obviously
there are errors that he needs to grow, and he
can't grow if he works on that stuff. I promise
you when he gets his next opportunity, I can't wait.
I can't wait because he's he's going to take an
offense again that's already growing, and then boom, you're going
to see stuff that what we drafted him for is
(31:07):
the same reason why we believe in him, why we
trust him, and why he can and has every ability
that he will be able to perform at an all
pro level when he gives that, when he's given that
next opportunity, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And just what a what a what a great what
a great example for a lot of players' future quarterbacks
Like he could not have handled this better. And I
don't think that that's just I don't think that he's pretending.
I think it is he's absolutely embracing this opportunity, and
the team is behind him. But okay, I have one
(31:38):
last question before we let you go. Is something that
you said earlier about dislocating your fingers your shoulders. What
is the most painful dislocation that you've ever had that
I have ever had? Yes, Oh, just to illustrate the toughness.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Well, so you can't really tell on this screen, but this,
I can't straighten this finger here.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So I ruptured my tendons in this. And that was pregame.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
We were warming up and I grabbed somebody and my
tendons just ruptured.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So I just told him to tape it up and
you just go out and play.
Speaker 6 (32:13):
I elected to not have surgery for that whole year
so I could play for the whole season. I think
that I mean to me, I always said pain is pain,
and that it's weird. You know, pain is just a
figment of your imagination and what you are willing to
deal with and tolerate. The probably the most painful thing
that I can think about was I had tackle Jason
(32:36):
went one time and he landed almost on.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Top of me, but like more on my side.
Speaker 6 (32:40):
So I landed on my side and it compressed my
and I bruised my stern them. I literally couldn't breathe
so like that. I mean, it was incredibly painful, but
I just couldn't even breathe. So every time I try
to take a deep breath, the deeper of the breath
the more the more I couldn't breathe.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
So that that that might have been a painful one.
It's not a small guy, but you know I.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Played with I tore my bicet. I played with it
for six weeks. You know, you just this this business
is not for the for the for the week. But I,
like I said, I would never trade any experience, any opportunity,
any pain, uh for what I got to get the glory.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, I just you know the way you say that
pain is pain.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
You know I didn't have any surgery.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
That is why you made it to the highest level
of football, and uh why the rest of us are
listening because that sounds awful to me. Kurt, Thank you
so so much for all of this insight. This was
absolutely incredible and I hope that we can have you
back soon.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Absolutely, Thank you so much, guys, Thank you Christy.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
I'm joined now by Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson aka Mike
jack Mike, thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
So much for doing this, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Okay, so, first of all, I have to talk to
you about something. A couple of weeks ago, the media
asked you. You got a question in the media about if
you were a dog or not. That's the big thing here,
Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis, and you said, you said
you can be a dog, but don't be a Chihuahua.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
I have a chihuahua.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Okay, she's she's like a mutt. Got she's like a
senior dog. She's fourteen, she has no teeth, and she
is the scariest person in our household, or the scariest
animal in our household.
Speaker 6 (34:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
We have a giant cat who's super afraid of her.
My two kids are super afraid of her. My husband
and I, I'll be honest, are a little afraid of her.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
She runs the household.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
So I want to petition you to include chihuahuas here
and there when you talk about dogs.
Speaker 7 (34:38):
So you know, it's crazy, like it's a study, And
it was like, the most feistiest dog is a chihuahua,
Like it's a study that says that, So that don't
surprise him.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Did you know that before or after you put them
down in the media.
Speaker 7 (34:53):
Now I knew that, But most people don't think of
chihuahua as being like aggressive unless you have one.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Yeah, they're not the pit bulls of the dogs. Yeah,
but look, I just.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Say, maybe reserve it as a compliment for like a
smaller guy in the future.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
That's all I'm saying. A justice for chuabas.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Okay, So I want to talk to you about getting
to the Panthers. You were traded in August, and I
talked to Dave Canalis about you and he could not
say enough good things about you and you guys time
in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
But what I want to know is how hard.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Is it to come in in August, at the end
of August and assimilate to this defense And I mean
not just assimilate, but excel.
Speaker 7 (35:39):
It wasn't that hard, Like I kind of the good
thing about bouncing around is you just take place and
you kind of make it your own. So like if
we called something red in Seattle and I get here
and we call it blue. When I hear that call,
just like, all right, this is red until I pick
(35:59):
up on it, and so that's kind of what I
was doing really Like the first I say, like two
weeks until I can get used to the calls. And
then it's like write down a bunch of notes, like
ask a million questions and just try to learn as
quick as possible. Flash cards like my girl will quiz me,
(36:20):
like anybody can ask me any question anytime. And I
feel like that what has allowed me just to come
in and play free and play flass.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Sounds like you were a good student in school.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
Nah, complete opposite, and now I ain't gonna lie to you.
Like this football, So I love this. Like I always say, like,
once I graduate college, where I can be a nerd
in football, I don't have to worry about no no class,
no papers, like.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
None of that.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Well, I mean, I get it.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I was so excited to graduate college because you don't
have classes and papers and you get paid, right, you
get paid to do less work. But you're doing flash cards,
you're doing quizzes, like you're doing the stuff that you
said you Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Like my mom, I'm seeing me do it, and she
was like, I couldn't pay you to do this in
high school exactly. I'm like, it's easy now like I
have you it, Yeah, because I had like quizl it
on my phone, so like if I forget something, I
could just go in and get a test real quick, like.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Yeah, quizzling. Good to know.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
That's a hot tip for the for the young guys,
right that are they are coming out?
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Good to know. So you mentioned bouncing around.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
You are from Alabama, you went to school at Miami,
and you've played for for several teams. Most recently you
were in Seattle. What's the best part about being back
on the East Coast.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
I'm back in the South, Like, I'm not gonna lie.
Once the uh the GM told me from Seattle, I
cannot think his name right now, but once he told
me I was getting traded, like it felt, I felt
bad because I started smiling because the first thing I
thought of was like, all right, I'm back in the South.
Like I love being in the South. Charlotte had never
(37:56):
been here before, but I heard good things. So it's
kind of like I'm back home, Like I'm six hours
away from Alabama. What like our flight away from Miami,
Like I can't get no better than this, So I
love it.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
M h.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
I'm from North Carolina and it does feel like wherever
you go in the South, like if you're making a
road trip or you're stopping in to get some food,
like you're like, these are my.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
People, right, Like there's just something about it, right.
Speaker 7 (38:24):
Yeah, So it was it was nice just to be
back home, back on the East Coast. Like it was
funny that they going to practice what to walk through
we I'm on the car outside, I see the sun
birds chirping. I'm like, I haven't seen this in a minute,
like right now in Seattle, it's gloomy rain, Like, yeah,
(38:45):
I missed this.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
I was gonna ask you about that because I didn't
I didn't want to put Seattle down, but I was
going to ask you about the difference between Seattle and Charlotte.
And because you're playing outside in Seattle too, so it's
like and I'm at g practice out. Yeah, so you're
feeling the rain, you know what I mean, Like like Detroit,
if you play in the cold, or like if you
(39:07):
live up there, like great, but you're playing in a dome, right,
so like you're really into the weather, like you're checking
the weather on your phone if you live in Seattle,
all of those kinds of things.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Because it matters you.
Speaker 7 (39:17):
It's crazy really not because you know it's gonna be
the same thing. It just it's like you know it's
gonna be about and once they like saving hit, you're
not gonna see the sign. It's gonna be probably like
forty around, like forty degrees rain, and it's like something
you just deal with. You try not to even pay
(39:38):
no attention.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
That's good to know. You just block it out and
do your flash cards. So what about this group of
guys the defense? You know, I really like j C.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Horn? What is what is you guys relationship?
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Like? Oh, JC cool?
Speaker 7 (39:52):
Like he's something I done worked out with him a
couple of times in the off season, but to like
seeing up close and personally like his work ethic all that,
And it's kind of cool because now I can really see,
all right, what does he like to do? How does
he match up like mentally, like what's his thought process
us this guy versus another guy, like all them type
(40:12):
of things, and just try to take little small things
that he's doing added to my game.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Mm hmm, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Okay, before I let you go, I have a question
for you. So against the Raiders, you had that big
fourth quarter interception. Then a few seasons ago against the Seahawks,
you had a scoop and score where you went like
eighty five yards. What is better having an interception or
scoring a touchdown in the NFL?
Speaker 7 (40:39):
Interception? Yeah, Like, don't get wrong scoring a touchdown cool.
But what people don't realize, like you got to go
right back out there. So it's like, yeah, I just scored.
I had a pick six for ninety yards. But like
that officer coordinator in the box, he's scheming up like
two three players to come right at you because you
(41:00):
know you tired. So it's like, yeah, I feel like
a pick is better.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That makes a
lot of sense. Yeah, did you even I haven't seen
it in a while. Did you do a celebration?
Speaker 6 (41:11):
Nah?
Speaker 7 (41:11):
I don't celebrate, guys, get on to me by that.
It was like you need to do something like nah,
because I be thinking like once I make a play,
in my mind, I be thinking like, all right, how
they finna attack me next?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (41:24):
Like because I know like every time if you go
look at anybody who has an interception, if you look
at the next possession, they come at them at least
like two or three times.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
I'm going to look for that as a sideline report.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I'm going to be looking for that when you have
your next interception, I'm going to be watching for it.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Thank you, Mike Jack, thank you so much for the time.
This was great. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
No problem, Okay, that is gonna do it for us
this week. Thank you all so much for listening to
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
We will be back with you next week.
Wow, Jeers, Kristen Balboni and Sharon thors lond with your
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Sideline Pass, Kristin Balboni and Sharon Thorslan your
Panthers sideline reporters, and every week we take you behind
the scenes and on the field with the Carolina Panthers. So, Sharon,
it was a home game, which meant I was on
the sidelines.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
For this one.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
So I'm gonna give you a couple of things that
I saw, and I'm guessing they've matched your experience last
week in the Andy Dalton era. Let's say so this team,
I'm not just saying this because we are.
Speaker 3 (00:39):
Panthers sideline reporters.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
I think you know, we can both be honest about
what is going on if it's not positive.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
This team seems really positive.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
And really optimistic despite the loss against the Bengals, and
I imagine you're seeing that as well with the media
with you know, after the win with the Raiders.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It just it feels a little different.
Speaker 4 (01:00):
Absolutely feels very different. And I felt this last year
in Seattle, the one game that Andy Dalton played.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
Guys just have a lot of faith in him.
Speaker 4 (01:08):
They have a lot of belief in him and it's
just sort of changed the vibe has changed, the energy.
Speaker 5 (01:12):
And then they went out to Las Vegas.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
You saw what the offense could do and had the
defense fed off of that and made it just a
complete team win. And against the Bengals, you know, there
are some things that they need to clean up. Obviously,
they still were in this game, and you know, as
Andy Dalton said, that was an NFL football game, I
mean it really was. I think that just despite the fact,
like you said that they lost, there were so many
positives that came out of that game as well, and
(01:36):
they were in it. They had chances to win it.
And you know, minus a few eras and mistakes that
they can fix, this was It was a great football game,
and I think it bodes well for this team for
the future.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yeah, speaking of some of those errors that are fixable,
you know, the defense had some tough moments.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
The tackling was the thing.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
You know, I was standing behind as you know, Sharon
and anyone who doesn't know this, I think it's really
need to explain. As a sideline reporter, you can stand
behind the benches and you know, within reason, right, we
don't want to make anyone uncomfortable. But you could stand
the benches listen in on what is being said. Here,
the tone, here, the tenor, and I will tell you
(02:15):
what I take that D line. And those outside backers
are gonna I'm.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Sure they, I'm so.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Tim Lukabu, the outside backers coach, was letting them know
what he thought of the performance there in the second half,
and he just said, you know, I mentioned this on
the broadcast. He just said, they're playing harder than us.
They are playing harder than us, and it is not okay.
And he wasn't he wasn't yelling, he wasn't using Criswards.
He just that was what he was saying. And Ashaan
(02:43):
Robinson was saying the same thing to these guys. And
like you said, those things are fixable. These are professional athletes.
They care, they are are playing hard, and those things
are fixable. Everyone just has to get on the same page.
You know, we've seen this offense really really take a
leap forward, and we saw everything come together offense, defense,
(03:06):
special teams against the Raiders, and I think it's gonna
come together again very shortly. And you know, these things
are not as you said, these things are not huge
issues despite all of the injuries that are mounting, I
think we've seen that people can come in and still
play well.
Speaker 4 (03:26):
Absolutely Trevin Wallace. Case in point when Shack Thompson went down,
And oh boy, do I hate that. Shack Thompson has
been around here such a long time, such a great
veteran leader. He has just been like the heart and
soul of this defense this season. It was so excited
to get back out there this year after having the
season end an injury last year.
Speaker 5 (03:42):
So I just hate it for him.
Speaker 4 (03:45):
But Trevin Wallace, the rookie, you know, got thrown into duty,
and they've been high on him since he arrived here
in the draft, and they like what they have out
of him. He's big, he's tall, he's fast, he's got
great hands, and he's a solid linebacker and there, and
they feel like he's going to really make a lot
of strides. And now this is his opportunity to go
in and take over that that middle line of the defense,
(04:07):
and he's going to be calling the plays. We're in
the green hel the green dot on the helmet, and
you know, he's got a chance to really step up
and make his presence known this week. So I think
that you're right with all the injuries, which are just
it's it's unbelievable how many injuries they have on the
defense now, but guys are are stepping in and Nick
Scott stepped in for Jordan Fuller last week didn't miss
a beat in the secondary. You've got guys who know
(04:30):
what's expected to them. They know what's expected to be
a member of this defense. They have a standard and
you need to uphold it. And guys are are ready
to play again this weekend, I think absolutely.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
And then on the offensive side, if for talking about
things that can be fixed, we saw some drops and
but we also saw some young receivers who are going
to be really exciting. So I'm thinking of Xavier league it.
You know, a couple drops in the game, but man,
that first NFL T touchdown some of the catches that
(05:02):
he had. You know, we were on the broadcast with
Luke Keigley as you are on the road games, and
he just could not say enough great stuff about Exavier.
I feel like when Luke is talking about how big
and physical you are, like, what better compliment you have,
especially a receiver, right, you know, And so it's exciting
(05:24):
to not just see the defense take a step forward,
which I have full confidence that they will, and some
of those young guys like you mentioned Trevin Wallace, get
these opportunities. But there are some There are some young
receivers that we can see. The potential and excel as
they call them, is the first one that comes to.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Mind, absolutely, and for people that maybe have not had
a chance to be able to actually, like really see
him in person, watching him on TV and see him
on TV, you can see he's a big, solid, physical guy.
Maybe when you see him on the football field up
close and personal, he is huge. I remember walking by
him in the locker room and day and thinking, oh
my gosh, he's like a linebacker. Yes, he is big
and solid and physical. And they love how the yards
(06:03):
that he's able to get after the catch and the
way he fights for that extra yardage. And yeah, it
was so excited to watch him on Sunday and to
get that first touchdown.
Speaker 5 (06:12):
And I'm sure we're going to be seeing lots more
coming out of him.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
And you know, he's a rookie, as you mentioned, he's
gonna have to learn go go through these mistakes, you know,
learn what he did wrong and fix them and you know,
have a few growing pains, but the future is very
bright with Xavier Leaguette because he's a special talent and
it showed us that on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And another thing, Sharon, you mentioned that when you see
him in person. Another thing that's really interesting about being
on the sideline. You can hear him right like when
you hear a physical player, like you said, yards after
the catch, like he's running through guys, and you hear
it on the field.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
You know, the more physical the.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
Player, the more you can hear the helmets, the more
you can hear all of those things.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
You can tell her the.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Heavy breathing, like you can hear all of it when
you have a really physical player, and he is one
of those guys. And so it's really really exciting to
watch such a physical, giant receiver and know that he's
on our team, which is great.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
Absolutely absolutely say it's such a compliment to Deontae and
Adam when he gets back and Amingo, he's he's sort
of a different type of player than them, So it's
a good combo to have him fitting in there with
those other guys.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Another guy that you can just hear his presence on
the field Chewba Hubbard, right, we see it. But gosh,
when he runs through guys, you can just hear those
helmets clacking like it is just so interesting. And we
have talked about him, I want to say maybe every week,
but Sharon, just watching him up close, I just continue
to come away more and more impressed. And we know
(07:44):
that his training regimen is crazy. You know, we talk
about the jugs machine. I mean he's out there for an
hour before the game and an hour after practice on
the drugs machine. We have seen the muscle that he
has put on. But Sharon, I saw there was a
run that he took. Gosh, it must have been like
a twenty thirty yard run. The exact moment is escaping me.
(08:05):
And he had a guy Turner on him and they
went out of bounce and let me tell you about
Turner was breathing heavy. You know, he had to take
a minute to collect himself after getting Cuba down. Cuba,
pop right back up through the ball to the referee,
jump right back in the huddle. And it was almost
like a mental game that he was doing with him.
(08:26):
It looked like it didn't even face him. Yeah, and
it was just it was just neat to see that
kind of thing, the confidence that comes with all of
the work that he's put in.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah, and they talk about a guy who is so
prepared and you know, all summer long, all off season,
he just puts in the work to prepare his body
and he's really taking We saw him take the leap
last year and he's just building on that this year.
And his leadership we've discussed that as well, but Miles
Sanders was just talking about that this week. With the
loss of Shaq, who steps in, you know, to take
(08:56):
over some of that missing leadership And he said that
Cuba is one of the guys who really sets the
tone in practice, and he said, you know when energy
is down, and Miles chips in with this as well,
but they want to be the guys that get the
team going. You know, if the energy levels or they
want to get it back up, you know, they're out
there vocally and physically, you know, really leading the way
(09:17):
out there for this Panther team. So it's it's really
fun to watch how Cuba has come such a long
way and has just really turned himself into I mean,
he seems like a grizzled little vet, even though he's
not just but that's really what he's looking like and
what he's acting like out there. And yeah, the physicality
he brings to his his rushing game and his run
style is just discreat and.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
He got to learn behind Christian McCaffrey and it seems
like he has really taken those lessons to heart, right absolutely.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
Yeah, the work on your body, all of that.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Speaking of him, I want to talk about some of
the aggressive play calling that we saw, and I mentioned
him because you know, they went for it after that
first drive. It was like a six to seven minute
drive to start the game. They ended up going for
it on fourth down. Didn't get it, Although Sharon, I
don't know if you saw or heard this, Cuba. I mean,
he was convinced that he got in on third down.
He was watching that, he was watching the big screen
(10:11):
over and over again. I don't know, I was down there.
I don't know that he got it, but I mean
he was sure, he was absolutely sure, and then you know,
it just didn't happen on fourth down. But again, this
is not something I'm saying because I am a Panther's
sideline reporter. I liked the call and I think a
lot of people liked that call, even though it didn't
(10:33):
work out. We saw some aggressive calls going forward on
fourth down that did work out. But there were two
calls that I thought were really aggressive and didn't work out,
but I liked to see them. And that was going
for it on fourth down right there instead of taking
the easy points with the field goal, and then that
Johnny Hecker fake punch.
Speaker 5 (10:51):
Oh yeah, he did not.
Speaker 2 (10:53):
Turn into anything, unfortunately, but man, I really like to
see them. And I talked to Dave Canalis about it
yesterday and I said, tell me what went into those
aggressive play calls, you know, even though they didn't work out,
and he said it is It is us scratching and
clawing to give ourselves any opportunity to win.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
And he said, that is my job. So I'm going to.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Put us in these positions. I'm going to be aggressive
whether they work out or not. And I do believe
that they will continue to work out and they'll only
get better those chances and connecting on those.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
But I just really liked the attitude on that.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Chairing, absolutely, and that's something that even dating back to
the preseason when we were talking with coach Canalis about
you know, when are you going to start throwing the
ball down the field more? When are you going to
start being more aggressive? And he said, you know, there's
a plan for it, and we have to have everything
sort of be in place and guys be confident in
the offense, so you know, when you put them out there,
they know what they're doing and they have confidence that
(11:52):
it's going to work. And he also has a a
sort of a method to the madness was when with
when they're going to go forward on fourth down to
we're they are on the field. You know how they've
been doing with fourth downs or third den conversions throughout
the game and that kind of thing. So he wants
to be aggressive. That's part of this offense, and he
wants to be able to get those plays in place,
as he told you, and he's going to keep doing
(12:12):
it when he knows that it will give them a
chance to be successful. And you know, the more you
practice it, the more those plays are going to work.
So I definitely believe that as we continue to go
through the season, they keep on pulling out those those
plays out of the hat, that they're going to start
converting those and then that just builds the confidence even more,
you get one of those that work, You get the
fake punt that produces something, and then you're like, all right,
(12:34):
we've done that, We've been there, done that, we know
it can work. It just gives them more confidence to
do it again, you know, down the road.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And Sharon, finally, you know, of course we're going to
talk game stuff, But how about Julius Peppers and the
Ring of Excellence. You know, he received that at halftime
of the Bengals game, and he gave a great speech,
which we I think we've come to expect after his
Hall of Fame speech, and it was incredible, and he
gave a great speech about supporting the team, supporting the
(13:06):
players and how much that means to the players. What
did What did you make of what he had to say?
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Yeah, you know, I just I just love it with Julius.
You know, I've been covering this team since he was
drafted by this team, and so I've seen him come
such a long way with speaking. And he used to
just hate talking to the media, did like, did not
like to do it. Now he feels like he owes
it to people and he owes it to you know,
players now to be able to pass on his knowledge
(13:33):
and pass on his wisdom and things like that. So
I think that it's just phenomenal of him to come
out here and make the speech that he did and
to thank the fans, you know, who have supported him
since day one here in North Carolina, back you know,
in high school and then in college with guitar heels,
and even when he left to spread his wings and
you know, go up to the NFC North for a
few years before he came back here to Carolina. So
(13:55):
I think that it's just so great and he's just
his message is just phenomenal. Hall of Fame speech was incredible,
and I thought it was just really awesome to see
him out here again on Sunday and be so thankful
and just be able to share that with the fans
and the players.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And you know, there were over one hundred legends or
about one hundred legends at that game this past weekend.
And one thing I have noticed, and I'm sure you have,
for you know, as long as you've covered this team,
guys want to come back and they want to be
associated with the Panthers. You know, you have guys that
have played for two three different teams or may have
played at another team longer and this organization means something
(14:37):
to them, And I don't know that that's the case
all across the NFL, And I just think that's really special.
Speaker 4 (14:43):
No, absolutely, because that is definitely not the case everywhere
you go, and more and more have started to come
back here every year, and I think it's so great
that this organization is trying to make that happen. They're
reaching out to these guys, They're getting them so involved,
like with what we do, with what the media BROG
has to have, you know, Thomas Davis, Jonathan Stewart, Kurt Coleman,
and of course Luke Keigley and Jake Delom and all
(15:05):
those guys. I mean, it's so great to have them
involved in so many different ways with the organization. But
then the guys who are you spread far and wide.
The fact that they, you know, come back for a weekend,
They come back here to Carolina and come to Bank
of America Stadium and participate in their their dinners and
their panels and things like that, and then come out
on the field and just you can just see them
just soaking up the applause and soaking up the whole
(15:28):
feeling of being back here on their home field at
Bank of America Stadium, and probably I'm sure reliving some
of the glory days for when they were players here.
So I think it's awesome that so many guys came
back and I think we'll continue to see that grow
in the future.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Well, Sharon, I have to say, what a great segue
that you had, because next we are talking to Kirk Coleman.
Speaker 3 (15:49):
He's doing some media stuff for us, so that is perfect.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
On this podcast, Sharon is as wonderful as always to
do our weekly catch up.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
Thank you, Kristin.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
All right, now we are joined by my buddy, Kirk Coleman. Kirk,
thank you so much for doing this.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
I appreciate it absolutely. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
Kristen all right, I think this is the perfect week
for you to be on this podcast because I want
to hear your opinion on the tackling in the last
game against the Bengals. You know, I was on the
sideline for it. We could see that there were some mistackles.
Our friend Luke Keithley was not the happiest in the
booths seeing some of those, and then talking to Dave
(16:30):
Canalis yesterday he said, look, people are coming out and
taking accountability.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
So I just want to.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Get your perspective on what you saw and then also
why things like that happened because we know these guys
can tackle.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
Yeah, I mean the one thing that I always heard
in a meeting room is you know, those guys are
making money too. So I don't want a sugarcoat or
excuse anybody for their mistakes. But let's be honest. I
mean you talk about the Jamar chase. I mean that
was a humongous catch. The problem is the catch alone
is fine. It's what he does after the run is
(17:04):
really what we look at and say that that's not acceptable.
And I think as a player, you have to take
accountability for yourself as a leader in the locker room
you say this is not a representation of who we
are as a unit. And then obviously and then you
look at as a team like, hey, I know one
thing is for sure. This Panthers team was built onto
trying to be tough. And when you talk about tough,
(17:25):
there's levels to toughness. And to me, I look at
tackling as an effort. It's one hundred percent effort. It
doesn't need to look pretty more often or not. I
promise you when you tackle somebody, your face is all
scrunched up.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Thought?
Speaker 6 (17:41):
So I saw I saw a funny picture of during
the Olympics, the professional divers going off the you know what,
the fifteen meters or thirty meters, and their faces as
they're doing it.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
It looks it looks pretty gruesome.
Speaker 6 (17:54):
All right, So just imagine this face as you're getting
ready to tackle somebody, you know as a jamar cha,
says a Derek Henry. I mean, you're not trying to smile,
you're gritting your teeth, you're biting down in your mouth piece.
But at the end of the day, it's it's it's
the will, and it's the want to get that person
down by any means. I mean, I I've probably dislocated
(18:14):
every single finger, I've dislocated shoulders. I mean, you put
your body on the line, and to me, I mean
people would say you're a human wrecking ball. I mean
I didn't care what I did to my body, and
it sounds kind of barbaric, but to me, it was
going to be me versus him, And at the end
of the day, I was going to win that one
on one matchup. I never wanted a minus for a mistackle.
I may have a missed assignment or someone may just
(18:36):
make a great play on me, and that's just what
it is.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
But tackling, to me was a will to want to get.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Them down and and and unfortunately, what we saw last
week was just across the board where there was this mistackles.
So it's not some it's not a fingerpoint of one
person not doing it. It's just a and I think
when you lose, you know, uh, you know, a Shaq
Thompson and and and some some critical leaders, even in
Derek Brown. You know, it's one thing to be on
the sideline, but it's the next thing had that guy
(19:03):
in the huddle because that was the one thing that
we could always do. You know, you reset after a play,
you come together and we say, hey guys, we need
to lock back in.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
And I think those leaders, those key pieces, you.
Speaker 6 (19:14):
Got to have them there and to hold everybody accountable
every single play because the coaches can only do so
much from the booth or from the sideline. You got
to have your leaders inside that huddle.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
Well that's actually a great segue into the next thing
that I want to ask you about now, I do
want to go back to the Shack injury and just
what that means for him and this team. But you're
talking about having accountability in the huddle, having leadership in
the huddle. So with both Shack out for the season,
with that Achilles and then Josie Jewel out for at
least a few weeks, it will be Trevin Wallace wearing
(19:46):
the green dot. You know, I talked to Dave Canalis
about that yesterday. Tell me about what it would be
like to be a rookie with that responsibility.
Speaker 6 (19:56):
Well, I'll say this, I think covering Trevin during the
pre season, I saw a lot of growth through them,
just from the first few weeks of from what it
looked like a training camp, and then he got those
game reps and it was actually, you know, I think
beneficial for him, especially during the preseason, because.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
He got to start.
Speaker 6 (20:13):
He got to get those what does it look like
to prepare to be the starter into a real game simulation,
and so I saw a lot of growth.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He's fast, I think.
Speaker 6 (20:23):
Sometimes as a player, because you rely so much on
your speed, you can make up for some deficiencies, and
I think especially, what I would tell him if I
were in the huddle with him is a be patient
and it's going to come.
Speaker 1 (20:36):
Like you don't have to try to do too much.
Speaker 6 (20:39):
Just play within the defense because that's the most important
thing is when you rely on all ten of your
other guys, just do your partner. Then you are playing
lights out. I mean, I just think about how great
Luke and TD play, next to Roman play, next to
Trey playing at great corners every year that I played
in the Carolina is like, and you have a.
Speaker 1 (20:57):
Great front four.
Speaker 6 (20:58):
Guess what, I just have to do my job, which
allows me to play so much faster. When you're a
rookie that trust you don't you don't know it.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Because you don't have the experience yet.
Speaker 6 (21:07):
So he may try to play faster and unfortunately that
may put him out of position. So what I would
tell him is, hey, just play within yourself, go fast
when you know it. Otherwise let it come to you.
But you know, I think for him, it's it's it's
going to be a growth. But I think I'm excited
to see him grow. I think this is a great opportunity.
I mean they only come, you know, for every position
(21:28):
once and every few years. I was very fortunate enough
during my rookie season something very similar happened and I
never looked back. But that doesn't always happen for everybody.
This is a great opportunity, and I think this league
does give people these chances, but they don't always come
back often, so you don't always get that second chance.
Unfortunately for you know us as an organization, me as
a friend, as a teammate. To see Shat go down again,
(21:51):
I mean, this is He's had a great career in
Carolina and the unfortunate pieces these last several years have
been just one different injury or another after another.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
I know him coming back after surgery, he was excited.
I had a great conversation with.
Speaker 6 (22:05):
Him at the beginning of the season and it's just
like he was ready to go, and he changed his
number back to five to four. It was just one
of those things. I was so excited frohim. Just play,
just play seventeen games, like get a whole season. It
doesn't need to be Pro Bowl eplick. And as much
as this game gives, it takes away. And so you're
losing two big pieces experience, pieces of Josie and shack
(22:27):
And it's not to say that we can't fill in
those gaps, but it's tough to replace experience with inexperience.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
You just can't do that.
Speaker 6 (22:33):
But I do expect though with Trevin out there, there's
gonna be a lot of volume, There's going to be
a lot of speed flying back around at that position,
and I'm excited. At the end of the day, you
have who you have, it's the fifty three man, and
that's your locker room. Those guys have to step up.
But that's where I fall back into the leaders. Whoever
these leaders are right now, and you can only do
(22:55):
so much leading from the sideline. So I think Shaq's
going to do as much as he can. I think
dB will do as much as can't. I think Josie
will do as much as he can. But at the
end of the day, they're not playing anymore right now,
so it's those guys that are going to be on
the field. We need people to step up and take accountability,
make sure that everyone's on the same page and flying around.
Like I said, you get that, that's your resume, that's
your that's your identity. When you leave it all out
(23:16):
there every Sunday.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
That's such a good point about the leadership needing to
be on the field. You know, I saw Ashawn Robinson
really try to rally those guys that DeLine those outside
backers during that game. I think he's someone you know
that can be that j C.
Speaker 5 (23:33):
Horn.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
It's probably his time to to get into that mode.
And I think he is in that mode. You know,
he said it himself, Xavier Woods, Kurt, who who do
you think it is is going to be those those
veteran voices, Well.
Speaker 6 (23:48):
I mean it's it's it's everyone that you just mentioned.
I think, you know, I think of a Jordan Fuller,
who's he's been in this defense. I mean at the
you need your your your guys that like I said,
even a Troy Hill. I mean, these guys that have
that that experience you got, they have to make plays.
That's the that's the that's the mojo of the game.
(24:08):
And and I think with where this team is going,
we've been able to score some points. Now now we
got to start getting some more stops. Like It's it's
funny I always say, there's that the ebb and flow
of a season.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
You have your highs, you have your lows.
Speaker 6 (24:21):
I think going in this season, we had high expectations
for our defense. You suffer a few injuries and then
it's like you're trying to refigure yourself as a defense.
And then just as you think the offense doesn't you know,
it's trying to get their footing boom.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Offense is putting up twenty four points in the game.
So it's like, man, can.
Speaker 6 (24:37):
We just put it all together? And that's the Yeah,
that's the complimentary football. That's like, that's the magic piece.
That's what the great teams do. I mean, you think
about the Kansas City's all right, their offense is not
looking prolific as they have, but guess what their defense
is playing complimentary to that. It's just it's just fascinating
the game of football. As much as we want to
(24:58):
say it's changed, it always comes back to the few
things people always just say. It's it's running the ball,
it's turnovers, and it's tackling. If you can do those
three things really well, guess what you're going to be
in the ball game more often than not. So I
think for us as as a team, I think our
offense is really starting to find who they are.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
We've seen. We saw Xavier get his first touchouf.
Speaker 6 (25:18):
Guess what, I expect a lot more as he's coming,
and we're going to start seeing him get gaining more
confidence in himself to now say, hey, coach, I think
I can run this, right or I think I can
do this, and like we're going to start to see
this offense really start to I think kind of go.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
And I think that was Dave's vision all along. We
needed to figure it out.
Speaker 6 (25:36):
And I think as we do this, guess what our
guy that I know, you know, I want to give
a huge shout out to the team, but also to
my guy Bryce. I mean, look, he's handled this situation
incredibly well. Yep, and I'm very proud of how he's
really taken on. He's still a leader and he's learning
how to continue to lead from I guess a different
position and guess what, those are sometimes your best learning opportunities.
(25:59):
So I can't wait for whenever that time is that
he gets to go back out there and showcase who
he is.
Speaker 1 (26:04):
But sorry, I feel like I'm on. Like I feel
like I'm on like a that's what we're doing.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Yes, yes, keep going.
Speaker 6 (26:11):
But I do I do think this team has has
as an opportunity. Now as a defense, we got a
rally around each other and whoever's healthy, whoever is let's
go out there and we got to put our best
foot forward to give our team another opportunity taste that win.
Speaker 1 (26:27):
We got one on the board.
Speaker 6 (26:28):
Let's continue to put those things together and then guess
what the special teams have to be special. That's that's
the last link of this chain is whatever we can
do on special teams, you know, and I think about
a guy that got injured earlier before the preseason even started,
with Sam Franklin.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Franklin, oh god, the energy.
Speaker 6 (26:45):
Exactly teams, just think about these pieces that we're missing
right now. That it's just these things that you know
as as a fan base outside you may not think
how much weight it carries. But a Sam Franklin that yes,
did he get a little bit the defensive nets, but
he was a key piece to our special teams. And
how many times you pin a team back on their
(27:06):
three yard line. Guess what your defense gets to stop them? Boom,
it's a short punt. You set your off Like these
things all add up and we just don't understand the
I think the rhythm of a game. More often than not,
we just see the score or we see maybe the deficiencies.
But there's so much to it and there's so many layers.
I'm excited about what we have as far as the
offense and the growth that they're making. I think our
(27:27):
special teams has to continue to grow. But then again,
this defensive piece, you got who you got? You're missing
your all Pro defensive end or defensive tackle. You're missing
some great pieces at the middle linebacker, the linebacker position.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
But guess what you got? Who you got? You need
a JC Horn to go Ley, Hey, it's time, just time.
Speaker 6 (27:44):
He's a very vocal guy. He can make his mark.
And guess what corners in this league? You shut down
the number one wide receiver. I promise you, I promise
you this defense will be in a great position every
single week.
Speaker 3 (27:56):
Yeah, it's such a good point.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
You know, obviously our linebackers were healthy for that game
against the Raiders, but you look at what you know,
Derek Brown was out, Shy Tuttle was I believe out
off the top of my head in that game. You
look at what they went out and did against the Raiders,
Like you said, they shut down I think DeVante Adams
had forty yards in that game, and so there's got
to be something to do.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Yeah, I don't want to say he may have started
that trade that trade request. I mean, we might may
have got him started on that, but it could.
Speaker 2 (28:24):
Be which is you know, which is I hope everything
works out there, but which is something you know that
you can put in your back pocket. I want to
go back to something that you said about Bryce, because again,
we try to take people behind the scenes here and
just I.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
Completely completely agree with you.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
And if you're watching on TV, let's say, or you're
listening on the radio, you don't get to see what
we see necessarily. And I'm telling you from the sideline, genuinely,
he is still a leader, and he is still super involved,
and he is taking this time to learn, and he
is congratulating Andy, he is congratulating Chew, but he has
(29:03):
his handshakes with his receivers. He has taken this in stride,
and I think he is, like you said, Kurt, really
looking at this as a learning opportunity because, as you said,
he is going to get that he was the number
one overall pick for a reason. He is going to
eventually get that opportunity, and he has been able to
learn from Andy Dalton as as you know, a quarterback coach,
(29:27):
really and now he gets to see it with Andy
on the field, and I just I have admired so
much the genuine happiness and leadership that he has shown
with this team in the last couple of weeks.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
Absolutely, I mean, I think you've listened to a lot
of the outlet medias, and I think the quarterback position
always gets over glorified and over scrutinized all too often.
And in this particular case, I look at just from
the from the very beginning, what if he would have
(30:00):
had this opportunity at the very beginning of his career,
no one would have made much of it. We're not
starting him right away, yep. There wouldn't have been all
this this, this I think commotion about it, and unfortunately
sometimes you do need a reset. I keep telling people
he didn't play his first year in Alabama. He had
a chance to learn from what a what a winning team,
(30:21):
what a winning structure, how to lead it, how to
actually lead.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
And he's still so young.
Speaker 6 (30:25):
I met him, my family met and my son loves him,
I think, and I don't know why my son, but
he says Alabama is his second favorite team.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Now Ohio State still is first. But but I would
like to.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
Think it was some of those encounters with Bryce and
and his talks with you know, Roman Harper.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Just but there's so.
Speaker 6 (30:45):
Much I think that lies ahead of him and if
he can really take this opportunity to just look, obviously
there are errors that he needs to grow, and he
can't grow if he works on that stuff. I promise
you when he gets his next opportunity, I can't wait.
I can't wait because he's he's going to take an
offense again that's already growing, and then boom, you're going
to see stuff that what we drafted him for is
(31:07):
the same reason why we believe in him, why we
trust him, and why he can and has every ability
that he will be able to perform at an all
pro level when he gives that, when he's given that
next opportunity, I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
And just what a what a what a great what
a great example for a lot of players' future quarterbacks
Like he could not have handled this better. And I
don't think that that's just I don't think that he's pretending.
I think it is he's absolutely embracing this opportunity, and
the team is behind him. But okay, I have one
(31:38):
last question before we let you go. Is something that
you said earlier about dislocating your fingers your shoulders. What
is the most painful dislocation that you've ever had that
I have ever had? Yes, Oh, just to illustrate the toughness.
Speaker 6 (31:55):
Well, so you can't really tell on this screen, but this,
I can't straighten this finger here.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
So I ruptured my tendons in this. And that was pregame.
Speaker 6 (32:05):
We were warming up and I grabbed somebody and my
tendons just ruptured.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
So I just told him to tape it up and
you just go out and play.
Speaker 6 (32:13):
I elected to not have surgery for that whole year
so I could play for the whole season. I think
that I mean to me, I always said pain is pain,
and that it's weird. You know, pain is just a
figment of your imagination and what you are willing to
deal with and tolerate. The probably the most painful thing
that I can think about was I had tackle Jason
(32:36):
went one time and he landed almost on.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Top of me, but like more on my side.
Speaker 6 (32:40):
So I landed on my side and it compressed my
and I bruised my stern them. I literally couldn't breathe
so like that. I mean, it was incredibly painful, but
I just couldn't even breathe. So every time I try
to take a deep breath, the deeper of the breath
the more the more I couldn't breathe.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
So that that that might have been a painful one.
It's not a small guy, but you know I.
Speaker 6 (33:01):
Played with I tore my bicet. I played with it
for six weeks. You know, you just this this business
is not for the for the for the week. But I,
like I said, I would never trade any experience, any opportunity,
any pain, uh for what I got to get the glory.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Yeah, I just you know the way you say that
pain is pain.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
You know I didn't have any surgery.
Speaker 2 (33:24):
That is why you made it to the highest level
of football, and uh why the rest of us are
listening because that sounds awful to me. Kurt, Thank you
so so much for all of this insight. This was
absolutely incredible and I hope that we can have you
back soon.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
Absolutely, Thank you so much, guys, Thank you Christy.
Speaker 2 (33:42):
I'm joined now by Panthers cornerback Mike Jackson aka Mike
jack Mike, thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:48):
So much for doing this, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
Okay, so, first of all, I have to talk to
you about something. A couple of weeks ago, the media
asked you. You got a question in the media about if
you were a dog or not. That's the big thing here,
Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis, and you said, you said
you can be a dog, but don't be a Chihuahua.
Speaker 3 (34:07):
I have a chihuahua.
Speaker 2 (34:08):
Okay, she's she's like a mutt. Got she's like a
senior dog. She's fourteen, she has no teeth, and she
is the scariest person in our household, or the scariest
animal in our household.
Speaker 6 (34:22):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
We have a giant cat who's super afraid of her.
My two kids are super afraid of her. My husband
and I, I'll be honest, are a little afraid of her.
Speaker 3 (34:31):
She runs the household.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
So I want to petition you to include chihuahuas here
and there when you talk about dogs.
Speaker 7 (34:38):
So you know, it's crazy, like it's a study, And
it was like, the most feistiest dog is a chihuahua,
Like it's a study that says that, So that don't
surprise him.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
Did you know that before or after you put them
down in the media.
Speaker 7 (34:53):
Now I knew that, But most people don't think of
chihuahua as being like aggressive unless you have one.
Speaker 3 (34:59):
Yeah, they're not the pit bulls of the dogs. Yeah,
but look, I just.
Speaker 2 (35:04):
Say, maybe reserve it as a compliment for like a
smaller guy in the future.
Speaker 3 (35:08):
That's all I'm saying. A justice for chuabas.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Okay, So I want to talk to you about getting
to the Panthers. You were traded in August, and I
talked to Dave Canalis about you and he could not
say enough good things about you and you guys time
in Seattle.
Speaker 3 (35:26):
But what I want to know is how hard.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Is it to come in in August, at the end
of August and assimilate to this defense And I mean
not just assimilate, but excel.
Speaker 7 (35:39):
It wasn't that hard, Like I kind of the good
thing about bouncing around is you just take place and
you kind of make it your own. So like if
we called something red in Seattle and I get here
and we call it blue. When I hear that call,
just like, all right, this is red until I pick
(35:59):
up on it, and so that's kind of what I
was doing really Like the first I say, like two
weeks until I can get used to the calls. And
then it's like write down a bunch of notes, like
ask a million questions and just try to learn as
quick as possible. Flash cards like my girl will quiz me,
(36:20):
like anybody can ask me any question anytime. And I
feel like that what has allowed me just to come
in and play free and play flass.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
Sounds like you were a good student in school.
Speaker 7 (36:31):
Nah, complete opposite, and now I ain't gonna lie to you.
Like this football, So I love this. Like I always say, like,
once I graduate college, where I can be a nerd
in football, I don't have to worry about no no class,
no papers, like.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
None of that.
Speaker 3 (36:45):
Well, I mean, I get it.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
I was so excited to graduate college because you don't
have classes and papers and you get paid, right, you
get paid to do less work. But you're doing flash cards,
you're doing quizzes, like you're doing the stuff that you
said you Yeah.
Speaker 7 (36:59):
Like my mom, I'm seeing me do it, and she
was like, I couldn't pay you to do this in
high school exactly. I'm like, it's easy now like I
have you it, Yeah, because I had like quizl it
on my phone, so like if I forget something, I
could just go in and get a test real quick, like.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
Yeah, quizzling. Good to know.
Speaker 2 (37:17):
That's a hot tip for the for the young guys,
right that are they are coming out?
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Good to know. So you mentioned bouncing around.
Speaker 2 (37:24):
You are from Alabama, you went to school at Miami,
and you've played for for several teams. Most recently you
were in Seattle. What's the best part about being back
on the East Coast.
Speaker 7 (37:32):
I'm back in the South, Like, I'm not gonna lie.
Once the uh the GM told me from Seattle, I
cannot think his name right now, but once he told
me I was getting traded, like it felt, I felt
bad because I started smiling because the first thing I
thought of was like, all right, I'm back in the South.
Like I love being in the South. Charlotte had never
(37:56):
been here before, but I heard good things. So it's
kind of like I'm back home, Like I'm six hours
away from Alabama. What like our flight away from Miami,
Like I can't get no better than this, So I
love it.
Speaker 1 (38:12):
M h.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
I'm from North Carolina and it does feel like wherever
you go in the South, like if you're making a
road trip or you're stopping in to get some food,
like you're like, these are my.
Speaker 3 (38:20):
People, right, Like there's just something about it, right.
Speaker 7 (38:24):
Yeah, So it was it was nice just to be
back home, back on the East Coast. Like it was
funny that they going to practice what to walk through
we I'm on the car outside, I see the sun
birds chirping. I'm like, I haven't seen this in a minute,
like right now in Seattle, it's gloomy rain, Like, yeah,
(38:45):
I missed this.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
I was gonna ask you about that because I didn't
I didn't want to put Seattle down, but I was
going to ask you about the difference between Seattle and Charlotte.
And because you're playing outside in Seattle too, so it's
like and I'm at g practice out. Yeah, so you're
feeling the rain, you know what I mean, Like like Detroit,
if you play in the cold, or like if you
(39:07):
live up there, like great, but you're playing in a dome, right,
so like you're really into the weather, like you're checking
the weather on your phone if you live in Seattle,
all of those kinds of things.
Speaker 3 (39:16):
Because it matters you.
Speaker 7 (39:17):
It's crazy really not because you know it's gonna be
the same thing. It just it's like you know it's
gonna be about and once they like saving hit, you're
not gonna see the sign. It's gonna be probably like
forty around, like forty degrees rain, and it's like something
you just deal with. You try not to even pay
(39:38):
no attention.
Speaker 2 (39:39):
That's good to know. You just block it out and
do your flash cards. So what about this group of
guys the defense? You know, I really like j C.
Speaker 3 (39:48):
Horn? What is what is you guys relationship?
Speaker 1 (39:50):
Like? Oh, JC cool?
Speaker 7 (39:52):
Like he's something I done worked out with him a
couple of times in the off season, but to like
seeing up close and personally like his work ethic all that,
And it's kind of cool because now I can really see,
all right, what does he like to do? How does
he match up like mentally, like what's his thought process
us this guy versus another guy, like all them type
(40:12):
of things, and just try to take little small things
that he's doing added to my game.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Mm hmm, that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
Okay, before I let you go, I have a question
for you. So against the Raiders, you had that big
fourth quarter interception. Then a few seasons ago against the Seahawks,
you had a scoop and score where you went like
eighty five yards. What is better having an interception or
scoring a touchdown in the NFL?
Speaker 7 (40:39):
Interception? Yeah, Like, don't get wrong scoring a touchdown cool.
But what people don't realize, like you got to go
right back out there. So it's like, yeah, I just scored.
I had a pick six for ninety yards. But like
that officer coordinator in the box, he's scheming up like
two three players to come right at you because you
(41:00):
know you tired. So it's like, yeah, I feel like
a pick is better.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. That makes a
lot of sense. Yeah, did you even I haven't seen
it in a while. Did you do a celebration?
Speaker 6 (41:11):
Nah?
Speaker 7 (41:11):
I don't celebrate, guys, get on to me by that.
It was like you need to do something like nah,
because I be thinking like once I make a play,
in my mind, I be thinking like, all right, how
they finna attack me next?
Speaker 2 (41:24):
Yeah?
Speaker 7 (41:24):
Like because I know like every time if you go
look at anybody who has an interception, if you look
at the next possession, they come at them at least
like two or three times.
Speaker 3 (41:34):
I'm going to look for that as a sideline report.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I'm going to be looking for that when you have
your next interception, I'm going to be watching for it.
Speaker 3 (41:41):
Thank you, Mike Jack, thank you so much for the time.
This was great. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
No problem, Okay, that is gonna do it for us
this week. Thank you all so much for listening to
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 3 (41:53):
We will be back with you next week.
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