CHARLOTTE (CAROLINA SPORTS LIVE) — In a strong performance from the Carolina Panthers’ defense in their win against the Green Bay Packers, one man stood above the rest: safety Tre’von Moehrig, who was named NFC defensive player of the week.
Moehrig finished the game with five tackles, including two for a loss, two passes defended and an interception. Moehrig and the defensive unit held the Packers to under 20 points for only the second time this season.
“He just plays with a real urgency. He loves it, bottom line,” head coach Dave Canales said of Moehrig’s personality in Wednesday’s media availability. “If I could say one thing about Tre, he loves football. He loves to be out there at practice. He loves to be out there during the game. We had a cool moment at the half; he could feel it. I was like, ‘It feels like you’re gonna get one,’ and he’s like, ‘I think so too, he keeps putting that ball up there,’ and sure enough, he had it. He picks the ball off, has a nice return, and he comes running over pointing. He’s always looking for opportunities to make a big hit to make a play. He really brings an explosiveness to what we’re doing on the defensive side.”
The first-year Panther was the third player in the NFL this season, and the first defensive back, to have two tackles for loss, two pass breakups and an interception in a single game.
Moehrig, a former second-round pick by the Las Vegas Raiders, is the first Panther since linebacker Frankie Luvu in Week 8 of the 2023 season to win defensive player of the week honors.
Moehrig is the fourth Panther safety to ever win the award, and first since Roman Harper in Week 17 of 2014 (the others were Deon Grant in 2002 and Pat Terrell in 1996).
Moehrig joins running back Rico Dowdle (Week 5), kicker Ryan Fitzgerald (Week 6) and punter Sam Martin (Week 7) as the other Carolina players to win a Player of the Week award.
“Whenever our players are recognized publicly… while one guy may get the praise, it’s a group playing together,” Canales said of the team celebrating Moehrig’s recognition. “It’s a defense that was four for five, really kept the offense one for five in the red zone playing together. When it was Rico, it’s about the offensive line, it’s about the tight ends and the receivers blocking downfield. It takes the full group to get that done, and certainly in the special teams as well. When our guys have success, let’s spread that love, let’s make sure that we understand we do this collectively. It’s because we’re playing good football that these things emerge and people recognize our players.”
They join NFC South rival Buccaneers as the only teams to have four different players win a Player of the Week award this season, and join the 49ers as the only teams to have at least one award in each category (offensive, defensive and special teams) so far this season.
This is the first time the Panthers have had four Player of the Week winners in a season since 2017, when there were five (Damiere Byrd, Luke Kuechly, Cam Newton, Julius Peppers, Jonathan Stewart).
