During his exit interview back in January, quarterback Cam Newton—among a few interesting nuggets—said he didn’t think every player within the Carolina Panthers organization “bought in” during the 2021 season. But that, apparently, has changed in a matter of just five months—at least according to linebacker Shaq Thompson.
The seventh-year veteran took the podium following the team’s first outing of mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. And, right off the top, he said that the biggest change from last year is that much needed commitment.
“A lot of guys bought in,” Thompson told reporters. “Everybody’s out here playing for each other—as a team, as a unit. Everybody’s doing their job, holding everybody accountable. And making sure we help out the rookies get equipped and gettin’ everything to be successful in this league and just bringing them up to be with us because you never know what happens in this league. As long as they’re prepared, we’ll be all good.”
Between a pair of disappointing five-win campaigns and reports of a damaged culture, head coach Matt Rhule hasn’t exactly gotten the rebuild of this middling franchise off to a great start. To be fair, however, this start has been anything but normal.
Rhule took the reins at the beginning of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic turned the entire world on its head. From a football standpoint, that put the first-year coach at a disadvantage—as limited in-person contact made forming a bond with one of the youngest rosters in the game an even tougher task.
But, luckily for Rhule, he still hasn’t lost his locker room—a unit that Thompson later stated is on the same page.
“We got the same goal in mind,” he said. “We all wanna win. Make a playoff game. And we just wanna be in the winning column this year.”