With the team eliminated from playoff contention, a head coach that was beloved in the locker room fired with four games left in the season and a team in a transition period – to put in kindly – and on the cusp of a rebuild if you’re being realistic, the final three weeks in Carolina might have some fireworks.
With second-year cornerback Donte Jackson publicly criticizing his interim head coach after the Panthers 40-20 loss in Atlanta, it appeared as if the last month of the season might be a wild one, but while Perry Fewell said he was disappointed that Jackson went to the media instead of speaking to coaches directly, he said the team would handle it internally – in fact, that’s the only thing that Fewell would say.
“We just handle it internally and we move forward.”
Asked multiple questions at his Wednesday press conference, including whether or not Jackson would be disciplined for calling the defenses called by Fewell that resulted in two Atlanta touchdowns, including a 93-yard score on third-and-long, “two horrible calls”, the interim head coach responded with the above sentence all three times and wouldn’t elaborate on the situation.
But if the locker room is going to calm down – and they’ll need before the 10-2 Seahawks and an MVP-caliber Russell Wilson come to town – it’s going to take a combination of the entire roster, not just veterans to step in and talk to the young players.
“I’m counting on all players to keep everything together and keep everything focused,” said Fewell. “As I speak with the team, we have some veterans and we have some other players that are leaders on our football team and I’m looking at all players that want to step up and keep this thing going and when I say going, I mean play with energy, play with enthusiasm, play with poise – work for a victory.”
While fans may not be rooting for a victory of any sort but moral with the Panthers still in the running for a draft pick that could land anywhere as high as third in an extremely unlikely scenario or as low as 19th, Fewell can say he will look to everyone on the roster, but the truth is that Panthers will need captains and more established players to ensure that young players like Jackson don’t make mistakes that hangs the ‘locker room distraction’ sign around their necks for the next regime coming through the door.
And to do that, they’ll point to their surroundings – or to previous examples like defensive back Rashaan Gaulden, a third-round pick a year ago who wasn’t particularly shy about letting folks know he wasn’t happy with his lack of playing time and was waived after the Panthers’ loss in New Orleans.
Gaulden cleared waivers and is now on the Giants’ practice squad.
“I think first of all you have to look and know how blessed we are,” said Colin Jones, who has been in the league since 2011 and a team captain the past two seasons. “We’re so blessed to be in this situation, there’s so many guys trying to break in and get an opportunity, you can’t take it for granted and sometimes, in trying times, you have to be able to rise up because you’re one snap away from being gone.
When your’e young, it’s hard to see that because you live in the now, but when you’ve been around for a long time and you’ve seen it happen so many different times, you really can draw on experience and have one-on-one conversations about how important that can be and you have examples.
“And you don’t ever want to be the example.”
It’s not hard for veterans like Gerald McCoy to find a reason to come to work during the week, to play with pride on Sundays – and although he’s been on only one team with a winning record since he came into the league in 2012, he doesn’t regret coming to Carolina only to deal with another losing campaign. He aims to set the right kind of example for younger players around him in the locker room.
“All the words that can be said have been said,” said McCoy. “All the motivational videos, all the other stuff, there’s nothing else you can do at this point – lead by example. I prepare day in and day out, my energy, my attitude is just how I prepare everyday and just go out there and keep playing as hard as I can – never waver and just keep pushing.”
“Just go play football – ain’t much more to it.”
He pauses.
“There’s more to it, but I’m just not going to get into it.”
