Tershawn Wharton, a member of the Carolina Panthers’ defensive line, initiated a conversation with his teammates last week to address the team’s lack of pass-rush production. After reflecting on the first four games of the season and recognizing that he would miss the upcoming game against the Miami Dolphins due to a toe injury, Wharton gathered fellow linemen including Derrick Brown, A’Shawn Robinson, D.J. Wonnum, Patrick Jones II, and others.
“I think just understanding that sometimes things got to be said and just me being me, I feel like that it would help,” Wharton said.
The Panthers finished the 2024 season tied for 29th in sacks with 32 but had managed only two sacks in their first four games this year. “We had two sacks in the first four games,” stated Robinson, “which is unacceptable from the defense.”
Wharton emphasized getting everyone aligned: “First few weeks, we weren’t getting too much pressure that we would like,” he explained. “So just to get each other on the same page and rush as one. Coach gives us a lot of leeway to go ahead and call four-man rushes, and I just think that we have a lot of potential in that room and we should live up to it.”
Rookies Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen were among those who took notice. Umanmielen admitted: “We really emphasized trying to get to the quarterback because we thought our production, as far as sacks-wise, was embarrassing.” He added: “So we came together, we seen that we had to stop being so stagnant, we can’t be scared. It’s the NFL. Quarterbacks are going to get out of the pocket sometimes, so we can’t rush scared…”
Despite improvements in other areas on defense and new additions during the offseason leading to expected growing pains, Wharton highlighted teamwork as key: “It’s just understanding of where we were, where we can head to if we all work together as a group.”
Against Miami on Sunday following these discussions, Carolina’s defense recorded three sacks—by Robinson, Brown, and Jones II—surpassing their total from previous games combined. Umanmielen noted: “I feel like, as a front seven unit, we definitely played more free… And you can see that from the production.”
Head coach Dave Canales has encouraged players to shape their own identity within his system rather than adopting his personality outright. According to Umanmielen: “It’s amazing because coach Canales… tells us a lot that this is our team and that we’re the ones who run the team… It has to come from within…”
Looking ahead at their next opponent—the Dallas Cowboys—Robinson acknowledged another challenge awaits. Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has been sacked only seven times through five games (a 3.4 percent sack rate), ranking fifth-lowest among quarterbacks with at least 100 drop-backs this season.
“The challenge this week now becomes making sure we can communicate our games,” said Robinson. “And when we’re straight and doing what we need to do… knowing exactly what’s going to be the weakness if we do these things or… what we can counter…”
Wharton remains optimistic about maintaining momentum: “I think we’re just going to keep stacking them,” he said.
