LISTEN: Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown says a culture change has led to team's turnaround

Carolina Panthers star defensive tackle Derrick Brown discusses the team’s upcoming game against New Orleans, their upset win at Green Bay, why the culture has changed in the organization and how his love for the game grew when he missed last season following a knee injury.

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Rob Maaddi, AP NFL Writer: Welcome to On Football with me, Rob Maaddi. It was a wild trade deadline this week.

We have two NFC playoff rematches on the schedule including a big one Monday night, Eagles at Packers. More on both of those games in Pro Picks.

Our guest this week is Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown. The Panthers are 5-4 coming off a big win in Green Bay. Stay tuned for that conversation.

The New York Jets stole the show at the trade deadline. They traded their two best defensive players, two-time All Pro cornerback, Sauce Gardner, and three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle, Quinnen Williams. Sauce went to the Colts, Quinnen to the Cowboys. The Jets get three first-round picks and more. They weren’t winning with Gardner and Williams, they were 1-7. They’ve been terrible for years. So, I can understand adding draft capital and aiming to use that to land a franchise quarterback who could turn everything around for the organization, but at the same time you’ve got a lot of draft picks and they’re going to try and find guys in the draft as good as Gardner and Williams, that’s easier said than done. Those are cornerstone players who you usually build around and now they’re gone. It’s definitely frustrating for Jets fans.

MAADDI: Derrick Brown was Carolina’s first-round pick in 2020. He’s been part of losing teams every season until now. We talk about that and more. Derrick, you guys are coming off a great win, a huge win. I heard you say that this was a team, you were a team that people looked at as an automatic win in the past. What’s changed? What’s been the key for the biggest turnaround for you guys?

BROWN: I think, you know, it’s just been, you know, a time to have a culture develop, right? Like when Dan took over and Dave and Coach Canales and, you know, the Teppers, you know, is one of those things where, you know, eventually, you know, this would come and, you know being a part of it for six years, you know, finally seeing it kind of change and things swing and it’s a great thing to be a part.

MAADDI: I got an opportunity to see Coach (Dave) Canales up close. I’m in Tampa, saw him that season as an offensive coordinator with the Buccaneers, man. He brings so much positivity, so much energy. What do you guys see in a locker room? Is that consistent on a daily basis from what I saw from the outside looking in, and how much does that help you?

BROWN: Yeah, man, coach 100% positive every day. You know, there’s certain things like, you know, things like effort and stuff like that. Like he can handle a guy making a mistake, but like when it comes to the effort and things, he got no patience for that. And that’s about the only thing that’ll make him tick. But no, man, high energy. I mean, from the time you get here in the morning to the time he leaves in the evening, he is consistently the same person year round. I would say that.

MAADDI: Now, after that major win, right, you go to Lambeau, you beat the Packers, you’re big underdogs, you get that W, and now this week you’re home, you’re trying to build off that, you’re playing a Saints team that’s kind of struggling, they’re a rebuilding team, we know who they are and what they bring to the table right now, but how do you as a veteran make sure that there’s no letdown, that nobody can look ahead and that you guys focus in on a task at hand and try to get to 6-4?

BROWN: I mean, I think the overall understanding is the Saints are us, right? The Saints are these past few years, the Saints are us a few weeks ago, right? So, to be able to go out there with a mindset that they aren’t a very good team would be very ignorant on our part. And for us, I mean it’s just the one-week-at-a-time mindset. We don’t sit here and take advantage of it, we don’t try to just do anything crazy. I mean literally it’s for us like the team is being trained like one week at a time right because I mean a week ago, two weeks ago, we got beat bad at home by Buffalo, bounced back to be able to get a win in Lambeau. And it doesn’t have to be pretty, but it just needs to get done. And you know, I think that’s kind of the mindset right now with the team, is just get it done. Like we’re not sitting here, you know saying that you know we’re the greatest in the world. But I mean, if you get us in a dogfight, we damn sure gonna fight.

MAADDI: You just mentioned that loss to Buffalo, that’s a huge loss, right? It can be embarrassing, disappointing on so many levels. And we’ve seen teams in the past, like when you get beat that way, things can snowball, they can steamroll and can go downhill. Was there something said? What happened in that week in that short span from losing to Buffalo to getting to go to Green Bay and doing what you were able to do?

BROWN: All right, nothing, man. I mean, all hats off to the Buffalo team. They came down here and they gave us a good ass whupping. And, you know, we all knew what it was. You know, it was lack of execution. And you know that’s one thing where, you know, you don’t have to sit here and, you know, swarm around and blame each other and all this. You know it’s, you get back to work on Wednesday, get ready to start executing, put in the game plan. And, no, we do what we do. You know I think so many times people just want to start freaking out like, oh, like, what’s going on? And, you know, that’s just not the narrative that coaches instill in this team and as leaders that we’re preaching. One day right now, it’s just one week at a time, man. You can’t look too far in the future or you’re gonna miss out on everything right now.

MAADDI: For you personally, right? 2023, you make the Pro Bowl. And then last year, we know what happened. You get injured week one of the season. What does this comeback for you mean? Just to be able to be out there and accomplish what you’ve been able to accomplish on the field with your teammates, looking back at what you went through?

BROWN: I mean, I regret nothing. I think I got a lot more love for the game now, especially it being taken away from me. Never really had that happen before. So for that to have happened, just the time I spent alone and trying to recover and get back healthy. Like you said, I had a good season coming off ’23, I was excited to be able to continue the dominance and Lord willing, I got hurt. So that was one of those things where I feel like he gave me adversity in life. I had to bounce back, and coming into 2025, man, I was excited. Got a whole new group of guys coming in, and it was just one opportunity to be able to lead the team again and play at a high level.

MAADDI: How much did that help you? I talk to a lot of guys about this. That when adversity strikes, you’ve got somebody else that you can turn to, right? Whether it’s family, friends, teammates, or the man above, how much does that help you?

BROWN: And then a lot, I felt like probably the worst part was I was sitting there and I just had surgery that week. We went out and we beat Vegas. And I was so happy for the team, but I just felt like so distant from the team. And that was a hard thing for me, especially being in a locker room for as long as I have. And that wasn’t that, I mean, that was tough. And then being away for another week doing the rehab in LA, it was like, damn, I just wanna get back with the guys. But I mean it was crazy, even on the worst days, it was people in my inner circle were reaching out. And I was like, man, like, this is weird, like, every single time, I’m starting to feel like, man, this sucks. All of a sudden, a buddy, a family friend, somebody would just reach out and text me. And I mean, I kind of definitely played off that inner circle. They definitely kept me going every single day.

MAADDI: It’s time for some pro picks. The four pack had its first losing week with 26-9-1 overall straight up and 24-12 against the spread.

My best bet this week is a playoff rematch that’s kinda lost its luster. The Lions, they’re 5-3. They’re at Washington. Commanders are 3-5. They won’t have Jayden Daniels after he suffered that gruesome elbow injury. The Lions are 8-point favorites. The Commanders, well, we know they spoiled Detroit’s 15-win season last year with a huge upset in the NFC divisional round of the playoffs, but nothing has gone right for Washington since. They went on to the NFC championship game. They were destroyed by the Eagles. They’re losing this year. The Lions, not only are they seeking to avenge that playoff loss, but they’re coming off a home loss last week to Minnesota and J.J. McCarthy. Now the Lions have won and covered 12 straight games following a loss. I like Jared Goff in a dynamic offense. My best bet, Lions 30-17.

The upset special is that other playoff rematch. This one from the NFC wild card round. The 6-2 Eagles, defending Super Bowl champions on the road in Lambeau against the Packers, who are 5-2-1, on Monday Night Football. It’s the tush-push game. We all know by now the Packers were the team that presented the initial proposal to ban Philly’s tush push, their version of the quarterback sneak. Ultimately, it stuck around by two votes. Jalen Hurts has been playing great football, protecting the ball, he’s got the pass game going to A.J. Brown, Saquon Barkley in the run game went off before the bye and then the Eagles make three trades before the deadline The big one: they get edge rusher Jaelan Phillips from Miami. He’ll get after Jordan Love. Now the Packers are coming off that loss to Carolina last week. Disappointing effort. Micah Parsons facing the Eagles for the first time since going from Dallas to Green Bay. I’m not only taking an Eagles win, I’m going to tell you how they do it. Jalen Hurts scores on a tush push late in the game. Eagles 27-24.

Next, I’m looking at Buffalo, 6-2, at Miami, 2-7. Bills minus 9.5 points. After beating the Chiefs, Josh Allen and the Bills can’t overlook the lowly Dolphins. They’ve got a matchup coming up next week against Tampa Bay. Several trends favor Miami covering this spread. The Dolphins are 10-2 straight up and 9-3 against the number with Tua Tagovailoa in the second straight game at home or later. So all that fits. But this is a Dolphins team that needs a massive overhaul. They fired the GM. That’s step one, they’re a terrible football team. Bills 30-17.

Last of the four pack, the New York Giants, 2-7, at Chicago, 5-3. The Bears are 4 1/2 point favorites. Jaxson Dart has been a bright spot for the Giants who’ve lost three in a row since that dominant upset win over Philly on a Thursday night. Losing Cam Skattebo sucked the life out of this team. Then the run defense for the Giants has allowed more than 425 yards in the past two games. The Bears had 283 last week. They scored 47 in a comeback win against Cincinnati. Caleb Williams is 3-0 straight up and against the spread at home against teams that allow 27 or more points per game, which the Giants do. Bears 29-20. That’s it for this week.

Thank you to Derrick Brown. Thank you for listening to On Football. And thanks to Haya Panjwani and Mike Hempen for producing this episode. Please check out APNews.com for the full Pro Picks, On Football analysis and more NFL news.