"That's a big emphasis just in our room and on the team, you know, everything's about the ball, you know, whether they punch at it or not, we got to make sure that if we see ball, we get ball," shared McMillan. "Nobody else, especially in the room, nobody else gets it but us."
In an effort to be "all about the ball," the Panthers emphasize turnovers each Thursday in practice. If the defense gets a turnover, then next week's practice will be labeled "Turnover Thursday." If the offense protects the ball, the following week is dubbed "No Turnover Thursday."
Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik was careful not to put too much weight behind any additional emphasis on the factor, mainly because the team stresses it regardless, but also a little bit because of fear of wrath from special teams assistant coach Daren Bates, who leads the Turnover Thursday portion of meetings.
"Daren Bates would, he would hate me if I said we had to up it this week because he is our guy emphasizing going after the ball," joked Idzik. "Bates gives us a really nice recap every Thursday morning, so I would say that's a huge piece of who we are."