As a Pro Bowl defensive tackle in 2023, Derrick Brown played 89 percent of the Carolina Panthers’ defensive snaps. The former Auburn All-American started the 2024 campaign by playing 60 of the Panthers’ 66 defensive snaps in the season-opener.
But in that game, Brown sustained a knee injury that sidelined him for the rest of the 2024 season.
Approaching the fifth game of the 2025 season with no setbacks through the first four contests, Brown wanted to make sure the Carolina coaching staff knew his training wheels could come off.
In the first four games, Brown had been on the field for 67 percent of the Panthers’ defensive snaps. In Sunday’s 27-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins, Brown played 82 percent of the defensive snaps.
“I think it’s just taking the limitations off me,” Brown said. “I feel like my knees are good. I feel like I can get back to what I’m doing, so, I mean, I think just being able to be on the field more in general was the question. …
“I think that we had a plan in place, and I think it was just comfortability over time. So being able to have that conversation and be able to talk to coach and be clear about it, I mean, that was a big thing for me.”
Carolina coach Dave Canales said the Panthers increased Brown’s presence on passing downs.
Through the first four weeks of the NFL season, the Carolina defense ranked last in the league with two sacks. In Game 5 on Sunday, the Panthers took down Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa three times.
“Coming off of last year’s injury, Derrick wanted to make sure we ramped his play time up,” Canales said. “He was playing 70-plus percent of the snaps over the last couple of years, and he’s feeling good. And he asked us, and so we gave him a few more opportunities to be out there in some (pass)-rush downs and some different things.
“But he’s been responding really well, and he’s working tirelessly to make sure that he’s physically ready to handle whatever we throw at him.”
On Miami’s first possession, Brown sacked Tagovailoa for a 10-yard loss on a third-and-11 snap from the Carolina 15-yard line. The Dolphins settled for a field goal.
The sack was the first for Brown since he took down Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield in a 9-0 loss on Jan. 7, 2024.
“I’m back in full force,” Brown said. “So I would like to be able to stay out there as long as possible. You know, not just having a number set on me and being able to go out there and play as many plays as I can.”
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Carolina defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero said Brown’s contributions to the Panthers’ pass defense starts with his prowess against the run.
“Derrick is always going to be very, very instrumental in our in our rush plan,” Evero said. “I mean, he’s one of our best players, if not our best player. So I don’t want to give away too many trade secrets, but, like, Derrick is a very big part of what we do, obviously, and we have to find opportunities to give him more opportunities. And so much of that is just when we do well in early downs, those pass-rush situations, more of them seem to show up, and so that’s a big part of what we’re trying to get done.”
The 2-3 Panthers play the Dallas Cowboys at noon CDT Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, with an opportunity to get their record to .500 for the first time since they were 5-5 in the 2021 season.
The Cowboys have a 2-2-1 record even though Dallas has gained the most yards and scored the fourth-most points in the NFL this season.
“They got a quarterback (Dak Prescott) that’s playing really good right now,” Brown said, “and then they’re playing really good offensively to be the No. 1 offense in the league, to be specific. For us to go out here and take on this challenge this week, it’s a big deal.”
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