Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown played only three snaps to open Saturday’s NFL preseason contest against the Houston Texans. But they marked the first game action for the former Auburn All-American since the opener of the 2024 season.
“It was very few, but it was good to be back out here,” Brown said during an in-game interview with the Panthers Television Network. “Just trusting the process throughout this whole past year, begging to just get something out here today, so I was able to be out here with the team. So I was excited to be able to go out there and just kind of set the tone from the beginning of the week, showing up here, doing a joint practice and then just rolling into this game and being able to be with my teammates.”
But even three snaps were more than Carolina coach Dave Canales had planned to play Brown.
A meniscus tear limited Brown to one game in 2024, and he didn’t play in the Panthers’ preseason opener last week.
But with Carolina planning to have its first-team defense on the field to open its second preseason game, Brown couldn’t stand to stay sidelined.
“Oh, he was begging me,” Canales said after the game about playing Brown. “It wasn’t my intention to play Derrick, I’ll be honest. And he was like, ‘Coach, I just got to get out there. I got to get my hands on somebody.’ And he was wearing (defensive-line) coach (Todd) Wash out, too.
“I just love the fact he wants to be out there with his guys. He wanted to be able to see game speed, be able to get his hands on something and knock something back, and so I was really excited to see Derrick back out there.”
The seventh player picked in the 2020 NFL Draft, Brown missed one game in his first four seasons. In 2023, Brown earned Pro Bowl recognition as he recorded 103 tackles to become the first defensive interior lineman to reach 100 tackles since the NFL began tracking the statistic.
The Panthers complete their preseason schedule against the Pittsburgh Steelers at 6 p.m. CDT Thursday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Carolina kicks off its 2025 regular-season slate against the Jacksonville Jaguars at noon Sept. 7 at Everbank Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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