Derrick Brown leads a young but promising defensive line unit into Panthers training camp

Jul 23, 2026 at 06:34 AM

Kassidy Hill

Derrick Brown is seen during Carolina Panthers OTA Day Number 5 on Tuesday, Jun. 2, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE — Derrick Brown has always been the unquestioned leader of the Carolina Panthers' front seven (and, for that matter, the entire defense, and perhaps even the locker room). He sets the tone, creates clear-cut rules, demands accountability, and guides others as they grow.

As the Pro Bowler heads into this year's training camp, though, he is facing one of his most unique challenges to date. With defensive tackle Bobby Brown III (hamstring) heading to the NFI (non-football injury) list and Tershawn Wharton still recovering from a neck injury, the depth of starting talent took a huge hit.

Now, Brown is molding a young, unproven, untested group around him.

Derrick Brown is seen duringis seen during Carolina Panthers arrival for training camp on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

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"We don't know Turk's situation yet, so that's one of those things where I'm playing with new guys beside me and it's my job to be able to not only do my job at a high level but be able to figure out what's going on around me, other guys' tendencies, and figure out when I can do what I do," reflected Brown on Wednesday, ahead of the Panthers first training camp practice on Thursday.

"All we ask for in the room is to show up and be selfless. To be selfless and get ready to go out here and work hard…like if something goes wrong in practice, like, 'Yeah man, I got 10-15 minutes. Let's knock this out.' And then to be able to see guys continue to climb and climb and climb, I mean that's all I ever get out of the joy of this game."

None of this is going to drastically change how Brown and the younger D-line group already interact. As the defensive leader, Brown has pulled his group together throughout the summer, ensuring they are prepared for what promises to be a long, challenging training camp.

"I think it was just a big part of trying to band our group in our room together, our whole D-line together, and just having guys willing to want to come and work out," said Brown. "I mean, that's all it takes, and then you're able to go out and get a good session and just continue and get that continuous work.

"I think the camaraderie was built back in OTAs, getting to learn guys. And I think everybody today on the report day, I mean it was time to — when we went outside and did the conditioning test, the message is simple, like this is phase one, we got to get to it."

That time together means Brown has been able to further assess his fellow young teammates. Second-rounder Lee Hunter, who showed up for report day on Wednesday in a Derrick Brown football camp shirt, made a quick impression during OTAs and minicamp, and continued to do so into the summer.

Lee Hunter is seen duringis seen during Carolina Panthers arrival for training camp on Wednesday, Jul. 22, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

"I mean, he's willing to learn. He's willing to work hard, and willing to learn, and that's all you can ask for from him."

And Cam Jackson, now going into his second year after appearing in nine games as a rookie and accumulating nine tackles, will get a chance during training camp with Bobby Brown and Wharton sidelined for the time being to show what he's learned thus far.

"Cam's a big dude," nodded Brown. "Cam's a big dude in the middle, and I'm really hoping that he has the opportunity to take this next step and make this opportunity what it is for him. It's hard to tell in the spring, shorts and T-shirt, you can't really grab shirts, and the contact's limited, so I mean, I think for this fall, it's going to be a big camp for him."

Cam Jackson is seen during Carolina Panthers Voluntary Workouts Phase 2 at Tuesday, May. 19, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

With Bobby Brown and Wharton on the NFI list, that leaves eight defensive linemen with whom the Panthers can begin camp. In addition to Derrick Brown, Hunter, and Jackson, there are: LaBryan Ray, Aaron Hall, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Parker Petersen, and Tywone Malone. Regardless of who is on the field, when moving in the same direction, with the same goal, Brown is confident about all that's possible for this defense.

"I think the ceiling's high for us. I don't want to call out a number or none of that, but I think the ceiling's high. Finding the 11 to 15 guys that contribute — or probably at this point it's 22 guys — rolling in on a Sunday on just defense, I think it's one of those things of buying into what E (Coach Evero) and the coaching staff is preaching during the offseason, from OTAs and then going through camp and just relearning that stuff, but I mean just trying to go out and have flawless efforts," preached Brown.

"It's the consistency game. Every single week, whoever shows up and is the most consistent throughout the game is the team that's going to win."

Cam Jackson, Princely Umanmielen, Patrick Jones II, Bobby Brown III, Trevis Gipson and Derrick Brown are seen during Carolina Panthers Mandatory Mini Camp on Tuesday, Jun 9, 2026 at Atrium Health Training Facility in Charlotte, NC.

General manager Dan Morgan didn't provide a timeline for Bobby Brown, saying only "hopefully, he's back sooner than later." As for Wharton, there's also no set timeline as of now since, "the neck injuries, you got to be really careful with them, and he knows that."

But, Morgan continued, "he's doing really well, making a lot of progress, and we feel optimistic about him getting back during the season at some point, hopefully sooner than later."

For the rest of the group, that strain towards consistency Brown preached on begins today, when the Panthers and this defensive line group take the field for training camp.

"At the end of the day," said Brown, "if you come in here and you're selfless and you don't think you're bigger than anybody else in the room, then you've got guys that are willing to want to work with you."

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Tommy Tremble is seen during Carolina Panthers arrival for training camp on Wednesday, Jun. 17, 2026 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.