Derrick Brown on offseason workouts: "Guys are hungry, and I'm one of them"

Apr 21, 2026 at 03:41 PM

Darin Gantt

The Carolina Panthers hold Voluntary Workouts Phase 1 on Tuesday, Apr. 21, 2026 at the Atrium Health Training Facility at Bank Of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

CHARLOTTE — Derrick Brown has looked around the last few days and seen a crowd.

That, in and of itself, is a good sign as the Panthers opened the first week of voluntary offseason workouts.

But after adding some big-ticket free agents to his side of the ball in Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd, Brown knows the expectations will rise for a defense that made considerable progress last year.

"I think they're great additions to this team, right?" Brown said on Tuesday, the second day of workouts with teammates. "Not only do we want good players, but great people, and both of those guys fit that category. It's just, everybody comes in and does their job, and as long as you do your 1/11th, then we're more than welcome to have you here."

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Players are weeks away from doing anything that really looks like football; these are strength and conditioning days, and getting-to-know-you time, which Brown referred to as "building that family bond."

But once things develop, he knows that more will be expected from his side of the ball.

The Panthers went from 32nd in all the categories in 2024 to 15th in points allowed and 16th in yards allowed last year, a significant bump.

But after tying for 28th in sacks last year with 30.0 (Brown and rookie Nic Scourton tied for the team lead with 5.0 each), they made the big investment in Phillips on the first day of free agency, adding a proven pressurer of quarterbacks (top 10 in the league in pressure rate last year) to the roster from the edge.

"A lot, right?" Brown replied when asked what Phillips adds. "I mean, the name of the game is get the quarterback, you know, they're paying him a lot to do it.

"So, I'm excited to see him go out there and go get it."

That goes for all of them, because beyond the statistical improvements, the Panthers have gone from two to five to eight wins, and last year's playoff berth was a hint of what they're all building toward.

"I think you move on from it, but also, you enjoy the moment, right?" Brown said. "Being a part of that team and being a part of the moment. As we know, in the NFL, teams turn over every single year to a different team, but I definitely enjoyed that and bringing that back to the city, and then having the crowd that we had in the playoff game, that was electric."

Brown said the turnout has been "awesome" the last two days, and as a captain and one of the consciences of the place, that's a good start for him. He's the guy who, when you see him in the hall, will often just say, "Time to work."

"Even from day one, you guys showing up, working out, I mean, you got your leaders in every room setting the bar every single day," Brown said. "And it's one of those things that, I think, the best way to do it is lead by example, right? You don't need to always be saying things and doing things. It's just go out and do what you do and let everybody else follow. I think that's the best way to show how we work here and bring everybody else along that way.

"Guys are hungry, and I'm one of them. So I've been here all offseason working with the guys, and it's just guys want to get better, and guys want to get better together. That's how you start building that team foundation going into the new year."