CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are bringing in an Idaho farmer, part-time podcaster, and volunteer high school football coach to hit the Keep Pounding drum this weekend.

Of course, you might know him better as Hall of Honor left tackle Jordan Gross.

Gross was in the radio booth Monday night at San Francisco with Luke Kuechly and Anish Shroff on the Panthers Radio Network, and he was on the practice field Friday afternoon watching his old team get ready for Sunday's game against the Rams.

The three-time Pro Bowler and fixture on the offensive line has been chosen as this week's Legend of the Week, and he'll be back to hit the Keep Pounding drum heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Rams.

Gross was chosen in the first round of the 2003 draft, and promptly sparked a Super Bowl run (he may have had some help from free agent acquisitions Jake Delhomme, Stephen Davis, Ricky Proehl, and a defense that ranked No. 2 in the league the year before).

He earned All-Pro honors in 2008 and served as a bridge from one era to the next, retiring after the 2013 season when Cam Newton and a new generation of players were about to push toward another Super Bowl run.

Panthers.com caught up with Gross this week to talk about what coming back means, what he sees from this year's team, and how he keeps himself busy back home.

Q: Having called this team's games a couple of times this year (Gross also called the Cardinals game in Week 2), what are you seeing as they build this thing?

Gross: "I'm seeing that there's not self-implosion happening, and I don't have a million stats for you for the past few seasons, but it just as being a Panther fan, in years past, there would be something that would happen, the turnover, the dropped pass, the fumble, the big play allowed, and with this team, I see that there's belief in the ability to win.

"I see that the identity that Dave (Canales) talks about with this thing starting to become player-led, and they're trusting our process. It seems like it's resulting in success on the field, finding ways to do that. I just can't tell you how impressed I was in that Atlanta game with Bryce Young)'s toughness, man. Being a guy that's had plenty of ankle injuries, to see that ankle get rolled up on again and again and then get up and not only win the game, but set a franchise record for passing, that's just incredible. Like, you can't overstate how momentous that was, I think, for him in his development. So, it seems like things are moving in the right direction."

Q: His offensive linemen have talked about his toughness. You've seen that from Jake and Cam, what does it do for a team to have a quarterback who isn't necessarily considered a runner or a large person do that?

Gross: "Yeah, I just think that it raises the standard for everybody. Where if a guy that's got an excuse, a reason to not finish a game — meaning a significant injury — if it's enough to take you in for an X-ray or a further evaluation, that's a significant injury.

"But when he stays in there and says, doggone it, we're going to win this game, it seems crazy to say, but the seriousness of winning rises, I think. And that's your leader, and he has to do that. If you're the quarterback and you want the team to follow you, that's just the way football is. The quarterback's got to be the main dude, and then you've got your leaders under him. If he's doing that, then the rest of the team is going to fall in line. They're going to play through more bumps and bruises. They're going to commit a little bit more to winning because he's doing that, no doubt."

Q: When we talked to Kawann Short a few weeks ago, he was talking about Derrick Brown and this new-look defensive line. When you think about where this offensive line was a few years ago compared to now, especially with all these changes (the Panthers are playing their 10th combination of starters in 13 weeks Sunday), what does that tell you?

Gross: "I think it speaks to the value of consistency with just people in the room. So we've had familiar names for the past few seasons, and, yes, there's been some musical chairs, but they know each other, so that matters a great deal. It says a lot to me just about the coaching they're receiving in that room right now, and then understanding in the second year of coach Canales's system what he wants to be done.

"And, and like Ickey (Ekwonu), he's been the starter for a number of years now, but in his offensive lineman development, he's still a heck of a young guy, young by age anyways (Ekwonu is 25 in his fourth season). You know, I didn't feel like my peak seasons were until I was in Year 5, 6, 7, 8. It took me probably four seasons to kind of learn the position where you got to where, OK, I've lost to that before, I can see what's coming there. And you're still young enough to be able to do it really well. So we're just kind of coming into that for him.

"And Taylor (Moton)'s dang consistent, man. I just love watching him. And then, not only the value of the interior guys being able to move and play as needed, but also the lack of ego, where maybe now (Austin) Corbett's in a backup role. OK, now I need you at center, and there's got to be a good culture and dynamic in that O-line room for that to happen and not have issues with I'm starting, no, I'm starting, and not have battles over that.

"I mean, it's just a whole-unit effort to be getting the results that we're seeing."

Q: OK, in your day job back home, you're the head coach of the Fruitland Grizzlies, your old high school team. We've heard all about that on the Jordan and Jake Podcast, and you got the beloved Grizz to the state semis this year. What's the most fun part of that job?

Gross: "I would say seeing the guys develop into a guy. A kid developing into a dude. That's the most fun part. Physically, mentally, emotionally, where you see a kid come from a 14-year-old freshman into a 17-year-old senior, and all of a sudden they're like a little bit of a, almost look like a man. That's been fun seeing a lot of guys grow like that."

Q: To come back and hit the Keep Pounding drum, as one of the guys who was on the team when Sam Mills said those famous words, that has to be special for you, doesn't it?

Gross: "It's incredible that the Panthers have kept that as the mantra and adopted that. And I think that it's so purposeful for anybody that's been around it to talk about it and what it meant. Sam, before that famous speech, just impressed the heck out of me as a young rookie on that team by his stature, his presence. He ran to practice every day. He had great energy, and he demanded your attention by the way he carried himself.

"He actually, during that season, my wife's grandfather was battling cancer himself, and Sam wrote my wife's grandfather a handwritten note at my request, just of encouragement, and told him to Keep Pounding, you know what I mean? Pretty incredible.

"Then obviously the talk that night, you almost felt so inspired that he needed to tell us to Keep Pounding, as he was literally going through cancer treatments and still being there every day and being like a quality guy with no self-pity at all that he showed to any of us.

"So I feel extremely fortunate that I got to be on the same team as that wonderful man and be there for ground zero when the speech happened, and I don't think you could ever overstate the quality of the individual he was and the impact of that message on our team that year."