CHARLOTTE — For weeks now, Trevin Wallace has been rearing to get back on the field. Logically, he knew that the shoulder injury he suffered in Week 10 needed time to heal. Logically, he knew the Panthers had other players who could step in for two games. Logically, he knew he could still watch and learn from the sideline.

That didn't make it easy to accept, though.

"I grew up in South Georgia, where if I got hurt, my dad was like, 'You ain't going to the hospital. You better walk it off," joked Wallace this week (while being completely serious).

"So I grew up like that. So, like, I felt like it's been games where I was, like, when I sat out, oh, I could have played. But just the professional aspect of being smart and knowing, like, 'Hey, your body is your money. So just get prepared for the next game and then see what you can do after that.'

"They really had to protect me from myself because I was telling them straight up, like I can go out there, shoulder, no shoulder, amputate it off, so I can go out there and play with one arm."

That seemed like a slightly dramatic choice, though, so instead Wallace took his time recovering, even when he wanted to test the waters to play again. For two weeks, he prepared as best he could, knowing he likely wouldn't play but wanting to be ready just in case. It was easier, Wallace admitted, because he was forced to exit during a period of his career in which he was playing well.

That wasn't always the case, and this break allowed him to evaluate the defense and himself from a much healthier, mentally, at least, position.

"Obviously, you know I started off rough. Everybody knows that," blatantly stated Wallace. "But I progressed over and over, so I felt good about myself. Now if I was playing bad and I was then (hurt), I'm like damn, I need to be out there because the tape is my resume," admitted Wallace.

"So after I got hurt, I was like, OK, you've been playing good. So maybe sit back a little bit and learn from the other linebackers."

Those he was learning by watching, for the most part, were older than him. So he was able to mentally pick up on the game and the defensive scheme that can get lost in the heat of battle on the field. He also had a front row seat to something he had suspected but had not been a spectator for yet.

"We got a heck of a physical defense," whistled Wallace. "Defense is real physical. I'd hate to be on the other side of the ball from them. So now we got a real physical defense. So things I already knew. Even on the sideline, seeing it for myself on the sideline, seeing in my helmet, like it felt cool a little bit, seeing like a game on the sideline instead of being in it."

Like any true competitor, though, that reticence lasted only a short time. After missing one game, a win against the Falcons in Week 11, Wallace was champing at the bit to be back on the field.

"You want honest," Wallace warned, suggesting the answer might not be a canned compan line. "But no, it was kind of frustrating. Just frustrating seeing, like I love the game of football and I ain't out there playing, so it is that aspect of just being, like, frustration. That's what it was. I was more frustrated.

"I still be watching films, so it's like knowing what team's going to hit us with or like what team's going to do, but it's like I'm calling it out, but I'm not out there to execute or help my teammates. So that's the frustration part."

But that frustration is finally, seemingly, over. Wallace—who had 52 tackles, four for loss, four passes defended at the time of his injury—practiced as a full participant all week. Coach Dave Canales indicated he is expected to play Sunday against the Rams, just in time, with Christian Rozeboom still rehabbing a hip and hamstring injury and Claudin Cherelus remaining in concussion protocol.

"I feel good. Body feel good. Shoulder feels good," promised Wallace. "That's just the main concern is the shoulder. So hopefully I get to play Sunday."

Now all that's left to do is take a hit.

"You want to line up and let me (try)," dared Wallace at the idea of needing to get it out of the way.

Thanks for the offer, Trevin, but we'll let you save that for the field.