Shaq Thompson Voices Frustration, Calls Out 'Repeat Offenders'
The average age of the Carolina Panthers roster is 25.4 years old. There aren't a lot of veteran players on the team, many of which are in their first, second, or third year in the NFL. However, there are a few guys that have been around the game for a while that are taking this six-game losing skid personally.
Linebacker Shaq Thompson has been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows in his seven years with the Panthers organization, so his voice carries a lot of weight in the locker room. Following Sunday's heartbreaking 18-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints, Thompson, visibly frustrated, didn't hold back when asked about how this season has spiraled out of control.
"Man, hell yeah I'm frustrated. You know what I mean? We all busting our a** to go out there to fight and to win and to not have the outcome, man, that sh** is frustrating. We're going to go in there tomorrow and get the corrections and we are going to attack next week which is Tampa. What are we? 5-11? It is what it is. We got to go out there and fight."
Although the Panthers defense was really the only reason they had a chance to win the game, along with several other games, Thompson wasn't about to let his fellow defensive teammates off the hook. One of the biggest issues for Carolina this season has been gap discipline. Guys are not holding their gaps and, in turn, it leads to big plays in the ground game, particularly on outside zones.
“It’s tough because we keep talking about the same thing each and every day, each and every week. Do your job, man," Thompson said. "How much more do we have to keep saying that for people to actually click in? It’s okay to have a missed assignment once, but not repeatedly. In other words, that’s just being a repeat offender. We get paid to do this game, we get paid to go out here and play and give the fans what they want, and we can’t keep having these mistakes. Defensive side, that kind of just falls on me as a captain and making sure I hold everybody accountable, even myself.
"We just need to grow up and do our jobs. We get paid to come out here and play football, you get paid to do your job. This is a job. Each and every day is an interview. Especially, everybody knows in this business you get fired just like that. This is how we feed our families, so you’ve got to take this serious. You’ve got to go out there and do your job. Even if you don’t make the play, if someone else makes the play, that’s you doing your job. That’s one thing we just have to focus on, and we’ve got one more game. We’re gonna go in here and watch this game. I feel the defense, we played great today. We had some mishaps, couple big runs, but I feel like we played great today.”
Thompson declined to comment on who exactly he was referring to as repeat offenders stating, "I don't want to throw anyone under the bus," but he did mention that they've already talked about it and that they know they have to play as one and execute.
Heading into the last game of the season, the Panthers will look to try and steal a win from the defending Super Bowl champion, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Although Carolina doesn't have anything to play for other than pride, Thompson views it as another opportunity to keep moving forward, to keep pounding.
"We just got to keep our head up and keep fighting for each other. At the end of the day, I learned from Luke [Keuchly] and TD [Thomas Davis] and the biggest thing is 'Keep Pounding'. Regardless, if we're losing, we've got to come out here and keep playing. Like I keep saying, this is our job, we get paid to do this. If you don't love it, then don't play. If you aren't going to have passion regardless if you're losing then don't come to work. Like, honestly, we don't need you. But this locker room though, there's a lot of guys that come in each and every day regardless of winning, losing, draw, we are going to come in here and work."
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