Panthers star DT Derrick Brown details harrowing comeback from knee injury

He went down in the team’s Week 1 loss at New Orleans this past season after playing in a total of 60 defensive snaps and finishing with three tackles. Defensive force Derrick Brown had missed one game in his first four years in the NFL. The 2023 Pro Bowler would miss the remainder of 2024, and the Carolina Panthers’ defense would feel the effects.

Brown is on the comeback trail after suffering a knee injury in that 47-10 setback to the Saints. He spoke during the team’s final day at mandatory minicamp. “When they took my crutch away from me, I did have to relearn that,” said the four-year pro (via Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com).

“Nine weeks of being on crutches, no weight bearing, and then trying to get on the treadmill, walk again. It felt funny, but huge strides from where we were then and now back out on the field running around with everybody. It’s incredible. I never had something to do with like learning how to walk.”

It won’t be long before the Panthers and the other 31 NFL teams head to training camp, and the four-year pro stated that he expects to be ready. There are numerous new faces in the trenches from a year ago, including 2025 fifth-round pick Cam Jackson, as well as free-agent additions Tershawn Wharton (Chiefs) and Bobby Brown III (Rams). Veteran A’Shawn Robinson, who tied for the team lead with 5.5 sacks, returns for a second season in Carolina.

“I feel like right now in our room we’ve got a bunch of selfless guys,” said Brown, “so you know when you play with selfless guys that just want to come out and work every single day, then you know that’s where you build that brotherhood. That’s where you come in here, and you know it doesn’t have to be one guy’s show or the next, but when we get to go out to the field and play, I mean, I think that’s where you start to get there. There’s no drop off in play.”

The Panthers are looking to erase a 2024 showing in which the team allowed the most total yards, most rushing yards, and the most points in the league (534)—the latter setting a new dubious league record. A healthy Brown would make that tall task a whole lot easier.

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