Shaq Thompson’s locker room outburst had the desired effect
By Dean Jones
Shaq Thompson’s influence on defense
Regardless of how Shaq Thompson was performing on the field for the Carolina Panthers. It’s clear he was still commanding a substantial amount of respect within the locker room.
As stated previously, this is a young roster who are no doubt looking to players like the veteran as an example. This has taken some time to get used to from the player’s perspective.
Thompson made all the right noises before the 2020 season about stepping up and becoming a defensive lynchpin after Luke Kuechly took the difficult decision to walk away. And there is little doubt that Carolina’s defense is far better when they’re getting strong communication and reliability from him.
One only has to look at last Sunday to see that.
How Thompson and the Panthers built on their first win in six games will be equally as important. The Minnesota Vikings are sure to give them a strong test before their Week 13 bye and with the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers to come on the schedule, there could be even more bumps in the road before the campaign concludes.
Thompson got the right sort of response following his passionate tirade after Carolina’s worst second-half display of the season by a considerable margin. More importantly. he backed it up himself with another outstanding performance in the face of adversity.