5 players trending up early at Carolina Panthers 2021 training camp
By Dean Jones
DaQuan Jones – Carolina Panthers DT
It hasn’t taken long for DaQuan Jones to lay down a marker following his free-agent move to the Carolina Panthers. The imposing defensive tackle was a shrewd pickup by the organization and one that should not only help their run game considerably, but his arrival might just bring out a little bit more from Derrick Brown in the process.
Jones knows what it’s like to be on a struggling rebuilding team that has playoff aspirations. He played a leading role in the Tennessee Titans‘ emergence from also-rans to legitimate playoff contenders over the last two seasons.
The Panthers are counting on this experience rubbing off well on a talented young group that might become one of the league’s surprise packages in 2021. Jones is taking some early responsibilities incredibly seriously, setting the tone during drills and also providing support to other players in pursuit of reaching their respective goals.
"“All I do is come in and work. People just gravitate to you; it’s not that you pull them along. I’m not a big hoo-rah guy, but at the same time, I come in and enforce the little things I saw in seven years in Tennessee that really changed the culture, going from 2-14 to 9-7 to 11-5. Just the little details you see every day on the field and in the locker room, if it’s running between periods, if it’s being five minutes early to meetings, it’s a huge step. It really translates.”"
Of all the free-agent signings made by the Panthers this offseason, Jones might be the one who influences matters the most judging by early impressions.