CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Carrying the hopes of an entire defense can put a heavy load on a person's shoulders, no matter how broad Derrick Brown's may be.
The Carolina Panthers spent free-agent money and draft capital this offseason to try to revive a defense that was the NFL's worst in 2024 in nearly every major statistical category. But arguably the biggest key to fixing what ailed Ejiro Evero's scheme is getting the guy back who made it through just one game in 2024, then watched as the defense became the laughingstock of the league.
Early in his career, external expectations weighed on Brown, a top-10 pick who failed to make much of an impact his first two seasons. But growing responsibilities at home as the father of four young children have shifted Brown's perspective.
So while fans and media members may be looking to him to pull up the play of the defense, Brown isn't going to be consumed by it -- nor will he try to be perfect.
"That's one of the things I kind of live by now. I try to do my job the best that I can. I don't try to go out here and say, 'Dammit, I didn't grade out 100 percent today,'" Brown said. "I need to do my job to the best of my ability for this team to have the best result. That's just the mindset I take now."
But to be clear: Brown will continue to set the bar high for himself in returning from a knee surgery that sidelined him for the final 16 games last year. And the 27-year-old defensive lineman knows what's expected of one of only two Pro Bowlers on the Panthers' defense.
"I've always felt like I'm part of this organization, a big part of it," he said. "They've always asked me to rise to the occasion. And hands down, I'm gonna do it."
The Panthers drafted Brown with the No. 7 pick in 2020, one spot behind Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert and just ahead of Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons. Brown was a game-wrecking force at Auburn but his selection was met with little fanfare. That was due in large part to the fact that Brown arrived in Charlotte during the COVID-19 pandemic; Roger Goodell announced the first-round picks from his basement in Bronxville, N.Y., and teams played that season in empty or mostly empty stadiums.
Brown was an All-American and the SEC's Defensive Player of the Year his senior year at Auburn. But as an NFL rookie, he looked kind of ... ordinary.
Brown started 15 of 16 games for Matt Rhule, but averaged just 2.1 tackles a game. His only two sacks came in a loss at Green Bay in Week 15. Brown said he felt overwhelmed by the expectations -- and the size of the defensive playbook.
"Coming in as a rookie, new system -- Phil Snow was the DC (defensive coordinator) at the time and Phil had a large playbook. Trying to memorize all the plays and not wanting to mess up, feeling that pressure of being the first-round pick -- it was a lot," Brown said. "It was a lot."
Brown's second season started more promisingly. He had one of six sacks on Zach Wilson as the Panthers beat the New York Jets in Week 1 in Sam Darnold's first game against his former team. Brown posted another sack and a career-high six tackles in an October loss to the New York Giants.
But a month later, Rhule benched Brown for the start of a game at Miami following a poor performance the previous week against the Washington Commanders. Brown said at the time he needed to do a better job focusing.
Looking back now, Brown thinks the mental part of the game was holding him back.
"I think I had a fear of messing up. I tried to come in here and be a perfectionist," he said last week during an interview. "But along the way, I had guys tell me like, 'Dude, relax. Everybody's going to screw up. You're going to screw up. You've got to make up for it.'"
Things started to click for Brown in 2022. It was a hectic time in the organization, with owner David Tepper firing Rhule after five games and elevating defensive coordinator Steve Wilks to interim coach. Brown had his best game in a wild, 37-34 overtime loss at Atlanta, finishing with a career-high 12 tackles and combining on a sack against his hometown team. (Brown grew up in Sugar Hill, about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta.)
"I had 100 tackles my fourth year, but I feel like my third year I played my best ball in the league so far. That's when the game finally slowed down for me. I felt like I knew what was coming," he said. "I spent more time watching tape. I did all the mental stuff before the moment came. The readiness of that was 10 times better."
Brown's 67 tackles in 2022 tied Mike Rucker's franchise high for a defensive lineman. Brown took his game to another level amid another chaotic season in '23, when Frank Reich was fired after a 1-10 start.
Aligning at defensive end in Evero's 3-4 system, Brown finally looked like the player who used to blow up SEC offensive linemen on his way to the backfield. Another good game in Atlanta in Week 1 (eight tackles and a sack) kick-started the most prolific tackling season by a defensive lineman in NFL history.
Brown racked up 103 tackles to break Christian Wilkins' previous record of 98, while recording a career-best 15 quarterback hits. Brown credited former Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson for helping him quit stressing and get moving.
"Shaq gave me a lot of confidence when I was younger, like, 'Just go. Stop worrying about making mistakes. If you just go, then I'll go, too. One of us will get it right,'" Brown said of Thompson, now with the Buffalo Bills. "That's one of those things I still live with today -- be decisive. Don't play around because then you screw up two people, not just you."
The breakthrough season brought Brown his first Pro-Bowl berth and a four-year, $96 million extension that made him one of the NFL's highest-paid defensive linemen. He was ready to keep rolling in 2024.
But after playing 60 of 66 defensive snaps in a blowout loss at New Orleans in Week 1, Brown was about to take a midnight soak in Epsom salts at home and realized he couldn't put weight on his right leg. "My leg was just not really working," he said.
The team's medical personnel sent him for an MRI the next morning, which revealed a torn meniscus. A week later, Brown underwent season-ending surgery -- the first time an injury had forced him to miss games at any level.
Brown formed a kind of training room brotherhood with Thompson and center Austin Corbett after both sustained their own season-ending injuries. Corbett, who has recovered from biceps surgery, said his one-on-one matchups with the 6-5, 320-pound Brown are a test.
"He's a freak individual. That's just like what you've got across this league. So to be able to get practice against that is just gonna pay those dividends down the road," Corbett said. "He's gonna beat you. You've gotta get your hands on him if you can and you've gotta be good. Your body angle's gotta be right, hand placement's gotta be right because he can exploit them quickly. That's a large individual getting moving fast."
Brown is more of a run-stopper than a pass rusher, as his eight career sacks suggest. But Panthers coach Dave Canales said Brown's effort going after ball carriers is an example for every player on defense.
"He wants to win bad and he wants to win right now. And I can feel his presence on the defensive side -- this is how we're gonna practice and this is how we're gonna play," Canales said.
"It's infectious to have him out there because he just works so hard. He chases everything down. He doesn't take any play off. If he has a good pass rush, he redirects and chases the ball down the field. If he has a good run play, he fits up, he redirects and follows the running back."
Canales said Brown is still getting himself in game shape after missing a week early in training camp with a strained oblique. He returned for the joint practice at Houston, where tight end Cade Stover welcomed Brown back by pancaking him on a Texans rush.
"They made a big deal about it. I'm like, 'S -- , I haven't had my bell rung in a year. I appreciate it,'" Brown said. "He came up, he apologized. I'm like, 'Bro, it's football. We good.'"
As the Panthers prepare to head to Jacksonville for the opener, Brown hasn't experienced any setbacks with his knee. He wore knee braces at Auburn, but is still deciding whether he'll use one on his surgically repaired knee against the Jaguars.
Analysts and observers will talk and write this week about what Brown can do for the defense. He gets it, but that's not really his concern. He's just fired up to be healthy again.
"I feel back to normal, man. Ever since I've been back, the knee's been fine. Dealt with that oblique thing," he said. "S -- , I've been good coming back. Now I'm ready to just get to it."