DONALD WATKINS | THE CHARLOTTE POST


Carolina Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace (56) dives for control of a fumble against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 13, 2024. Wallace, who started eight games as a rookie, returns after a shoulder injury that required surgery curtailed his season.


Trevin Wallace raised his right arm, signaling Carolina Panthers defenders to assemble for the next play call. 

A few days after being cleared medically to return from shoulder surgery, the inside linebacker opened Tuesday’s organized team activities with the first unit, lined up next to veteran Josey Jewell.  

Is Wallace stepping back into a starters’ role?  

Coach Dave Canales promised nothing.  

“We’ll see,” Canales said. “All this stuff is wide open. The competition is real and live.”  

For his part, Wallace doesn’t expect to be handed the position he assumed early last season and held until that season-ending injury. But he intends to regain his starting status.  

“At the end of the day, I have to earn it,” Wallace said. “Nothing is given to you. I never have my head set on starting.  Everybody should be starter-ready. I’m starter-ready.”
The Panthers could use a healthy Wallace.  

Dogged by a plethora of injuries last season, the defense yielded an all-time league-high 534 points. Wallace was part of the MASH unit, along with Pro Bowl defensive lineman Derrick Brown (knee), who was lost in the opener. Brown dressed for Tuesday’s OTA, one of six practices over a two-week span.  

“My shoulder feels great,” Wallace said Wednesday in a phone interview. “My eyes, my head, they say I’m 100%.” 

The new-look defense flashed potential Tuesday as second-year cornerback Chau Smith-Wade intercepted a Bryce Young pass over the middle, who was pressured from the edges.  

“The entire defense, there’s a lot of new faces, but on Day 1, there was a lot of great communication going on out there,” Young said. “They made some plays out there. They were flying around.”  
Will they continue throughout the summer and into the fall? Having Brown and Wallace returning to the practice field could help. 


“(Wallace) did a great job in the rehab,” Canales said. “He’s looked strong and fast. I expect him to make an impact.”

Wallace, who changed his jersey number to 32, which he wore in high school and college, started as a rookie when Shaq Thompson suffered a season-ending injury. Before suffering his own injury, Wallace appeared in 13 games, including eight starts, and compiled 64 tackles, a sack, two forced fumbles and recovered a fumble.  

When Panthers general manager Dan Morgan drafted Wallace with the No. 72 overall pick in 2024, some NFL insiders questioned the pick. Morgan, an elite linebacker during his playing days, identified Wallace as a potential long-term starter.  

Toward the end of last season, the Panthers, who went 5-12, started undrafted free agent rookie Jacoby Windmon at inside linebacker. During the NFL free-agency period, Morgan looked to improve positional depth by signing free agent veteran Christian Rozeboom. After the draft, he added rookie free agents Bam Martin-Smith (South Carolina) and Tuasivi Nomura (Fresno State).  

“It’s like I tell any other person,” Wallace said. “It is football and injuries will happen. My mentality is that we look back and say: ‘Hey, we were one of the worse defenses in league history.’  
“That leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.”  

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