Miles Sanders aims to earn respect from new teammates

CAROLINA PANTHERS

Running back Miles Sanders, who helped the Philadelphia Eagles to a berth in Super Bowl LVII with a career-best season, wants a similar impact on the Carolina Panthers.

Miles Sanders is less interested in another career-defining season than earning the respect of his new team.

Sanders, a running back who joined the Panthers during the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, had his best professional season last year in Philadelphia with a Pro Bowl selection that coincided with career bests in rushing yards (1,269), attempts (259) and touchdowns (11).  

That productivity moved Sanders, 25, to the front of Carolina’s running back picking order, where he joins holdovers Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear, and Spencer Brown. Putting in the work to earn his teammates’ appreciation is his immediate ambition.

“Honestly, don’t make fun of me,” he said in April. “I’m serious that the only goal I have is really just taking it day by day … with a new environment, new coaches, new players to be around. Everything – new building, new area, just taking it day by day and invest it into every day giving it all every day. I’m around a lot of new people, so I’m just trying to earn a lot of people’s respect. I don’t know if I have it already, or if I don’t, but I’m not worried about it. I’m just trying to earn everybody’s respect and get accustomed to everything.”

Sanders rushed for 3,708 yards on 739 attempts over four seasons with Philadelphia with a berth in Super Bowl LVII. Although he’s new to Carolina, Sanders will hear a familiar voice in Panthers assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley, his position coach for two seasons.

As a rookie, Sanders set Eagles rookie records for most rushing yards (818), scrimmage yards (1,327), and all-purpose yards (1,641). Staley also established Sanders as a receiving threat in his first season, with a career-high 509 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 50 catches for an average of 10.2 yards per reception.

“He’s probably the main reason why I came over here,” Sanders said. “To reconnect with somebody that understood me and had faith in me from the jump, who drafted me and knows what I can really do, what I could bring to the table.”

As the Panthers’ most experienced running back, Sanders is in position to impart knowledge learned from veterans like former Eagles teammate Darren Sproles, played 15 years despite his diminutive size (5-6, 190 pounds).

“This is new for me being the old guy in the room,” Sanders said. “They already got jokes on me. Sproles [gave advice on] just how you take care of your body. I look at Sproles, a guy with his size and the success that he’s had in how long he’s played, the only question I got to ask is what made you maintain, playing at a high level this long at the type of position that we play. That’s just all the advice that I really take from it would be the little stuff, you know.

“You don’t want to fail. You go do the time that God gave you, but just little stuff that I kind of picked from the old guys’ brains.”

Another attractive asset that lured Sanders to Carolina was the offensive line, which solidified last year with the addition of left tackle Ickey Ekwonu through the draft and addition of guard Austin Corbett and center Bradley Bozeman through free agency.

With coach Frank Reich’s emphasis on balancing the run and pass, continuity and consistency up front is important for success. Sanders believes Carolina’s unit is capable of being one of the NFL’s best.

“I left an o-line that was top notch, you know, best in the game in my opinion,” he said. “But this group is either just as good or better. Just by watching their film and watching how they work, how they move I’m constantly complimenting them just how they move on these workouts. The guys are moving really good, which I love. It’s bringing me a lot of confidence.

“I was just listening to Andy [Dalton, the quarterback Carolina acquired in free agency] talk. It’s a running back’s best friend just as much as a quarterback’s best friend.”

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