Panthers’ rookie Trevin Wallace lets his play do the talking 

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Rookie linebacker Trevin Wallace has taken over signal-calling for the Carolina Panthers defense with Shaq Thompson and Josey Jewell out with injuries.

 
With Trevin Wallace preparing to make his first NFL start, highlighted by a green dot on his helmet, Carolina Panthers teammate Xavier Woods thought about the rookie linebacker’s late-game experience last week against Cincinnati and laughed.

Woods, an eight-year veteran safety, couldn’t help it. He started speaking of the rookie and laughed again.

“We gave him hell about that,” Woods said with a wide grin during Monday’s video conference.

“That,” for which Woods referred, is Wallace’s South Georgia accent, a challenging cadence in itself, but “Trevin … wears Invisalign and he was tired and he was breathing hard,” Woods said between chuckles. “We talked about it, we joked about it. We were just like, ‘Trevin, you’ve gotta slow down a little bit.’ We didn’t miss any calls, but it was different.”   

Wallace’s promotion from special-teams contributor to first-team inside linebacker developed quickly during that 34-24 loss to the Bengals.

With four seconds left in the third quarter, Shaq Thompson suffered an Achilles tear. Wallace replaced the unit’s emotional leader, but the green dot initially went to veteran Josey Jewell. Five plays later, however, Jewell sustained a groin/hamstring injury. The designator used to detect the defender responsible for wearing the helmet transmitter, relocated to an unsuspecting, but not unprepared source.

Wallace practiced as the defensive quarterback this week and, along with Claudin Cherelus, likely will form a youthful presence in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero’s 3-4 base alignment. The Panthers (1-3) travel to face the Chicago Bears (2-2) at Soldier Field on Sunday.

Rookie earning trust

Wallace, a third-round draft pick, has earned the coaching staff’s confidence during his seven-month professional audition, beginning with extended preseason play.

“I really like his demeanor on game day that we learned about in preseason," linebackers coach Peter Hansen said Thursday. “Seek and destroy, but he takes some calculations within that, which is good. We didn't quite know what we were going to get until those preseason games, and we really saw not only the effort but the strength and, you know, his block destruction with his punch and finding the guy with the ball to go tackle him.

"From the beginning, we were excited about him and then once we saw him in game action, it proved to be what, we hoped he was."

In his first four outings, Wallace has registered three solo tackles in 36 snaps. Throughout the week, Wallace worked on developing play-calling chemistry.

As Woods declared: “It was different, but we didn’t miss any calls” against Cincinnati.

Play calls, no. Tackles? definitely.

The Bengals executed six big, second-half plays, many coming off second-effort runs. In the first half, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase ran through three open-field tackle attempts by Woods, outside linebacker Charles Harris and cornerback Troy Hill, capping a 63-yard touchdown.

Wallace was dinged for a missed tackle. You can wager he heard about it from his mentor, Thompson.

Since joining the Panthers, Thompson has reached out to the rookie. Not long after being drafted No. 72 overall, Thompson texted his new apprentice: "I'm going to be here with you no matter what (the) situation is.”

“He put me under his wing as soon as I got drafted,” Wallace said. “Josey Jewell has too.”

Wallace ready to make voice heard

With Thompson undergoing season-ending surgery Wednesday, Wallace has been entrusted by Evero to orchestrate defensive calls against the Bears. Jewell, who is considered week-to-week, likely will assume the conductor responsibilities when he returns.

Still, the rookie said he was not nervous about communicating the plays and pre-snap alterations. He grinned while rehashing the events to him landing the greet dot last Sunday.

“Shaq went down, and I went in,” he said. “Josey went down, and they said: ‘Tre, you got the green dot.’ I said: ‘What?’ That was crazy.”

Wallace shared that Thompson delivered Monday a digital cut-up of the Bears’ offensive tendencies.

“That’s a great vet right there,” Wallace said. “He was telling me (to) watch the O-line, because the Bears move a lot of gaps. So, watch the O-line ... clean eyes ... then strike. And the last thing he told me was go fly around and play football.”

And communicate clearly as he attends to his pre-snap activities: “Let me get the call in, get the (defensive) backs in, the ‘D’ lineman in, get up and see what formation they are in ...”
Then try not to miss a tackle.

Said Evero: “It’s up to the new guys to make an impact.”

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