Panthers rookie watch: Derrick Brown’s hustle, Jeremy Chinn’s big hit

Panthers rookie watch: Reviewing Derrick Brown’s hustle and Jeremy Chinn’s hit from Week 11 win vs. Lions, plus a CB rotation.

The Panthers pitched a shutout for just the eighth time in franchise history yesterday, blanking the Lions in a 20-0 home win. They wouldn’t have done it without a solid performance from their rookie class of 2020.

Here is how the first-year players did against Detroit.

Derrick Brown showed his hustle

He still hasn’t gotten his first sack. First-round pick Derrick Brown came close a couple of times, though. Watch Brown chase down Matt Stafford from behind and get a hit just after his release.

That was one of two quarterback hits for Brown on the day.

Yetur Gross-Matos still working into rotation

Elsewhere up front, Yetur Gross-Matos split a sack with Efe Obada, his first since Week 4. That said, even after Stephen Weatherly went on the injured reserve list, his playing time has remained relatively limited for a high draft pick. Marquis Haynes (who balled out) wound up playing one more snap than Gross-Matos on Sunday.

Jeremy Chinn lit a Lion up

As for the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Month, Chinn was on the field for every defensive snap and pitched in four tackles, including that one time he killed a man.

In general, Chinn was relatively quiet compared to what we’ve become accustomed to. That’s fine, though. This year he’s been forced to make a disproportionate number of stops because the defenders around him (most notably Tahir Whitehead) were failing to do so. With Whitehead out and Jermaine Carter Jr. playing middle linebacker, the defense as a whole was much more on point, taking much of the work off Chinn’s shoulders.

Troy Pride, Stantley Thomas-Oliver traded reps

With Donte Jackson finally getting to rest his lingering toe injury, the Panthers tried something different at his position. Instead of giving all the reps to disappointing fourth-rounder Troy Pride Jr., they had him rotating with seventh-round pick Stantley Thomas-Oliver, who had seen very limited action this year. In the end, Pride played 33 defensive snaps and Thomas-Oliver 20. They combined for three tackles.

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