As the Patriots offensive players prepare for the Panthers impressive defense ahead of Sunday’s game in Carolina, there is at least one foe they have plenty of familiarity with.
New England traded former Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore to Carolina on Oct. 6 while the cornerback was still on PUP and in the midst of a rather quiet contract dispute with Bill Belichick's team.
He made his Panthers debut in last week’s win over the Falcons, notching an interception in limited reps.
As Gilmore works his way back from quad injury he suffered last season in New England that required surgery, his former wide receiver teammates know exactly what they can expect from No. 9 in a Panthers jersey.
“Stephon Gilmore? A dog is going to be a dog. Steph’s definitely a dog. He’s somebody who’s smart, aggressive, he knows the game of football,” Patriots leading receiver Jakobi Meyers responded when asked for a scouting report on Gilmore. “So definitely going to be on my A game this week if I ever get a chance to go against him. Whoever is going against him definitely has to be ready because he’s one of those guys who attacks the ball and makes you pay.”
Both Meyers and fellow third-year receiver N’Keal Harry noted how helpful it was to compete against Gilmore on the practice field in their first two NFL seasons.
“Steph is a phenomenal player. He’s helped me grow as a player over these past couple of years. So I’m excited to be able to get to line up against him this week,” Harry said, going on to explain the value of that practice field competition. “It was very important, just from getting reps. A lot of guys don’t get to get reps like that all the time against a player of his caliber. So just going up against him on the day to day it really did help me improve as a player.”
“Coming to the NFL I wanted to go against the best, even if I wasn’t playing the most or getting the most opportunities, whatever it was. I knew that Steph was one of those guys that guys wanted to be. A lot of DBs wanted to play like Steph,” Meyers agreed. “A lot of guys in the league probably wanted Steph’s career. So going against him every day, it helped me get better as a player. It gave me something to look forward to and just pushed me to go harder.”
And if you were fortunate enough to get the best of the veteran No. 1 cornerback in one of those practice reps in Foxborough?
“You knew you had to bring it that next rep. If you beat Steph once then he’s coming back at you,” Meyers said with a smirk. “That’s going to be a good fight. I’m excited to go against him. I’m happy he’s back on the field playing. Catching an interception last week, I’m really happy to see him doing that.”
