Between the 1-10 record and Monday’s axing of head coach Frank Reich, it’s probably safe to say that the Carolina Panthers haven’t had a whole lot of fun this season. But the next man up is trying to change that.
Chris Tabor spoke with reporters on Wednesday, the second time he’s hit the lectern since being named the team’s interim head coach. He was asked how he and the players have handled Reich’s firing.
“Just be a pro,” he replied. “And it’s part of bein’ a pro, and that’s how I look at it. Where I understand, because there’s just been a slight change in some things. We’re still playin’ football. I told ’em we’re out on the grass and we’re playin’ a kid’s game played by grown men. So let’s have some fun while we do it.”
Again, there hasn’t been much fun to be had. Their league-worst record is accompanied by one of this season’s most frustratingly stale offenses—a unit that ranks 30th in yards per game and 29th in points per game.
Tabor was then asked how he’s begun to handle the transition this late into the season.
“Where are we? Week 12? It seems like Week 72,” he said jokingly. “You just don’t wanna make drastic changes. We made a few tweaks here and there. For example, our unit meetings today—instead of an hour, 40 [minutes], we went two hours. So we tweaked maybe some times here and there. But it was not a drastic overhaul. And to be honest with you, we’re on a very normal NFL weekly routine.”
Well, considering David Tepper’s Panthers are anything but normal, that actually may be quite a drastic change.
