Brian Burns growing into his role, in a hurry

[Sir Purr]

"I thought you saw Brian take that role on in the middle of last year," Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said. "I thought Brian did a good job of starting to become more vocal. I think the thing he's doing right now, he's a little banged up, so he can't do everything, but he's really focused on trying to do everything he can to get better at what he can do.


"A lot of guys think of leadership as a position. To me, it's if you're willing to be coached, if you're willing to hold yourself accountable, if you're willing to say 'Hey that's on me,' and if you're willing to work really hard. Brian's doing those things, so I'm sure he's a guy a lot of guys will follow."


Burns said he had some personal goals he'd like to hit this year, but kept those to himself. He acknowledged that he wanted to lead, and kept coming back to his central theme for the day.


"But as a defense, I just want to be completely dominant over the course of the season," he said simply. "I feel like we can do that now."