Rivera’s first task for new Panthers CB Ross Cockrell? Light a fire under teammates.

Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera has a task for newly-signed cornerback Ross Cockrell right away: Light a fire under third-year corner James Bradberry.

OK, that’s a slight generalization of what Rivera said of Cockrell on Tuesday morning at the NFL’s annual meeting.

He wants his cornerbacks all to challenge each other, starting with the first-string players.

“I think that’s one of the things that when we go back and look at the last two seasons, I’m not quite sure if Daryl (Worley) and James did that enough with each other, you know, as to who was going to be the No. 1 guy,” Rivera said.

Worley, who was drafted with Bradberry in 2016 to fill a gaping need at corner, started for the Panthers for two years before he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for receiver Torrey Smith earlier this month.

The Panthers then agreed to a deal with former Washington corner Bashaud Breeland, but the deal fell through when Breeland could not pass his physical.

Cockrell was signed last week, along with former Tennessee Titans safety Da’Norris Searcy.

Carolina has long been familiar with Cockrell, who is from Charlotte and played at Duke. Rivera even re-visited the pre-draft notes he took on Cockrell back in 2014 when trying to get re-acquainted with his new cornerback.

“(We) went back and looked at rankings for those guys when they came out in the draft and I know Ross we liked a lot. We even wondered if he could play the nickel spot,” Rivera said.

Among the scribblings was the recognition that Cockrell had the competitive quality Carolina wants more of among its young corners. He will compete with Kevon Seymour and LaDarius Gunter for the position left vacant by Worley.

And while Rivera thinks Cockrell’s experience will complement Bradberry well, he made it clear he also wants Cockrell to create competition with Bradberry for the No. 1 corner spot.

“You push and compete against one another, you’re going to make each other better,” Rivera said. “I’m not sure if we did that enough.

“Ross can do that because he’s a competitor. You have to really study guys and watch them. And some of the things that we wrote about him when he was coming out (for the draft) gave you that sense of feel.”

This story was originally published March 27, 2018 at 3:06 PM with the headline "Rivera’s first task for new Panthers CB Ross Cockrell? Light a fire under teammates.."