Panthers linebacker sat out last year for risk of COVID. Now he’ll try to make the team
Christian Miller has been playing football — tackle football — since he was four years old.
Of course, there was time away here and there — the red shirt year when he first started at Alabama, and the time off due to injuries — but playing football has been part of his life for more than 20 years.
Last season, Miller, 25, was the only player on the Panthers roster to have played for the team and then opted out of the season. He was a high-risk opt out of the 2020 NFL season for medical reasons. Now, he’s looking to move on from last year and shift his focus to trying to make the 2021 team, which is far from a guarantee for the 2019 fourth-round pick.
“It definitely feels good to be out here playing,” Miller told The Observer. “I definitely missed the game. I just enjoy the camaraderie of it, and I enjoy the competitiveness of it.”
He was originally selected out of Alabama by former Panthers general manager Marty Hurney to play in former head coach Ron Rivera’s new 3-4 defense. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound defender largely met with Matt Rhule and his staff over virtual meetings due to the pandemic prior to opting out of the season before training camp. Despite that, he was able to come into this year’s camp feeling like he already knew the coaching staff and some of what to expect.
In defensive coordinator Phil Snow’s 4-3 base defense that features a variety of looks and packages, Miller is playing a similar role to starter Brian Burns: lining up at outside linebacker and using his skills for a variety of purposes.
“Being able to rush the passer, set the edge, drop in coverage,” Miller said of what’s being asked to do. “Basically just a versatile position.”
In 2019, Miller played in seven games, partly due to injury. He had both of his two sacks in a Week 3 win against the Arizona Cardinals, and also had two tackles for loss and two quarterback hits in that game. Outside of that, his production and playing time during his rookie year was limited.
The uncertainty of COVID-19 and how the NFL would handle that played a part in Miller’s decision to miss the 2020 season, his father, Corey Miller told The Observer last August. A close family member also tested positive for COVID-19 and had to spend time in the hospital.
“It’s a scary situation,” Corey, a former South Carolina and NFL player, said at the time. “Knowing that it’s real, I don’t know that it played a part, but when you see somebody who has dealt with it, it makes you think about it.”
Miller declined to get into specifics on his year off as he is trying not to look back or too far forward, now that he’s with the team for his second training camp.
“I’m working on just being the best version of myself every single day, that’s on the field, off the field. Just doing anything I can to help the team,” Miller said. “I’m one of those people, I enjoy trying to be the best version of myself and trying to gain advantages. Whether that’s working out extra or watching film on my iPad.”
The approach is something that he first learned from coach Nick Saban, and is something that Rhule echoes: focus on your process, don’t lose sight of the small things by putting all of your attention on the results.
“My main focus is just one day at a time and I truly believe ... the rest will work itself out,” Miller said. “That was our process in college, and it was pretty successful for our team and it was successful for myself. I try it live my life like that. ... Can’t get too high, can’t get too low. There’s gonna be ups and downs with everything, but it’s important how you respond and to be consistent.”
It helps that this defense has some carryover from what he did in college in terms of having multiple different fronts and playing fast and aggressive.
He’s had the support of family — his dad came out to practice last week —friends and teammates. Miller kept in touch with his Panthers teammates over the past year, and he has two former Alabama teammates now on the roster in long snapper Thomas Fletcher and 6-foot-4, 350-pound offensive lineman Deonte Brown, who Miller says had the nickname “Cornbread” in college.
The focus remains on trying to earn a roster spot among a talented defensive front, one of the deepest areas of the Panthers roster, while taking things one step at time.
“The camaraderie of it and I enjoy the competitiveness of it,” Miller said. “Put my equipment on, and just get out there and do what I’ve been doing my whole life, it’s just very enjoyable. Again, football is one of those fun things, it’s kind of like golf, there’s something always that can be improved.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
