CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte native Will Grier was drafted in the third round by the Carolina Panthers in 2019 and found himself as a backup quarterback for the first time in his career. Since last season Grier has changed his mindset and is focused on preparing himself to be ready when his number is called.
"My theme for camp has been me against me. There's a lot of things I learned last year with my experience that I had to get better on that I worked on in the off season that I tried to implement. It doesn't happen overnight, but I've liked my process. I feel more confident," Grier said.
During the offseason, Grier spent time working on the fundamentals of the game, even practicing with his father Chad Grier while doing so.
"Quite frankly, I had to work on everything. I know that's not the answer you'd want to hear, but it's the truth. I kind of had to press the reset button, get back to the basics, get back to fundamentals. I worked with my dad on just accuracy and really taking it back to the fundamentals of playing football and building from there," Grier said.
Grier is also drawing inspiration from Panthers starting quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, who was a backup in New Orleans last season.
"Trying to learn from other people is huge in your own development. Hearing Teddy talk about his experience in New Orleans has been great, learned a lot from it. It goes back to theme that you've got to battle with yourself every day," Grier explained. "The way I look at is it like how can I continue to get better and continue to stay ready because you really don't know when your number will be called."