Even when it isn't easy.

Even on a day like Thursday, at the conclusion of a long and humid Carolina Panthers training camp practice, when he was approached by a reporter and didn't even need to hear the first full question before knowing what he'd be asked to talk about.

"Josey, right?" he said.

Yeah.

The second-year linebacker's smile stuck to his face as he processed everything. But it was a bit subdued. Understandably so. Two days earlier, Josey Jewell - the veteran linebacker who taught Wallace about Ejiro Evero's system and about NFL life in general for a calendar year - had been released by the team. The 30-year-old linebacker told the front office that he's still not fully healed from the concussion he sustained in late December, and he thought it best to focus on his recovery without occupying a slot on the Panthers' training camp roster.

The news meant a lot of things. It elicited a lot of reactions. Sadness. "Just shock," as Wallace put it. Wallace and Jewell talked every day over the offseason, he said. They spent a ton of time in the facility together, too; Wallace was rehabbing his shoulder while Jewell was in concussion protocol.

Carolina Panthers linebackers Maz Mwansa, left, and Trevin Wallace, right, walk to the team's training camp practice on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.

"He didn't bring it up, though," Wallace told The Charlotte Observer. "And Tuesday, when I saw him come out here, I thought maybe he's in there chilling right now. But then he texted me and let me know everything."

Wallace has heard from a lot of people in the interim. One was Jewell, who offered encouragement, as you might imagine. It probably wouldn't surprise you, either, that the 22-year-old smiling, fast-talking native of Jesup, Georgia, has sought out a lot of mentors during his time in Carolina. That list includes Jewell but also Shaq Thompson, who's now with the Buffalo Bills, and Luke Kuechly, a retired Panthers legend. It also includes Dan Morgan, the general manager of the Panthers, who 20-plus years ago was an inside linebacker to one of the best defenses in Panthers franchise history.

And all the advice from his mentors and fellow veterans was pretty simple, Wallace said. "Next man up" and the like. This was something he already knew. What else he already knew, even before the Jewell news: He was going to be counted on this season.

So as a result, he prepared like it, he said.

Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace runs through a drill during the second day of minicamp in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

"Me and Shaq still talk to this day," Wallace said. "He told me, ‘Last year, you were getting your feet wet. Getting ready. But it's coming. And it's here now. So you know, you gotta approach things differently. You gotta do things differently.'"

Wallace added: "Josey ran this defense. So it's a shocker. Now it's like, dang, you had someone here who was a vet. Now how can we maneuver through? A lot of people were shocked because I was shocked myself, too."

Some fans were panicked, too.

Wallace understood.

But again, that doesn't much change much of anything.

"Everybody has their opinion," he said. "But at the end of the day, as long as the people on the field, all 11 on the defense, are comfortable, that's really what matters. That's who we play with. That's our brotherhood."

Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace during the second day of minicamp in Charlotte, NC on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.

‘It's a great opportunity'

Get Wallace talking about anything else, though, and his smile returns to its full-beamed form.

One of his favorite things to discuss is his rookie season. Wallace finished 2024 starting eight of his 13 games with two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one sack and 64 tackles. His first start came in Week 5, against the Bears, with Thompson and Jewell sidelined, and all the vets told him that it was "your defense now." His only anxiety then? Players understanding the play calls filtered through his thick Southern elocution. ("They got used to it," Wallace said of last season.)

Oct 6, 2024: Chicago Bears running back D'Andre Swift (4) runs the ball as Carolina Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace (56) tackles him during the first half at Soldier Field.

He also smiled about a variety of other topics:

• His new number is 32. That was what he wore in high school and college. He was 56 last year but switched to 32 this year; Christian Rozeboom, his linebacker mate the team acquired in free agency, now wears 56 - the same number he had with the Los Angeles Rams last season.

• Speaking of Rozeboom, Wallace he might become another mentor. "People don't know, but he's got a little joke side to him. But he's real smooth, real chill, a great person to learn from. You know he's been in the league for six years, and then he made 100-something tackles last year. So that's someone you can learn from. We learn from each other. We're always talking. I love how verbal he is. If he's not sure about something, he asks me; if I'm not sure, I ask him."

• Another teammate who communicates well? Safety Tre'Von Moehrig. "I watched some of his film. And he's gonna hit somebody. And you like that," Wallace said. "He's smart, real smart, he communicates. If you're there with him, you realize he's smart and he'll be communicating so fluently."

Wallace's interests off the field precede him. He has four goats: Pebbles, Pebbles Jr., Gruff and Billy. He has one dog, a pit bull named Covault. He has two Dragon Ball Z tattoos on his left arm and wears anime-painted cleats to match. The biggest anime fans on the team: Wallace, Nic Scourton, Claudin Cherelus, DJ Johnson, Jacolby George. He learned as much about work ethic on the football field as he did working the early shift at McDonald's with his mother as the manager; he learned toughness from hunting hogs in the countryside; he learned patience from dropping his fishing line in a still body of water and waiting for a bite, day after week after month growing up.

Panthers linebacker Trevin Wallace smiles as he watches goats eat off of teammate Chandler Zavala's back as they participate in Monday's goat yoga workout at Bank of America Stadium. The Panthers brought in the goats from Zen Hooves as part of mental health awareness month.

Most of this past summer didn't involve fishing or hunting. He spent a lot of time in Charlotte, working on his craft, approaching the game differently. He already knew that's what he needed to do; he heard it everywhere.

Jewell's exit doesn't change anything.

"It's a really talented group," head coach Dave Canales said of his linebackers, even with Jewell gone. That includes Wallace and Rozeboom but also Cherelus, Jacoby Windmon, Jon Rhattigan, Bam Martin-Scott and Tuasivi Nomura. "They're very athletic. They've got aggressiveness in their style of play. They fit what we're looking for. So it's a great opportunity for those guys."

Great opportunity for Wallace, especially.

Not that anyone needed to remind him.