Ron Rivera has, for the past two Carolina Panthers victories and possibly more, told his team in the locker room following the wins to “keep your personality.”
Yes, the one-game-at-a-time mantra has and will always be Rivera’s favorite refrain, but this one is just as important.
What Rivera is telling his players: keep dancing during warmups at practice during the week, keep playing music in the locker room, keep mouthing the lyrics to an Adele hit song for an Instagram video, keep celebrating touchdowns and interceptions and never lose yourself.
“There’s a great saying: Respect your opponent but believe in yourself,” Rivera said Friday after Carolina’s 33-14 dismantling of the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving.