Beason anticipating leading Panthers' D

CHARLOTTE -- Not only does Carolina Panthers linebacker Jon Beason look forward to hearing voices in his head, he's wishing he heard them a year ago.

The precocious middle linebacker -- thrust into the starting lineup in the responsibility spot earlier than anyone planned last year --said he was very much in favor of the just-passed resolution allowing a radio receiver in a defensive player's helmet to protect the signal-calling process.

There's been no official announcement that he's going to be the one hearing defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac, but since he calls the signals, it's a safe assumption he'll get the first one. Teams are allowed two, although only one can be on the field at a time. Another safe bet would be that safety Chris Harris would likely have a backup helmet with the receiver at the ready if anything happened to Beason, since it's needed on a player who's sure to be on the field for every snap in every defensive package.

"Who knows who the lucky guy might be?" Beason laughed, knowing full well it's coming his way. "It's good that that one passed, because as we found out last year, you don't know who might be watching."

The measure had been discussed in recent years, but gained momentum with New England's "Spygate" controversy.

Having signals spoken to him will be a relief for Beason, who was thrown into the deep end of the pool his rookie year when Dan Morgan was injured in Week 3.

That meant he got the wristband full of defensive codes, and he had to decipher the hand signals coming from Trgovac on the sideline, refer to his notes and communicate the calls to his teammates, all while the play clock was running and he was learning his own responsibilities.

On a basic play, he had to make at least three calls, setting the defensive front, the coverage and any checks that might need to be made at the line of scrimmage. It was a lot to do in a little time for a rookie, and he said several teams (notably Seattle) went hurry-up or shifted alignments at the line to try to confuse him.

"Being a rookie, and trying to get a defense full of vets and All-Pros lined up, it was pretty stressful, because it was all on you," Beason admitted. "That's why (the radio) is going to help, because it's going to make the whole thing a lot faster, a lot smoother. There's so many words, so many signals coming at you so fast, it's hard sometimes.

"It's going to help me a lot. Coach Trgovac is going to make it smooth. He's calm under pressure, so having him in my ear is going to be good."

(heraldonline.com)