On former Carolina linebacker Sam Mills, who this week became a Hall of Fame semifinalist for the first time
“Sam Mills means so much to this organization, and the NFL for that matter, because of who he is, where he’s come from and the many things that he accomplished. For him to be in that kind of company, I think is most certainly deserved and I do think a guy like him deserves the opportunity to be in the Hall of Fame, and hopefully the people that vote see it that way as well.”
Cool with working on a holiday
“It’s going to be my first time ever playing on Thanksgiving. I remember growing up as a kid watching teams play on Thanksgiving. And since I’ve been in the league, we’ve always practiced real early in the morning, then got home to have Thanksgiving dinner with our families and watch the afternoon games. Now we get to be a part of it. I think it’s going to be a fun experience and will be a special memory for all of us.”
Could use some Advil
“I don’t want to get into too much of this regarding Greg Hardy.”
On Vegas making his 3-7 team Thursday’s favorites
“I think that when you play for a team in the NFC East sometimes it obviously gets more TV coverage that sometimes that part plays a role and the fact that there are more fans out there that have rooted for the Cowboys for years, so I don’t really put too much talk into that. I think that Carolina is the best team in the NFC, if not football right now, and we have to play a really, really good game to win this week.”
Underdog
“We don’t give a you-know-what. At the end of the day, we are 10-0. … We’re going to make you eat your crow. And once you eat crow, don’t come and talk to us because we don’t care anymore.”
Formerly anti-rotation, now OK with it
“We have a good problem to have. We have a a lot of talented players on the D-line … At the end of the day, you play this game to win a Super Bowl, to win championships. It’s a team game. Since I’ve come to this locker room, it’s really enhanced what this game is about.”
Target of grief from fellow offensive linemen after landing on Sports Illustrated cover
“It’s definitely something that I can look back and be excited about, but I’m in my second year, I’m 22, and I’m up and coming in this league. I don’t want any of that [attention]. Do you know what my coach is going to say about that?”
When asked if he’s given advice to teammates about handling outside attention
“I’m not the wizard of like, ‘Everybody listen to me. I’ve been here before.’ That would be another thing a person would say he’s being arrogant … None of that in November is really important. We want to be relevant come January, February.”