Panthers defensive end Brian Burns told reporters in a Zoom call yesterday that he’s put on 15 pounds this offseason. We’re going out on a limb and assuming it’s not because he was binging on pizza. For professional athletes, that’s all about resistance training, which is mostly what Burns got up to during his quarantine in Florida.
Burns told reporters he kept getting booted from parks so he had to resort to creative weightlifting sessions like carrying buckets filled with dirt. Here’s how he described it, per Joe Person at the Athletic.
“Aww, man, it was bad. . . We were finding any way to get some work in. We did a lot of bodyweight stuff, bands, resistance. At the end of the day, we got some work. We got something done.”
Burns plans to play at around 255 pounds this year. That’s about 10 pounds heavier than his rookie season.
Adding that extra muscle and recovering from his wrist injury should give Burns a better chance to go one-on-one against quality offensive tackles like those of the Packers, who were effectively able to shut him down during their Week 10 matchup.
This year, the Panthers get a rematch with Green Bay Week 15. Assuming the NFL hasn’t screwed up the season by failing to take the pandemic seirously and both are healthy, we’ll get to see round two of Burns vs. David Bakhtiari, one of the top tackles in the league.
More power will help him.
Eventually, Burns will have to add more pass-rushing moves to his repertoire if he’s going to become an elite sack producer. If defensive line coach Mike Phair can teach Burns some new tricks, look out.
