PHILADELPHIA -- Carolina Panthers tight end Tommy Tremble added some spice to his game-sealing touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 25-14 win over the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field.
After breaking free from coverage, a wide-open Tremble snagged a 19-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Young. After the score, Tremble immediately pointed at All-Pro defensive back Cooper DeJean, who was trying to catch up to the ball. Tremble was flagged for taunting, which set up a 48-yard extra point attempt, which was missed -- wide right -- by second-year kicker Ryan Fitzgerald.
After the game, Tremble acknowledged the finger wagging at DeJean was retaliation for an earlier personal foul by the defensive back. On the previous play, DeJean was penalized for unnecessary roughness on Tremble's fellow tight end, Mitchell Evans.
"It happens -- it's football, tempers get up and stuff like that," Tremble said. "And so, it was kind of not that cool for him to do that to Mitch. And so, in the heat of the moment, stuff happens and I'll be paying that fine, probably, next week."
DeJean and Evans got tangled up on a 5-yard run by running back Chuba Hubbard. Following the play, DeJean and Evans got into a brief skirmish that caused Evans to leave his feet and fall to the ground hard.
After the fall, Evans limped to the huddle and the Panthers were awarded 15 yards.
"The dude was just on my back," DeJean said. "He was trying to put me to the ground and was trying to walk over me as I was still standing up. Obviously I didn't want him to do that so I stood up, he flipped over top of me. [The explanation I got] was that I picked him up and slammed him to the ground.
"It's pretty tough to do when your arms are in front of you on the ground and he's on your back, to pick someone up and slam them to the ground. I don't know. I guess I just can't put myself in that position."
Evans laughed off the incident in the locker room after the win. But he said he started to cramp as he left his feet.
"I don't know what happened," Evans said. "And then I just started cramping like mid-flip, mid-suplex [laughs] and landed on my back. I was like, 'Oh, that did not feel good.' But it got us 15 [penalty yards] ... so I'll take it."
Tremble said he didn't see what caused the penalty on DeJean initially. But once he heard Evans go down after the play, he was irked for his teammate.
"I just thought that personal foul was kind of egregious," Tremble said. "It was uncalled for -- something that didn't need to happen. I shouldn't have retaliated. That wasn't cool of me to do."
Tremble caught four passes for 46 yards and both of the Panthers' receiving touchdowns Sunday. He was also used as a versatile option, as he lined up all around the field, including fullback.
Before the game-sealing score, Tremble said Young (who has thrown 11 passing touchdowns, the most by a Panthers QB through the first five games of a season) told him that he was going to target the tight end on the play.
"It was something that we repped during the week," Tremble said. "We knew it was going to be open."
Afterward, teammates heaped praise on Tremble, who was a third-round pick by the franchise in 2021. Tremble, who is in the final year of his contract, put together a memorable performance as the Carolina offense continues to build momentum and create big plays.
"Huge -- not only to come up with two scores, but to make clutch blocks and open holes up for [Hubbard], big catches," wide receiver Jalen Coker said about Tremble's performance. "I think we need him. He's unlike any other guy I've been around, too."
And sticking up for his teammate will only make him more beloved in the locker room.
"I think he's just the heart and soul of the team," Coker said.
ESPN's Tim McManus contributed to this report.
