It's not always about the "rah, rah" guy in the locker room. There's a balance on the Buffalo Bills' defense. That's where 11-year linebacker Shaq Thompson comes in.

Whether he plays on game day or not, Thompson's veteran leadership isn't overlooked by the rest of the team. His mentality – a winning mentality – is contagious throughout the defense and in the locker room.

It's something he developed from his rookie season back in 2015 with the Carolina Panthers. Thompson credited that to the people around him who didn't allow negativity to loom. A cancerous energy, as he described it, has no place on any team. He approaches every day wanting to and knowing he can win, making sure his teammates are confident they can too.

Teammates revealed that Thompson finds different ways to motivate and encourage the team throughout the week leading up to a game.

"He addressed the whole team and had a mentality speech for everybody," defensive end A.J. Epenesa said. "Having the right mindset, that was his big thing for the whole team, especially as a defense. That's something he harps on and I think it's pulled us together pretty well."

Throughout the week, it's about instilling confidence and locking in the mental preparation to go out there and make stops. During a game, even if the Bills are down or the defense isn't having its ideal performance, there's not a doubt in Thompson's mind that they are winners.

Even as a six-year veteran, Epenesa takes lessons from Thompson. Whether a play goes his way or not, Thompson emphasizes putting it behind and keep pushing. One play doesn't determine the whole game.

Especially on game days, Thompson encourages the defense to let loose, play free and carry the energy fostered throughout the week onto the field. It's about giving 100 percent while knowing his teammates have his back if a play goes awry, and vice versa.

Thompson specifically remembers a conversation from his rookie season that still sticks with him 11 years later.

"'Just play fast. I'll make you right … whether you're right or wrong, just go,'" Thompson recalled former teammate and safety Roman Harper telling him as a rookie. "That put in my head, 'I can trust him. He can trust me to just go play fast and play free,' and that's what I try to tell some of these guys … 'Hey, I'm here to make you right. Just play fast, I got you.'"

Thompson's teammates have trust in the veteran that he's ready to take on any role. Whether it's on the sidelines on game day or out on the field, Thompson said he never wants to be the unprepared man on the team.

"A lot of guys just see the way he works. They had nothing but respect for him when he came in," Epenesa said. "We're all witnesses to how he practices and how hard he works. So, when his number was called, we all had faith in him. We were like, 'Okay, you're the one with the green dot, and no one's asking questions, no one's second guessing. We trust you.'"

Buffalo's defense sustained many injuries throughout the 2025 season, including its captain, linebacker Terrel Bernard. As the backup play caller on defense, Thompson is comfortable in that role — relaying the defensive play call to the other 10 guys on the field. He calls it being the "Josh Allen on the defense," making sure everyone is on the same page, playing the right role on each snap and executing at a high level.

That's exactly the type of character that belongs in Buffalo, and head coach Sean McDermott knew all too well the kind of player and person he brought in when the Bills signed Thompson to a one-year deal in June 2025.

"A winner," McDermott described Thompson. "He's here for a reason, and when we drafted him back years ago [in Carolina], you could tell right away the impact he made in our locker room, on our team, what type of person he was … it didn't take long for other players to say to me, 'Hey, he's got it.' And part of it is that they can learn from watching a player like that, how he handles himself on the field and off the field."

The Panthers drafted Thompson in the first round, 25^th overall in the 2015 NFL Draft. At the time, McDermott was Carolina's defensive coordinator. In his rookie season, Thompson had 50 tackles, four tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and one sack. During his second season when McDermott was still with the Panthers, Thompson had 56 tackles, four tackles for loss, two quarterback hits, one interception and two fumble recoveries.

Thompson leads by example, but also vocally. His teammates see the kind of edge he plays with out on the field and in practice, so when Thompson is the one challenging the team, calling the defense or giving advice, they listen.

Even the offense feels the effects of Thompson's leadership and energy.

Rookie tight end Jackson Hawes said he loves taking advice from Thompson and is one of the two veterans that come to mind when thinking about who helped him throughout his rookie season.

Center Connor McGovern sees and feels how impactful Thompson is to the whole team. When he came to Buffalo, the offensive lineman knew Thompson would find his place quickly given the kinds of characters McDermott and the Bills' staff value in the locker room.

"He's not just a great player," McGovern said. "He's also a great person. Everyone just easily rallies behind him."

For both Hawes and McGovern, being key pieces to Buffalo's offense, the aggressive, winning mentality Thompson emphasizes is something they feed off of.

"Just a relentless animal," McGovern said. "As offensive linemen, that's great, because you want to run the ball. You want to control the clock. We have the same approach. Being a linebacker, being a center and across the whole line, it's the same mentality."

One thing Thompson emphasizes is the ability to self-correct. Since joining the league in 2015, he's very familiar with needing to adapt. With more rules and regulations implemented, the NFL defense looks different from when Thompson first started out. While he still values aggressiveness, he understands how important it is to adjust.

His adaptability not only helped him grow with the league, but also game-by-game.

"You get all your confidence by watching film, going out there, practicing, making your mistakes, but also correcting them. The best teacher is self-correct," Thompson said. "As long as you can self-correct, you're going to have that winning mindset."

The 'Dogo' mentality – the breed of dog that's loyal to his team but is prepared to hunt and pounce on the opponent – was presented to the team by Thompson.

"You could tell it was truly from the heart and how much it means to him," McGovern said. "And people just really feed off that."

"That really sparked something in me and the rest of the team to just go out there, play fearless, play for one another and just give it your all," rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston said. "[Thompson] has stood on that Dogo mentality, and I feel like that's paid great dividends to the defense."

After Bernard's elbow injury he sustained in the third quarter of Week 12 against Houston, Thompson had no issue stepping up and filling in for the captain in the meantime. During that stretch of games, Thompson rallied the defense at halftime in all three contests Bernard was absent.

The first half against the Steeler, Bengals and Patriots didn't go how the Bills wanted, but that didn't mean they couldn't surge in the second half.

In Week 13 at Pittsburgh, neither offense found a rhythm in the first half. While Buffalo's defense didn't lack, it exploded in the second half. On the first drive of the third quarter, defensive end Joey Bosa forced a fumble and cornerback Christian Benford recovered it for a touchdown. The following Steelers drive, Benford intercepted quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Pittsburgh couldn't overcome the Bills' defense and went scoreless for the rest of the game.

Against Cincinnati, Buffalo allowed 21 points in the first half. After halftime, the defense held the Bengals to 14 points and intercepted quarterback Joe Burrow in the fourth quarter. Benford took the ball 63 yards into the end zone, giving the Bills their first lead of the game. Epenesa followed that up with another pick, putting the offense back on the field. Allen and Co. capitalized on the turnover with a touchdown reception to Hawes.

New England put up 24 points in the first half of Week 15. Buffalo's offense didn't spark until the second half, only scoring one touchdown in the first two quarters. The Bills' defense flipped that script out of halftime, holding the Patriots to seven points while the offense put four touchdowns on the board.

Before Week 12, Thompson also made himself available for any role on defense. Against Atlanta in Week 7, he jumped in as middle linebacker, strongside linebacker and nickelback.

His ability to step up wasn't instantaneous, though, upon his arrival in June. Thompson still had to learn a difficult Buffalo defense when he joined the team and the ins and outs of a new playbook coming from the Panthers.

"It's a very hard defense to learn … really all the linebackers, there's a lot that goes on your shoulder and plate that you have to communicate, have to know and understand," linebacker Baylon Spector said. "Helping him categorize things into boxes where he can take that and try to put things together, so he's not overwhelmed with 100 different things."

Spector was just one of the many players Thompson shouted out. The linebacker room, including Matt Milano, Joe Andreessen and Dorian Williams, and Epenesa all helped him transition and make Buffalo feel like home away from home.

"Especially being away from my wife and kids for the first time, those guys really made it home," Thompson said. "I got a lot of respect for them, and I know they have a lot of respect for me."

Alongside his teammates, Thompson had those relationships with McDermott, general manager Brandon Beane and linebackers coach Al Holcomb from Carolina to fall back on.

From 2015-16, Beane was the assistant general manager for the Panthers and helped construct their draft board from 2012-17. Holcomb was Thompson's linebackers coach, defensive run game coordinator, assistant head coach on defense, interim defensive coordinator and defensive coordinator throughout the linebacker's 10-year career in Carolina.

Thompson said the familiarity he had with the Bills' staff made the next stop of his career feel right. On top of that, he always wanted to play for McDermott as a head coach, even though he had just two seasons with McDermott as his defensive coordinator.

"The way he just sits back and teaches us. If we make a mistake, he'll come over here – he's not 'Rah, rah,' – he's going to come over here and he's going to teach us. He's going to make sure we understand the formation, the leverages, the width of the gap the wide receivers are tied in, understand the splits," Thompson said. "He's a great teacher and that's what I really love about him because he's going to sit there and he's going to explain to you the reasoning: the why's and the what's and the who to look for. That's big."

The respect he has for McDermott and how he coaches never left Thompson. Their relationship didn't have to grow because it was consistently strong even if they weren't in contact for a decade while Thompson was still in Carolina.

"He remembers me as a pup, I remember him. It's kind of a weird analogy. It's just, the relationship's always been there," Thompson said. "It's me showing that I can still play and he knew what type of player I was when he brought me in the beginning."

The team, coaches and players alike, are serious about their craft, according to Thompson. No one has a losing mentality and the brotherhood between each other is strong. Thompson knew he'd fit right in, and the Bills knew immediately he'd only enhance that winning mentality.

"I'm where I'm supposed to be at and I'm playing for the team that wanted me," Thompson said. "It feels like I should've been here. It just makes sense."