Jarrett Bell

USA TODAY Sports

CHARLOTTE — There’s always some sort of competition afoot when Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly are rolling together at work. This is seemingly essential to an edge that has resulted in arguably the NFL’s best linebacker tandem — one-up the other guy.

On Thursday, with the biggest game of the season looming, it was an underhanded throwing contest. As Davis described it, they rated the passes they whipped to each other before practice for some serious bragging rights.

“He kind of got a little upset, a little jealous, because I think I won that battle,” Davis told USA TODAY Sports as he peeled the tape off his fingers, formed miniature tape balls and hurled them across the locker room at Kuechly. “We’re just having fun. We try to push each other.”

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Watching and talking to Davis and Kuechly during a media session in advance of the NFC divisional playoff Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks provided a rather revealing snapshot of chemistry that fuels one of the league's best defenses. At one point, while both held court with groups of reporters while positioned maybe 20 feet away, they made eye contact, nodded, and kept talking.

“They’re some clowns,” Josh Norman, the gregarious all-pro cornerback, chimed in from another spot in the locker room. “Their competition is stupid-high. I don’t think you can match the competition they put themselves in.

“For example, if one guy has more tackles than the other guy, there’s some chore the other guy has to do in the locker room. Crazy stuff like that.”

As Norman spoke, Davis joined Kuechly at his locker. They stood together in the corner.

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Chores? Tell me about these chores.

Their response was striking in that it came in stereo. A split-second apart, like an old married couple who knows what the spouse is thinking, they uttered the exact same words: “Josh doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

Davis: “He’s talking out the side of his neck.”

Kuechly: “Josh is trying to stir something up.”

Then they yelled across the room at Norman, each feigning angry gestures. Simultaneously.

Norman shot back, “Y’all need to do some chores.”

Kuechly rolled his eyes.

Mess with Kuechly, and you are messing with Davis — and vice-versa. It’s that brother’s keeper mentality, which is why Davis says he has been quick to get in an opponent’s face if he feels it warranted to respond to a cheap shot. Kuechly does likewise.

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“They’re brothers,” said rookie Shaq Thompson, brought into the fold as the third starting linebacker in last year's draft. “They connect more than probably anybody in here.”

Davis, 32, the longest-tenured Panther in his 11th season, is the guy on the team that no one wants to disappoint. In a show of respect that goes far beyond his stature as the franchise’s all-time leading tackler, players call him “Grandpa.”

“I’m not that old,” he says.

Maybe not, but his resilience is legendary.

He’s rebounded from three torn anterior cruciate ligaments, another reason that Kuechly was as thrilled as anyone that Davis earned his first Pro Bowl selection this season. Versatile and explosive from his weak side post, Davis' impact on the sixth-ranked defense included being the only player in the NFL with at least five sacks (a career-high 5½) and three interceptions.

Kuechly, 24, won defensive rookie of the year honors in 2012, then became the first Panther named defensive player of the year the following season. Since 2012, no one in the NFL, according to press box statistics, has amassed more tackles than Kuechly. Despite missing three games early in the season while in the concussion protocol, Kuechly led Carolina with 137 tackles, followed by Davis with 123.

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Davis views Kuechly as the younger brother he never had. That vibe began immediately, when Davis took a rookie under his wing nearly four years ago.

“It was, ‘Hey, my name is Thomas. I’m going to take care of you. As long as you work, I’ll be here for you,' "Kuechly told USA TODAY Sports.

They are cut from the same cloth. Their differences represent surface stuff. Davis is married with four kids. Kuechly is single. Davis is African-American, Kuechly is Caucasian. Davis grew up in a small town in the deep South, Shellman, Ga. Kuechly is from Cincinnati.

They are emblematic of how bonds in an NFL locker room can transcend age, culture and background.

“Look at their similarities,” Norman said. “They were both first rounders. Both came in ballin’.”

Kuechly maintains that he’s learned more from Davis, last year's NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year, in how unselfish he is with his community service, which has inspired him to become a participant in Davis’ numerous foundation events that benefit underprivileged children.

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“Obviously, he can play football,” Kuechly said. “But off-the-field is the best part. Thomas has an event for everything: Christmas, Thanksgiving, back to school, a spring football camp. Every holiday is covered, every part of the year is covered. That’s cool to see.”

Kuechly has spent time around Davis’ family and with much conviction described Davis' son, T.J., as a spitting image of his father. But they socialize away from work only occasionally.

Then again, it’s a seven-day-a-week job during the season. Davis and Kuechly show up at Bank of America Stadium like clockwork on Mondays and Tuesdays, typically off-days for the Panthers. When teammates talk about their work ethic, they are undoubtedly accounting for all of the hours together studying film.

The end result is reflected with production and synchronicity while lining up all over coordinator Sean McDermott’s defense. It’s tough to get a read on them — blitz or drop? — on any given snap.

Yet this is no mystery: The competition is always on to see who can get to the football first.

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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell

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