CHARLOTTE — Chau Smith-Wade wants to make sure everyone remembers that there is a soundtrack to Demani Richardson's game.

"He came out with his own song," Smith-Wade reminded folks this week. "He had his own song!"

The song, "Candy Rain," was technically not Richardson's. It originally belonged to the group Soul For Real. But Richardson made it his own during training camp, when he performed it not once, not twice, but three times during the rookie talent show. As Richardson kept making plays during the preseason, his teammates serenaded him with the 1995 single.

"I feel like a lot of the guys forgot about it," Smith-Wade said this week, "but then when he makes a play, it's something that you think about, you know, you think about that, 'my love.'"

Richardson has made a lot of things his own recently. The rookie stepped in on Sunday to start in place of the injured Nick Scott (who was replacing the injured Jordan Fuller). By games end, Richardson had a team high 11 tackles.

"The thing about Demani," Smith-Wade began, "I came in with him, you know, we both rookies, so going into training camp, he came in with an abundance of confidence."

That confidence is something that oozes from Richardson. He knows what he can bring on the field, if simply given a chance to do so.

"When I first got here, I just showed them how dedicated I was how smart I was," Richardson explained. "I'm reliable. I'm always in the right spot and I make plays when they come to me."

But while prevalent, that attitude didn't come easily. Richardson played five years at Texas A&M, finishing with 304 tackles, four interceptions and four fumble recoveries. When he arrived in the NFL as an undrafted free agent rookie, he knew his spot on the totem pole wasn't guaranteed.

"When you go drafted, they just don't think you belong," Richardson said before admitting, "when you go undrafted, sometimes you think you don't belong.

"I always knew like some people like, counted me out, but I also knew I was destined to be in the league and play."

It didn't take long after his arrival for that to become clear to other Panthers as well. During the joint practice with the New York Jets, Richardson picked off two interceptions, and then broke up a pass against Aaron Rodgers in a 7-on-7 drill. He capped the week with another interception during the preseason game.

"It just starts from when he got here in OTAs, creating turnovers, that's what gets you on the field," safety Xavier Woods noted of Richardson. "That's what keeps you in the league, making a play a day. That's the motto I live by, make a play a day, you get to stay."

Added defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero: "If you kind of look back at the off season and the training camp, he really had the most ball production out of anybody on the defense. And so, from that standpoint, he's been doing a great job."

Following the preseason, Richardson was buried on the depth chart, behind Woods, Fuller and Scott. But, following Woods advice, just kept making plays when he could, where he could. It did not go unnoticed.

"You just look at just the attention to detail, kind of like I was talking about, the focus and the professionalism, which is that he displays," Evero said. "For a young guy, a guy that just got into the league to have such great habits, it's not a surprise that he was able to go into the game and function the way that he did and just really, really proud of him and proud of the way he performed."

"He was flying to the ball, his effort was there, his energy was there. He was executing on all cylinders, doing his job," bragged Woods.

Caleb Farley was on the field for a handful of snaps on Sunday as well, his first defensive action since arriving in Charlotte. But the former first-round defensive back has been around the game long enough to know what begets success and what doesn't. His few snaps with Richardson on Sunday left an impression.

"I want to shout out and tell him he was communicating very well," Farley said.

"I feel like this business is a professional business and a lot of guys take their opportunities, take the most of it and they go out there and they lead and they do what they've been coached to do and he definitely went out there, communicated his butt off."

The communication part is key. As Woods explained, Evero's scheme leans heavily on safeties communicating. Without it, everything can fall apart. And for as much confidence as Richardson arrived with, there was still more to gain to be ready to start.

"When he first got here he wasn't as good, as loud and as confident as he was," Woods said. "Not saying he wasn't communicating but he gained that confidence. I told him just name it and claim it. If you're rolling, we're all rolling. If you're right, we're all right."

And if they're all right, they're all signing.