PHOENIX -- Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera made it clear from the beginning of Wednesday's NFC coaches breakfast at the NFL owners meetings that he didn't want to talk about one of his former players, defensive end Greg Hardy.

That didn't stop the questions.

Sprinkled between questions about free agency, the draft and current players on the roster, Rivera was asked about Hardy and the type of player he would be for his new team in Dallas.

Many of the questions focused on a conversation Rivera had with Cowboys coach Jason Garrett during these meetings. Some insinuated that Rivera recommended Hardy. Rivera refuted that.

"It was just answering the question about what they were getting in terms of a football player," he said.

Hardy faced domestic violence charges stemming from an incident with his former girlfriend last May. The charges were dropped in February, but Hardy remains on the commissioner's exempt list while the NFL determines whether he violated the league's personal conduct code.

Rivera has moved on from Hardy. This was one of the final times he will get a heavy dose of questions about his 2013 sacks leader.

Rivera is focused on preparing second-year player Kony Ealy and others to replace what Hardy did on the field. He is targeting the leadership of center Ryan Kalil and linebacker Thomas Davis that enabled Carolina to recover from a 3-8-1 start last season to make the playoffs.

Rivera believes, as does general manager Dave Gettleman, that the roster is better now than it was at the end of last season.

Still, questions about Hardy came. Here are a few samples of how Rivera handled it:

Have you talked to Hardy personally in the last few months?

Rivera: I'm not going to get into that.

Do you think Hardy can be successful in Dallas?

Rivera: Again, I'm not going to get into it. He's on another team right now. Greg did a nice job for us. We're very happy for him as we go forward.

Did you talk to anybody with the Cowboys about Hardy?

Rivera: I just told Jason, "On the football field, you've got a heck of a young man." And we'll leave it at that.

Can you discuss your personal feelings on Hardy?

Rivera: For the most part, it was a tough set of circumstance we went through. It was a tough situation. We handled it the best we could and we went forward.

Did you recommend Hardy to the Cowboys?

Rivera: The specific questions we got, that we answered for the most part, was really about him on the football field. And that was it. I'm going to be very vague about this. We don't want to talk about players that are no longer with us. I'm sorry. I'm just going to be very vague.

Was it awkward talking about one of your former players to another NFC team?

Rivera: I don't think so. He's not the only player we've talked [about] amongst other coaches. Whether it's him or anybody else, if somebody calls me and asks me about a player, I'm going to answer it honestly.

These are young men that are just trying to live their lives and find jobs and find work. I'm not going to bash anybody. I'm going to answer the questions as honestly as possible. I'm going to move on, whether it's him or anybody else. It's only fair to the players that that coaching staff that calls and inquires gets an honest answer.

How did Hardy improve from the time he joined the Panthers?

Rivera: For the most part, he had a good career for us and did some good things for us on the football field. I don't want to get into it because it wouldn't be fair.