CHARLOTTE — Adam Thielen was hoping for the best when he first threw out the idea.

What if all the receivers and Bryce Young came to Minnesota for a few days this summer?

Minneapolis, Minn.—where Thielen makes his offseason home—is nowhere near Charlotte, N.C., and may not be high on the list of summer destinations relative to Southern California, Florida, and the like.

But as the elder statesman in the group, Thielen wanted to provide a little offseason retreat in the land of 10,000 lakes.

"I just really wanted to be able to host guys at the house and be able to have dinner together and relax and have some fun," Thielen explained Friday, following the Panthers' latest training camp practice.

All it took was one mention, though, and Young jumped on the idea.

"Bryce was all about it, and then he kind of took it from there as far as organizing guys, getting there, and things like that, but I just was able to kind of take care of the things once they got there," Thielen shared. "But, Bryce obviously is a great leader and was willing to kind of set up everything, which is not an easy job, trying to get all those guys on the same page, but it worked out great."

The group started each day at the same gym Thielen has used for offseason training every year of his career. Then they headed down the road to Woodbury High School, where Thielen's wife, Caitlin, won several soccer state championships.

"So hopefully we rub some of that championship mentality on the group," Thielen laughed.

The primary purpose of offseason retreats like this one, though, is, of course, to lay a foundation in a unit that can be built upon during training camp and carry over into the season. Young and the receivers weren't necessarily putting in new plays or implementing entirely different schemes than what was already done in Charlotte.

It was about timing, chemistry, and coaxing guys into a lake for the first time.

"I think it's important just to get away from the building. We spend a lot of time here, but 95 percent of the time we're here, it's football and pretty serious and maybe stressful at times, where that was just kind of laid back, getting to know each other on a different level, and really just enjoying time together doing maybe some things that are out of some people's comfort level, but just having a great time doing it and then getting work in as well," Thielen explained.

"So, just getting that timing with Bryce, being able to talk through things just on our own, you know what he's expecting and certain things, what he's looking for, just getting on the same page and, you know, he did a great job of kind of leading that and, and bringing guys together and having a plan and I was just kind of there to be able to, you know, kind of set up some of the fun things outside of football."

In addition to attending a Minnesota Lynx game, one of the fun things was a lake day. A vlog from Tetairoa McMillan gave fans a glimpse of the water sports—"D-Mo ( David Moore ), he got up and was able to surf the wave a little bit, so now I think he's addicted"—and the battle to get some guys in the water at all.

"I'll be honest with you, I don't mind water," Young responded in defense of his decision to stay on the boat.

"I don't like being, I don't like sitting around being wet if that makes sense. Like I don't like after you get out of the water, like your clothes, your shorts are wet, I don't like that feeling."

Initially, Xavier Legette wasn't going to get in the water either.

"He did not want to be on that boat, especially when he saw the boat," laughed Thielen. "It wasn't a yacht, you know, it was a little boat."

After his teammates talked him onto the boat, they worked to talk him into the water. It took coaxing, berating, and even pulling him towards the water at times, but the second-year receiver finally got in, however reluctantly.

"It says a lot about him. He's just out there. He's going to try it even though he did not want to be there. He was out there with the guys and bonding," Thielen shared.

"I think that says a lot about him, like all jokes aside, I think it says a lot about his character, right? Like, he was not comfortable. And so, I just think that says a lot about his character that he was willing to kind of step out of his comfort zone and bond with his teammates."

It was a microcosm of the retreat's entire purpose. Leaders often discuss team-building activities and the importance of people learning to trust each other, but these efforts are often ambiguous and fail to yield the long-term dividends that those in charge hope for. But when Adam Thielen looks back on this mid-summer Minnesota trip, from the early mornings to the lazy nights, and most importantly, talking Xavier Legette into the water, he'll remember three days that helped define the 2025 Panthers receiving corps.

"It just kind of helps you understand guys at a personal level," Thielen explained. "You kind of understand where guys are coming from, what makes them tick, what they enjoy, and so you just have a little bit more comfortability to be able to have real conversations or maybe sometimes just have conversations that aren't really necessarily meaningful to the game of football but just help you bond and trust each other and that stuff carries over in the games.

"Because when things get stressful, when things get tough, you've got to be able to trust your teammates, you've got to be able to understand them, and those things just help that.

"Coming into training camp, now you just have a little bit more comfortability with that group and who you're around every day."