CHARLOTTE — When Will Lee III first arrived in Charlotte this spring, Jaycee Horn admits he was wary. Not of the player, or even the person, but more so the personality, and how it would fit into a very gregarious defensive backs room.

"He real quiet around here," began Horn, reflecting on his rookie teammate after practice one day during mandatory minicamp. "And then they told me the story about him sending a blanket."

The story, already passed down through hands and varying tales as if it were a centuries-old epic rather than something that arose in the fall of 2024, goes something like this. Will Lee, nicknamed "The Blanket" because of his smothering coverage skills, sent an Aggies blanket to an opponent (Missouri wide receiver Theo Wease) the night before a matchup between Missouri and Lee's Texas A&M Aggies.

The blanket came with a note that said, "Get used to this blanket. It will be real tomorrow."

Wease rolled into warm-ups with the blanket draped over his shoulder, and Lee then proceeded to hold him to 0 catches in the first half, and only two receptions for 72 yards in the second half as No. 25 TAMU stomped No. 9 Missouri, 41-10.

Lee denied sending the blanket after the game. But a message was still issued; don't test him.

The corner having enough of a reputation for the story to be believable, and him earning and owning the blanket nickname, were enough to shift how Horn saw the rookie.

"He had me fooled for a little bit," laughed Horn. "That made me change my whole mindset about him when I heard that story. He's definitely a baller, though.

"He's playing it quietly right now, but he really turned up, so, yeah, it's just fun to see him make plays come out of his shell a little bit on the field. I'm excited to go to war with him."

Because the more Horn and Mike Jackson have been around Lee, the clearer it's become; he's not quiet because he's shy. He's quiet because he's lurking.

"The confidence he plays with," said Horn of what's stood out about the fourth-round pick. "The swag he plays with."

If everything from the swag to the technique looks familiar to Horn, there's a reason. Because for as much as he's watched Lee these past few weeks, Lee has been watching the Pro Bowler tenfold over the years.

"You got Jaycee, with him, his technique is just, really just watching his feet — his feet are his money," gushed Lee of his new teammate. "So just watching his feet and how calm he is under pressure and how he relies on his technique a lot, so it makes sense.

"I've been watching Jaycee since he was at South Carolina, so watching him with all the technique stuff, that has always been regular.

"It's a blessing to see it firsthand because when I watch it, it's all YouTube videos or his trainer will post it. So seeing it firsthand, it's like, 'Oh, OK.' And then talking to him, he cool so we talk all the time."

Lee knew coming in that he was going to enjoy learning from Horn, given the similarities in their game — "His press technique, I was a huge press guy coming out of A&M, so watching him, just his footwork and his mechanics, that helps a lot" — but since arriving in early May, it's been the balance of Horn and Jackson that has really helped Lee blossom so quickly. That starts with simply observing how both have approached the league and thrived.

"I have Mike Jack, who ended up getting cut when he first got drafted, and then bounced around, so he really knows the grind," explained Lee. "And you got Jaycee, the first round draft pick, he comes in, he's dominated, so you get the best of both worlds.

"So it's a blessing, truly, because I get a little bit from him, get a little bit from him, and your routine can be more versatile instead of being just one-sided. You can't just follow everybody's stuff. You've got to take bits and pieces from everything. Then make it your own, and that's made it real easy for me."

Mike Jack plays to the field more, while Horn is the Panthers' boundary corner. So Lee, who was plugged into first-team reps with both guys throughout OTAs and minicamp, has begun picking up details from their differing play styles as well.

"Coming here to the Panthers being a more zone team and then watching Mike Jack, because he excels playing off man to the field, and watching him do that, you get bits and pieces from him where you can learn," shared Lee.

Horn and Mike Jack being entrenched in their roles has, in a way, made the transition easier for Lee. He's been thrown into the fire in the sense of his increased reps with the first team, but any pressure comes from keeping up with them, not having to replace them.

"It's a blessing, honestly, because I know I feel like some guys get put in situations where they have to come in, and they have to be the top dog already. So I'm blessed to be put in a situation where I got two guys that have done it," admitted Lee.

"Jaycee said if I ever got a question, he and Mike Jack, like we talk all the time, and it's just about nothing, just fun guys chatting or something."

Added head coach Dave Canales, "He sits there, and he sees Jaycee and Mike, and these are two of the best. He gets to watch them every day, how they operate, how they work, and that's been a great influence on him right now."

Lee's versatile skill set and ability to learn alongside two of the top corners in the league have accelerated his progress, and, as mentioned, the Panthers trotted him onto the field with the first team a few times during offseason practices. He lined up on the outside at times, allowing Horn to scoot inside to the slot and become a whole new type of terror.

Or Lee would take the nickel snap, sometimes rotating with Chau Smith-Wade, while other times Lee's presence on the field would prompt Smith-Wade to drop back as a safety. And then of course, all of these pieces on the field meant Tre'von Moehrig could pick his poison.

"I don't want to mess up because if you mess up, you're affecting everybody else, so my whole thing was going out there to be a trustworthy player on the team, so that was my whole thing," said Lee.

"Everybody on the team has different things they excel in, and me being able to be versatile and play off of everybody else and just make it like a puzzle piece, I fit into the puzzle. It's just really easy because right now, Jaycee and Mike, here they play field boundary, so I, being the new guy, being the rookie, I'm learning both, so it makes it really easy.

"They vets, they know field and boundary, so it makes it easier for them to trust me that I know what I'm doing to the field or I know what I'm doing to the boundary and then with the safeties, we might be in different conversations on what we're running to this set or this specific formation and it's like boom, I know what the safety is going to do and he's telling me what to do and I excel at what I need to do to make everything go right.

"That was my whole thing coming in, the guys on the field making sure they trust me and that I know what I'm doing, that's what I want to do."

It should be noted, it's still summer, and a large portion of what happens during May and June centers around the philosophy of "let's see what we've got so we can make a focused plan for training camp." The Panthers aren't necessarily going to play musical chairs with personnel before every defensive snap.

But the summer work showed coaches how Lee can fit into that plan.

"We're asking him to do a lot," said Canales. "First and foremost, to have the confidence to step in there with the veterans and to know that 'Everybody knows what they're doing, I better know what I'm doing.'

"He's done a great job so far, taking the coaching and the individuals, just the technique coaching from (defensive passing game coordinator) Coach Cooley. He's really progressed that way."

And that progression, along with help from a legendary Aggies myth, has changed perception, helping Will Lee's Panthers' teammates see up close just who they could be playing with this fall.

Quickly established mutual respect or not, though, Jaycee Horn isn't letting the rookie off easily.

"He definitely got to do the rookie dinner. That's a given," laughed Horn. They got to do that. We got a few rookies from last year who still trying to buck the dinner, we'll get it worked out though."