CHARLOTTE — Devin Lloyd landed in Charlotte on Monday, about eight hours before he actually landed in Charlotte.

And then Thursday morning, he walked into Bank of America Stadium for the first time since agreeing to a three-year deal in free agency, got a dap from general manager and former linebacker Dan Morgan, turned the corner, saw pictures of Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, and Sam Mills on the wall, and realized something.

He was definitely in the right place.

The Panthers made the former Jaguars linebacker a priority in free agency for a reason: to extend their tradition of big-time play and leadership from the position and to give this defense a new personality.

"It's great, yeah; I mean it's a challenge that I look forward to," Lloyd said Thursday after the quick tour of his new home. "It's even better having resources like Dan, like Luke, like TD, guys that are around that I can talk to and get their insight on game film or taking care of my body, recovery, all the above, just having those resources there.

"But ultimately, when the standard's high and the expectation is high, that's typically a good thing. That means guys have done it the right way, and they expect the next generation to do it the right way, which is how I would operate if I were in their shoes. So you know, I'm just trying to be the best that I can be and live with the results."

The Panthers have sufficient reason to think Lloyd can continue that tradition, based on what they've seen and what they've heard. For starters, he earned All-Pro honors last year for the Jaguars, after picking off five passes (which is as many as their linebackers have had combined since Kuechly retired after the 2019 season).

But he also brings a reputation for work ethic to his new team. Head coach Dave Canales casually mentioned this week that what he had heard about Lloyd's time in Jacksonville reminded him of what he's seen from Chuba Hubbard, the patron saint of effort. Comparing someone's preparation to Hubbard's is like Manute Bol calling you really tall.

That's what Lloyd has always tried to do, and he said coming to a new place meant he had to prove it to a new bunch of people.

"Just being myself, I wouldn't say I have to go outside of being myself," Lloyd said. "It's just being the best that I can be and living with the results. For me, it comes down to work ethic, how you treat people, and ultimately respecting the game. You've got to respect the game, and people will see that. And they'll see, OK, football means a lot, how you treat people means a lot, how you love those around you, it matters.

"So just being consistent and, and like I said, being myself."

Lloyd's trip Thursday was his second to the Queen City this week, after he flew back from working a football camp in Germany last week at Ramstein Air Base. (That one was close to his heart. He grew up in a military family, as his parents Joe Lloyd and Ronyta Johnson both served in the Navy. They also came with him to Charlotte to see him start his new chapter. They're very proud of him.)

As with seemingly every traveler in the world, Lloyd's flight home from Germany connected at Charlotte Douglas International before he went back to Jacksonville. He was keeping tabs on his market as he could with his agent, but when he finally got back to Florida around 6 p.m. after a layover here, he was still four hours away from knowing where his next flight was pointed.

But an uncertainty of destination is nothing new for Lloyd, based on his experience last year. The Jaguars took him in the first round of the 2022 draft, 27th overall. They also had the first pick that year, and used it on pass-rusher Travon Walker. Fast forward to the spring of 2025, when new GM James Gladstone and coach Liam Coen took over, and things began to change. They immediately announced that they'd pick up Walker's fifth-year option, but there was no mention of Lloyd's future at all. In fact, he said no one there specifically told him they weren't picking his up, but the absence of news told its own story.

When you're a first-round pick in the NFL, being told no isn't always part of your experience. So he went into last year determined to prove himself to himself, to meet his own standard.

"Part of it is, OK, it's not the staff that drafted me; it's a new GM, new regime, new coaches, new everything, so it wasn't all the way unexpected," Lloyd admitted. "But at the same time, it was just extra fuel, extra motivation, like, OK, we see how it is now.

"There was some anticipation leading up to it because, obviously, I came in with Travon, and his fifth-year option was picked up relatively quickly within the first week or two. They said they were going to give it some more time, still learning the player. And at that point, I was like, OK, it's probably not going to get picked up, so over time, you start to see, and you get to know the coaches and everything. Not that there was any tension or anything, at the end of the day, it's a business decision on their end. For me, never making it personal, understanding that it is a business, and just handling that the right way was the most important thing."

And he did just that, throughout the year, from the first day of the offseason program.

"I felt really good going into OTAs based off of how I attacked the offseason, so I knew I was already a way better player from the year prior," Lloyd said. "In OTAs, I was still learning defense, but I felt really good physically and mentally as well, so I knew I was a different player.

"It was more so, OK, now I'm translating this to the with pads on. And over time, I felt really good. During training camp, getting the pads on, running around, playing violent, I mean, it was pretty immediate for me. I think the results obviously showed relatively quickly as well. I felt a big difference, honestly, pretty quick."

The difference was most evident in Week 5 on Monday Night Football, when he picked off Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and took it back 99 yards for a touchdown. The opponent made it special, but the fact that it also led to a 31-28 win that pushed the Jaguars to a surprising 4-1 start made it more significant.

Lloyd said breaking on the ball was a matter of "muscle memory," repping a specific call enough times that his reactions were automatic. And after that, his only thought was to get as far as possible,

"It was just one of those plays where you've run it so many times in practice," Lloyd said. "We hadn't run in a game. So, the first time you run in a game, you don't even think about the execution part of it. It's more, OK, focusing on the ball, looking it in, and then when you do have the ball, finding a way to get in the end zone, get some extra yardage, however it looks.

"For me, it was just more so, big play on a big stage, in the regular season against a future Hall of Fame quarterback and the team that went to the Super Bowl five of the last six years, so it was a big play. The only thing I was thinking about that whole game was winning the game, just executing my job, and finding a way to come out on top."

That's all they're asking him to do here, as well.

From the minute he walked in around 8 a.m. and Morgan hugged him, to his meetings with Canales, everything about this trip felt right to him.

Seeing a GM who looks like he could still play, and a coach who could too, was another reminder that he's found a place where he fits.

"He's in great shape," Lloyd said of Morgan, eyes going wide at the mention of the guy who used to play the position he's charged with now. "You can tell he works out very often and takes pride in keeping his physical health up, which is great. Same thing with coach Canales, too. Guys staying in great shape and caring about their bodies and health is a great thing.

"It's just a mutual respect, honestly. You could tell, guys who take care of themselves, try everything in their power to do things the right way in all facets of life, just a certain presence that you can definitely tell and respect."

They sensed that about him, too. Which is why it seemed like such a fit.