CHARLOTTE — Lathan Ransom was warming up for Fan Fest, pumping himself up to play in front of fans for the first time as a Carolina Panther. Special teams coach Tracy Smith moseyed up to him and said, "Let me see your eyes."

He wanted to gauge Ransom's confidence level his first time under the lights in Bank of America Stadium, and he saw what he needed.

"I'm going to throw you a ball," Smith told him, much to Ransom's delight.

They hadn't repped a special teams fake to Ransom all of camp, but Fan Fest is a place to have fun and provide a little razzle-dazzle, so it seemed like a good opportunity.

"As a defensive player, all you want is the ball in your hands, so I couldn't wait," Ransom laughed, telling the story on Tuesday following the Panthers' latest training camp practice.

When one drive stalled around the 20-yard line, Ransom jogged out for the punt and began evaluating the play situation. This could be it.

"As the game's going on, I'm just thinking about it, like 'I've got to catch the ball, I've got to catch the ball, just make sure I catch the ball,' and then take it back to the high school days," said Ransom.

"When I went out there, I'm looking, I see we're at like the (20) and I'm looking, I'm like, man, I hope he calls it next, because it's like 90 yards, it's far, and I just came off the defensive drive…I was definitely tired."

Smith did in fact dial it up, calling for punter Sam Martin to loft a rainbow to Ransom, who cut it back across the field to pick up 80 yards. Smith later jokingly pointed out he did have the benefit of calling both the offense and the defense on the play, setting up space for the call. But Ransom still made a great cut to get the extra yardage. He almost had a house call before returner Jimmy Horn Jr. took an angle near the pylon to knock him out of bounds for the touchdown-saving tackle.

"Jimmy, I mean, he had the angle, he had the angle," Ransom laughed, "but Jimmy made a great tackle."

It was a reality check for Horn Jr. as well, who jumped into tackling drills on Tuesday to clean up his form.

But more than anything, the play was a snapshot of what the Panthers have in Ransom; someone willing to jump in at any time, even after a long defensive drive, for any reason, like an un-repped fake punt, and make a play.

Tuesday was another example of that, as Ransom—in the pouring rain—made play after play, including an interception on Bryce Young over Adam Thielen.

"I think focus is a skill, I think focus is something you can work on. Refocus is the greater challenge," coach Dave Canales bragged of Ransom on Tuesday.

"Anyone can go out for that first play on a drive and be really focused; but it's play eight, play 10 when you're tired, when the environment's—when it's really hot, when it's wet, when it's cold, and when you have the ability to just focus on your assignment and don't let all the external factors affect it then you know that's a that's a great sign."

Ransom, to his credit, "refocused" that praise to his teammates, crediting the veterans around him for keeping him locked in.

"I think just the DBs brought a lot of energy today between, you know, Jaycee, Mike, Demani, Tre, all them, Nick brought a bunch of energy today, just letting us know that it doesn't matter if it's raining, if it's snowing, we got to go out there and show up," Ransom said. "So I just put it on the older guys, just, they just trickle down and had a good effect on us.

"So, it don't matter if you're a rookie, if it's your first year or whatever, like you're expected, held to the standard that they're held to so when I go out there, I just ask many questions so when I'm out there, I'm not a weakling, I'm out there making the checks just as confident as the other guys."

That motivation to be better every day, to meet and surpass the standard, is something that comes from being a starter on a national championship team, as Canales has pointed out at times, but mostly from within. It allows the rookie to play with confidence and freedom that most guys take a long time to achieve.

"He's just a dog, but he's smart," said corner Mike Jackson. "If I tell him something out there, he'll listen, and he doesn't always go strictly by the book. It's kind of like, he plays football, so that's rare to find in a rookie because normally a rookie is like, 'Well, I'm supposed to do this.' But it's like they're giving us this look, like we can play the play.

"And he was doing that in OTAs, which that's rare to see. Normally, you don't get a rookie to start doing that until the middle of the season, so that's kind of cool. He kind of like in the Chau Smith-Wade kind of mold in that he's really smart, has really good instincts."

Ransom is part of a safety unit that has more questions than answers, but with the opportunity to earn a lot of reps. As the Panthers move through training camp and into the preseason—during which starters will play—the Ohio State product is continuing to gain more and more looks on the field.

"I think one thing that I'm noticing about him is he always seems to be in great position to make a play," Canales said. "And that that comes with study, that comes with being disciplined, about owning your leverage, analyzing the formation, run pass, and then putting yourselves in an athletic position to make plays, and I can't be happier with where he's at and where he's headed."

This week, between joint practice with the Cleveland Browns and the first preseason game against them on Friday, Ransom will have an opportunity to show off the physicality that made him famous at Ohio State. And for the fourth-round rookie, it's another opportunity to make an impact on a defense that is factoring him into their future.

"I think you know anytime you get on the field, you get your pads on and you get an opportunity to go out there and hit, show your physicality, so yeah I'm excited to go out there and play against another team and and I'm excited to see what our team looks like and have great energy tomorrow and for the rest of this week.

"I come with a chip on my shoulder, even though I have a lot of energy, I joke around a lot, but, you know, when the pads come on, a different person comes out, so that's just a person that oozes physicality and just goes out there and plays a chip on his shoulder."