CHARLOTTE — It's Friday, folks, and you know what that means. Gather around, but at a respectable distance to give the guys some space, for what has become the famous—at least locally—Friday red zone drills featuring the Carolina Panthers' cornerbacks, passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley, and whichever receiver can sneak over during special team drills to take their shot.

Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson typically draw the first matchup, as is their right as the starting corners. One plays receiver, the other plays corner, Cooley is the quarterback, and the rules are simple: stay in bounds and, well, actually, that's the only rule. Stay in bounds if you want the touchdown to count. Other than that, just end the play as the one who controlled the ball.

Jackson shouts a laugh and shakes his head when the topic comes up after practice one day.

"You're the second person to ask me about that."

Understandable, since the Friday drills have developed a bit of a cult following on social media and—more importantly—have become extremely hotly contested in the Panthers' defensive back room, with the players studying the tape of each rep as if it were a game-winning play they needed to relive.

It gives their defensive coordinator a bit of heartburn, but he knows the value outweighs his concerns.

"I personally don't really like to look at it," chuckled Ejiro Evero. "I'm just always the worst-case scenario, like we shouldn't be doing this on a Friday, we're going too fast, so close to the game. But, I do respect the competitive nature of it."

All week, Horn and Jackson get juiced for what will come in the first 20 minutes of Friday's practice. They plan, they prep, they watch film of receivers to study their releases, and they trash-talk to build anticipation. Because whatever happens on Friday is a banner they can carry throughout the following week.

"Me and Mike, we trash-talk each other all day like we played a game together and trash-talk," laughed Horn. "In meetings, we always just talking back and forth with each other, so when we're able to do the Friday one-on-ones, it's like icing on the cake; who gets the win that week."

Who gets the win is often determined by who walks away from the 10-minute session with the most scores, pass breakups, or interceptions. Basically, there is no official scoring system. A lot of it is based on vibes, honestly.

"I just like it because we're just really talking s--- and we're so competitive," admitted Jackson. "We use it really to warm up for practice, but at the same time, it's fun competition. So every week on Friday, you already know what route you're about to run."

The "routes" are loose interpretations of offensive red zone concepts that would likely not work in a game, but here in this little bubble at the corner of the Panthers' practice fields, anything goes. They meet with Cooley for a few seconds, discuss what route they want to try and where they want the ball.

And usually, he's on the money.

"Yeah, Cooley's got some dots now. He can throw some dots," bragged Horn of his coach.

"Cooley, that's been his tradition for a while," shared safety Nick Scott, who was with the coach with the Rams. "It used to be like all the corners, but I've been seeing him do that since Los Angeles, corners versus corners, just something fun they do to get in that competitive mindset and keep things light on a Friday.

"I haven't done it yet. I'm going to let them have their fun. I don't want to embarrass guys and break their confidence on a Friday. Because I was an offensive guy in college."

But for those jumping into the drill, it's a chance to live out some offensive dreams that never happened in real life.

"It's just all watching film and trying to copy what other receivers are doing," explained Horn, who likens his receiver game to Rams star Davante Adams.

"Releases, the most speed. Great hands," he listed, trying very, very hard to make the comparison. "I feel like I'd be pretty good at receiver, but I never find out. Only on Fridays."

Jackson, who doesn't subscribe to Horn's tactic of picking up tips from receiver film—"I ain't going to do all that. That's cheating at that point."—had a chance to play receiver in high school, but one play ensured he'd always be on the defensive side.

"So I was going to play receiver and then literally the play before, the quarterback threw an over route, and the receiver got his helmet knocked off," recalled Jackson. "My coach was like, 'We're going to want to get you the ball.' I'm like, 'I just witnessed this man get his helmet knocked off,' and this was back when you could hit head-to-head. People used to aim for the head, so after that, I was like, 'No, no, you're not going to hit me.' Better to be the hammer than the nail."

It's famously said that Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, except backwards and in heels. It's the same kind of attitude that Jackson, Horn, and other DBs who join them at times such as Demani Richardson, and Chau Smith-Wade employ, practically taunting and daring receivers to sneak into the drills.

"They see how much fun we have, and we're the only position group that can do this. Like receivers can't go play DB. It's easy to go forward, hard to go back," challenged Jackson. "I'd love to see TMac ( Tetairoa McMillan ) backpedal. I would love to see TMac backpedal and break on a route."

McMillan, for his part, expressed a great interest in picking up Jackson's mantle, but said it always takes place during a drill that has a zero absence policy. Since Jimmy Horn Jr. is always taking part in special teams during that time, though, he's able to slip in and out at times. He always plays corner, and his latest showing saw him lock down the receiver version of Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson.

"I think he got one on me," the rookie receiver interjected.

But Jaycee stepped out of bounds on that one.

"Oh yeah, so right now I guess I'm undefeated," Jimmy smirked. "I give myself about a 10—in man coverage, a 10 out of 10; in zone coverage, 10 out of 10. Really, I'm just like that."

There are tangible takeaways from this drill that are applicable in a game, including hand-fighting techniques, coverage skills, and attitude.

"I think it just kind of speaks to the competitive nature of so many of the guys on our unit and on our team," said Evero. "And, I certainly think that it's improving our, having an impact on our red zone play."

The numbers back up Evero. The Panthers' corners have lowered their red zone completion percentage from last season (57 percent) to 50 percent currently. And after the unit gave up 13 touchdowns in the red zone last season, through 13 games this season, they've only given up four.

"It's cool to witness," continued Evero, "because at the end of the day, we can talk about plays and routes and coverages and all these things, but the determining factor in so many of these deals is the ability to have that competitive nature about you. And so that's cool to see come out."