CHARLOTTE — Midway through his rookie season, Tetairoa McMillan has already made a mark on the Carolina Panthers, and for that matter, the NFL as a whole. He currently has 37 receptions for 512 yards, second amongst all rookie pass catchers in the NFL this season, behind only Emeka Egbuka (Tampa Bay). That yardage is also good for 11th overall in the entire league.

Furthermore, in the annals of rookie receivers in NFL history, McMillan is on pace to finish in the Top 15 for best rookie seasons in modern NFL history (since the 1970 merger).

But on Wednesday, when McMillan was asked to step back and assess the first half of his first season, the rookie thought for a second, shrugged, then answered "average."

The word average doesn't seem to apply in a situation where a guy is knocking on the Top 10 of the league's leading receivers.

"Obviously, everybody feels like they could play better," said McMillan. "I definitely had a lot of missed opportunities out there that I left on the table, so hopefully in the second half of the season, I can make those plays."

But when asked what he could do to improve beyond average, McMillan pointed not towards his own stats and how they stack up against other receivers.

There was only one stat he wanted to see improve.

"Win more games," McMillan answered easily. "That's the main thing."

That challenge continues Sunday, against the top team in the NFC, the Packers. Some might call it poetic that McMillan will mark the halfway point of his rookie year in the place the Panthers drafted him, No. 8 overall, back in April.

"I was fortunate in that the draft this past year was in at that stadium, so I was fortunate enough to be over there," said McMillan, returning to the historic stadium. "So going back, that's going to be a blessing for sure."

It is but one way to measure a rookie season. Another is the annual rookie visit to the children's hospital, dressed in Halloween costumes.

"Oh yeah, I mean that's a blessing, you know, just being able to go to the children's hospital and just light up the room," said McMillan.

"That's obviously what we're here for, we're more than just football players at the end of the day, so, being able to put the smile on people's faces, those are the type of moments we live for, for sure."

Another way is finding veterans on whom to lean, such as David Moore. The experienced receiver suffered a severe elbow injury in Week 4, in a loss to the Patriots. He's been finding ways to stay involved, from running routes to not letting a brace hamper him to appointing himself hype man on the sidelines. All of it has helped McMillan develop, according to the rookie.

"D-Mo, he's obviously a cool, calm, collected guy, but you know I think he's the guy that keeps us sane," smiled McMillan. "He's a seasoned vet in our room, and he has a lot of knowledge, a lot of wisdom for this game that he can pass on to every single one of us, and he did, and you know, we're still learning from him, even though he's on the sideline right now.

"You'll see him with his little brace out there and his cleats trying to do drills and stuff like that. So, you know, you realize how much this game means to him, and that's definitely contagious for sure…he's excited when everybody makes plays, so he takes pride in everybody else's successes for sure."

But the biggest marker for McMillan, eight weeks behind him in his rookie year, is the ways he has seen himself become a better receiver since being drafted, learning the ins and outs of facing professional corners, making his way through a 17-game season, and adjusting to the game.

"Coach Moore always harps about being intentional and then, playing with my hands, so I think—you know, he harps on that every single week. So, I think those are, those have been the big shot for sure.

"I try to perfect my craft and fine-tune any adjustments that I need to make, but, yeah, at the end of the day, it's football. You got to go back to the basics, got to go back to the fundamentals, and at the end of the day, when the pressure gets high, everybody go back to their habits and the fundamentals. So I was just trying to fine-tune those things every single day.

"Obviously the league does a good job as far as taking care of our bodies, obviously realizing that the season is long, so, being able to take some days off and take it easy on our legs on some days, so the season doesn't feel as long as it as it actually is, so I think I'm at a good spot right now."

The Panthers are currently at .500 (4-4) at the midway point of the season. But for the Panthers' top receiver, who swore he began this season with only one goal in mind, there is more to come.

"I had no expectations for how my season would go," McMillan said Wednesday. "I just knew that I wanted to contribute to the team, be a factor, and be a part of the reason why we win games around here.

"We want to win as much games as we possibly can. We'RE at .500 right now, but I feel like there's a lot of games that we left out there, that we should have won."