JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Panthers put Devin Lloyd where he's supposed to be.

But this week also feels a little like home, in a more superficial way.

The Panthers' new middle linebacker was walking familiar halls, even if he turned into a different locker room, when the Panthers held their joint practice at the Jaguars facility. He had never been in the visitors' locker room, but that was the only thing that seemed different.

From the embrace with executive vice president of football operations Tony Boselli upon arrival to the constant greetings before, during, and after practice, he seemed perfectly comfortable.

Of course, when he was alone on the far field, working on his hand placement with a dummy 45 minutes before practice started, he got a playful scolding from defensive end Josh Hines-Allen. "Hey, you can't touch that, that's ours," Hines-Allen teased, before bringing him in for a hug. And tonight, he'll be back at his old place, surrounded by friends old and new, springing for a bunch of food for a local chef to prepare.

After spending his first four years in Jacksonville, there were plenty of familiar faces and sights and sounds. But it's also clear the Panthers put a premium on bringing him here for exactly what they've seen from Lloyd this summer.

He laughed when asked about being "an opp" now (as in opponent), but the smile on his face said it all.

"Let's just say it was fun going against them," Lloyd said.

His home now is in Carolina, and specifically in the middle of the defense.

Lloyd played in the middle throughout his college career, but on the weak side as a Jaguar, which he was good but not great at. At least until last year, when he earned All-Pro honors with five interceptions and showed the kind of presence the Panthers needed. That's why, when he came to Charlotte and immediately linked up with Luke Kuechly, it seemed so natural: they needed his seriousness and leadership as much as they needed the tackles and the pass breakups.

"He's been huge," quarterback Bryce Young said. "The other side of the ball, but that doesn't mean it's not felt through the whole team. He's a very vocal guy for us, does a great job around the defense, and all of us, we all have a ton of respect for him.

"The way that he carries himself works; this short turnaround, he's become a leader for us. So, it's been huge to have him here."

As such, Lloyd was among the people to note the slow start for the Panthers defense against his old friends Wednesday morning.

"I mean, shoot, we've got a lot to clean up," Lloyd admitted. "I don't think we were as good as we wanted to be, but guys made plays, we played hard, and it's never as good as it looks, never as bad. Got to go watch the film, but like I said, communication was good. We're in the right spot.

"I think everybody understood the task at hand as far as coming out with the right energy, but that's why we had joint practices. I mean, unscouted looks, we haven't been studying these guys, so it was good to see them running plays that we haven't seen, and it was good work today. All this is kind of new to us, and it's really just going based off of reaction and just athletic ability, just playing ball pretty much."​

And even in that react-don't-prepare world, Lloyd stood out.

When Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence scanned the field and tried to thread one into a tight spot crossing the middle, Lloyd leaped into the passing lane, batted down the pass, and then stepped in to break up the fight when teammate Tre'von Moehrig popped the Jaguars receiver.

"Outside of me, guys don't know each other," Lloyd said with a grin when asked about the play. "When you see somebody who takes down one of their teammates, OK, you know, we got somebody who wants to protect their guy. So that's natural. I think that's just love for your brother and, and try to do right by him. If you see him on the ground, hey, go protect him, and everybody has different ways of going about it.

"But in that instance, if it's a little physical, maybe we respond with physicality."

Setting that standard has been one of his specialties. Again, Lloyd would be the first player on the practice field every day if it wasn't for local try-hard Chuba Hubbard (who was even early to rehab on a day he wasn't practicing), and that pre-camp film study with Kuechly was another sign of the little things he's doing right every day.

"Absolutely, he's a dream to have," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. "He's professional. He's a great human; he plays with his hair on fire, sideline to sideline, and, when he steps into the huddle and says the call, there's a confidence that comes with it that this is going to work and the guys rally around that."

The Jaguars didn't always invest that responsibility in him, so coming to the Panthers this offseason gave him a chance to build on the leadership, to call a defense,

"When he's on the field, he doesn't stop talking," outside linebacker Princely Umanmielen said. "He's trying to help everybody out, the front line especially; he's always like calling out alerts, play calls, alerts before it happens, and it just makes playing defense much easier."

Known communicator Nick Scott also vouched for that ability, saying Lloyd has impressed with his quick grasp of the system.

"One of the things that was really nice with just being with Devin is there's no drop-off in communication," Scott said. "He's somebody that learned the defense extremely fast, so he's driving the bus out there like he's been part of this for a while now, which is really encouraging.

"He made some plays, and he just really serves as a centerpiece for our defense."

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And when he considered that defense on Wednesday, he acknowledged it didn't meet their expectations early. But as they kept working, it began to look the way they wanted it to.

"I mean, there's a conditioning aspect to it," Lloyd said. "Guys are in pretty, pretty good shape, especially coming down here with the heat, that allows us to continue to build, also just kind of getting a feel for how the offense is trying to attack us with the play scheme-wise.

"But also, I think it's just a mentality as well: it's OK, even if we start off slow, how are we going to finish? How are we going to respond? OK, we gave up some plays, how are we going to respond to adversity? And just having everybody's mindset in the right place."

That's what Devin Lloyd's in Carolina to bring, from the inside out.