CHARLOTTE — The Carolina Panthers have done a lot of self-scouting the past few days. Scouting how they play opponents, how other teams play them, how they are attacking or falling short of their schemes. It has been a top-to-bottom judgment of the team.

And within that, Jaycee Horn has done some self-evaluating of his own. His biggest takeaway?

When looking for leadership on this Panthers' team, he remembers it's now his role to fill.

"Yeah, me personally," Horn admitted Thursday, as to having to be cognizant of his place on this team. "Because I'm not real big into that, so I know guys are looking at me on Sunday, and if my attitude is not right, then it might affect the team in the wrong way, so definitely I've got to be mindful of that and try to be better."

Horn has made a concerted effort over the past year, going back to last season, to step into a vocal role that had not been his norm. But as the roster turned over, and those around him became younger (while he grew older), it was clear that this was now his defense to lead, and therefore his message and tone to set.

So when plays happen like one this past Sunday, when second-year nickel Chau Smith-Wade miscalculated what he should have done on a play and sprung a Patriots touchdown, Horn immediately turned to his teammate and demanded accountability. It was a moment Smith-Wade praised on Monday.

"Jaycee is one of those guys who, you know, he's just one of those vets on his team who's going to hold everybody accountable," Smith-Wade shared earlier this week. "So that's exactly what he did, and I heard him out, and I was obviously in the wrong, so I took everything that he had to say to me."

It was a position Horn might not have been comfortable with in the early years of his career, but as a pillar of this defense, he's put the team over his comfort.

"Well, you know, Chau is still a young player, you know, I had some similar situations where I did some stupid stuff as a young player, and I had vets tell me," Horn said. "So you know, just trying to help him be the best player he can be, and he does the same thing with me, you know, if I'm making a mistake, just because he's younger doesn't mean anything, he can help me get better as well. So, just a relationship we try to have in the back end, we're all helping each other out."

There are times, as brash as he can be in jest, that Horn admits his first instinct isn't to speak up in between the lines, on the sideline, or off the field. Then games like the 42-13 loss to the Patriots happen, and as the Pro Bowl corner assesses what can be done better as an entire defense, he has to face what can be done better from his own point of view.

"The thing is just as a team, complementary football, that's the biggest thing," Horn explained. "We got to be able to help each other out, and yeah, having the right mindset, if offense turn the ball over like versus New England, they had a big return that set them up inside the 15 or 10 or whatever, we got to have a mindset we're going to put out the fire and shut the offense out and holding them to three.

"It gets hard when they score, you know, guys halfway don't feel like being out there no more. But I can do a better job of just being a leader on the sideline, trying to keep guys' spirits in it, even though it's hard, just finishing the game the right way. I feel like we didn't do that last week."

Self-evaluations are hard, sobering, and even painful at times. But they're necessary for both big-picture assessments and personal revelations. That's the lesson Jaycee Horn is taking from this week.

"It's very important," said Horn. "I feel like, personally, as a player, it helped me a lot to watch myself and see where I can get better. You know yourself, and you can watch and see your mistakes and correct them. I think it helps you a lot."