CHARLOTTE — It was no secret Jaycee Horn was upset with himself following the Panthers' loss to the Saints on Sunday. His anger was practically palpable, coming off the corner in waves.

"I let them down today; two big plays that cost us the game. That's it. I feel like everybody else played good," Horn said at the time. "I'm one of the leaders of this team. I'm one of the highest-paid guys on this team, and I've got to be better.

"I told them just keep their commitment, just keep playing, and I'm going to be better. I can't wait for next Sunday."

So all week, Horn set about to do that, to be better than he was against New Orleans, and prepare for the Falcons. It started in practice, where the Pro Bowler was noticeably intense, locking in as Carolina prepared for the Falcons. The secret, he shared on Thursday, was not being reactive; instead, trusting what had worked in so many other games, trusting that it would do so again versus Atlanta.

"Staying the same, staying consistent," he said of his mindset. "I'm confident in the work I put in every week, and I've had a lot of success doing what I'm doing, so just keep doing it."

And while Horn's coaches appreciate the accountability and responsibility taken by their leader, it's that commitment to staying level that the Panthers value the most in Horn.

"We all preach that it's about everybody being responsible for their own performance and being accountable to their own performance—coaches and players and, so certainly that's what he's done," shared defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

"Look, he's one of the best players in this league. He's done so many great things for us over the last couple of years, and even within that game, there were so many downs that he was really, really good. And he had a couple that he wished he had back, and that's the nature of that position."

Added coach Dave Canales, "Accountability is important for all of us. It starts with me, and whenever we come out into a game and it feels like we're off as a group, I have to look at the way that I set up the week, the way that we approach the guys in my messaging.

"Certainly, Jaycee, certainly the different guys on our teams taking accountability for the part that they contributed, that's talking about their specific performance, and I love guys taking that. Jaycee also has to understand too this is a group effort, you know, and this is all of us who didn't play up to our standard that day."

Horn had four targets against the Saints on 31 coverage snaps. Two of them were for the touchdowns that Horn took responsibility for after the game. The other two targets resulted in one catch for 6 yards.

Through 10 games, Horn has only been targeted 36 times on 332 coverage snaps, one of the lowest snap-to-target ratios amongst qualifying corners, indicating quarterbacks avoid him most of the time. It's that sort of reminder that has helped Horn and his coaches keep the corner on track to return to form this week.

"The cool thing about him, though, is his confidence is not affected, his demeanor is not affected," bragged Evero. "This guy always prepares the right way, and so I think he's just going about his business as normal."

It is the sign of a true professional who can turn the page even when part of them wants to stay focused on what went wrong in a previous game. It's even been part of the motto Canales and staff have employed this year, pushing each guy and the team as a whole to reset and refocus after each week, each game, and each play.

Horn can acknowledge the two big plays from Sunday still haunt him to an extent—"probably still not over it," he admitted on Thursday.

But the work doesn't stop, the next opponent doesn't wait, and Jaycee Horn knows his team is counting on him to be ready for Sunday.

"I accepted it and it's in the past," Horn promised, "and I'm looking forward to Atlanta."