CHARLOTTE — Summer is a time to reconnect, to travel and explore, throw burgers on the grill, hang out with family, and remind your younger cousins who is really low man on the totem pole; it's a rite of passage, and one Mike Jackson takes seriously.

The Carolina Panthers' corner went into this offseason with plans to use his knowledge as an NFL player to (lovingly) share some hard truths with his cousin.

"I have a little cousin who, I think he's like a (3-star) now, he plays receiver, so we made a bet," Jackson shared during mandatory minicamp.

The cousin is Jeremiah Tabb, a composite 3-star recruit in the Class of 2026. He's a product of Hoover High School, a perennial powerhouse in the state of Alabama, where Jackson is also from, and has received offers from six schools, including two SEC programs.

"He got Kentucky and Arkansas and some other schools," Jackson—who went to Miami but swore he isn't pushing that on his family members—shared, "but he's probably—if Bama offers him, he's probably going to go to Bama."

The bet: to see who can win more one-on-one reps.

"He's going to come to my house and we're going to do two days of one-on-ones. We're gonna do 100 reps," Jackson said, practically giddy at the prospect. "100 reps each day, and we're going to keep score."

The two did face off at the end of June, but the official score card is yet to be made public.

Tabb has been asking Jackson for this matchup for a couple of months, youthful exuberance and the natural baiting that comes with being a younger family member poking at his opponent.

"He thinks he's so good. I'm like, bro, you have no idea," laughed Jackson, pride in Tabb only slightly outweighed by the familial need to humble his cousins.

"He has no idea, and he's been talking trash the whole off-season. Like we went on our family trip, and he said, 'Let's do one-on-ones right now.' I'm like, 'No, bro, you've been training the whole year. I've been on the couch eating. I'm eating chicken salad, and like, nah, you're not going to get me. I'm going to catch you in the summer. So yeah, it's going to be fun."

And the terms?

"I'll buy him whatever he wants," Jackson said. There's no price limit, though, because "he's not going to beat me. But whatever he wants."

If Jackson wins the majority of these 100 reps?

"I get to pick his first day of school outfit. He's going to wear some crazy outfits, like two different mismatched shoes, and the Hollister sweaters that are really tight. Make him put on some capris, all that."

It's the sort of friendly competition that defines a family. It's also the attitude coach Dave Canales has asked Jaycee Horn and Jackson to take with the Panthers' young receivers, a different kind of family, particularly Tetairoa McMillan.

"We talk about it all the time; we make us," Canales said during OTAs. "It's the matchups every day at practice that make us who we are. And if you look at what we've done up front over the last couple of free agencies, the draft, just getting great players up front on both sides to challenge each other, certainly on the perimeter, TMac going against Mike Jackson, going against Jaycee Horn just makes him better at the line of scrimmage.

"When you got two big guys who can run, and they're fundamentally sound, it makes you elevate your game. That's exactly what we want, and we try to create that in every room."

For Mike Jack, that means applying every bit of pressure on the field, and nothing but support off of it.

"Any time you get really, any guy, it doesn't matter if he's a top draft pick or not, and you go against him every single day, it's like you want to show him this is what it's about, this is who I am regardless if you're a rookie or not," Jackson said.

"If you're a rookie, it's just a little bit extra, like we're competing, but once we get off the field, I feel like it's my job to tell you, like you're showing this. I was talking to TMac about his eyes when he comes to the line."

In the true spirit of competition, McMillan retorted that Jackson reading his eyes so easily was more of a one-time thing. But added that each piece of advice the veteran corner has given has been stored up to be pulled out at the appropriate time. They are minor tweaks that will make a big difference in a receiver Jackson already sees succeeding.

"I just see the potential," Jackson said of McMillan. "He's almost like, to me, you put him in that category of like Drake London and Mike Evans; he's tall, always jumping, so it's like, he's a big body receiver. He can run a good route, so I see where everybody else is for sure."

But even with that potential, Mike Jack isn't letting up on TMac, just like he's not letting up on his cousin. There are lessons to be learned, and more importantly, bragging rights to hold on to, at least until the next rep.

"Oh no, he's gonna get it," Jackson smiled.