CHARLOTTE — If Nic Scourton is being completely honest, he started to get upset around the midway point of the play.

Cleveland was facing a third-and-13 from their own 34-yard line. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders took the shotgun snap and immediately started escaping the rush that was coming from Scourton, Princely Umanmielen, and Jaden Crumedy. Sanders tried to move the pocket for a second before bailing and scrambling 15 yards backwards, attempting to reset on the left side of the field.

At that point, it looked like Scourton had him dead to rights. Instead, Sanders pulled some of the magic that made him such an exciting player to watch at Colorado.

"He broke me off a little bit, so I was kind of pissed off," Scourton admitted after Friday's preseason game. "So I kind of want to go get him a little bit."

And go get him, he did.

As Sanders raced back across the field, moving away from Bobby Brown III, who'd come after the scrambling quarterback, Scourton booked it back to the other sideline, undercutting an offensive lineman trying to lay a block, and running Sanders out of bounds for what counted as a 1-yard sack.

"I love to run to the ball, I like to call myself a high effort guy, so I mean, as I should, I mean the play is still continuing and I got to chase and have that motive," Scourton said.

In total, Scourton ran the most yardage of any player on the field that snap, a total of 74.84 yards, including 65.58 yards just after the snap, according to Next Gen Stats, with a max speed of 17.43 miles per hour. That was the fastest any Panthers front-seven player hit on the play.

And it was the kind of effort Dave Canales and the Panthers' staff saw on tape over and over when watching Scourton in college.

"Probably my favorite Nick Scourton play of the night," Canales said of the rookie pass-rusher on the sack. Scourton had 16 total plays on defense against the Browns.

"Nic pivoted, ran another 40 yards, chased him, and knocked him out of bounds on a play that could have been a huge run. That's what we saw on film, that effort, that relentless pursuit.

"I was so excited to just see that show up today because that's just great football, and so I'm really proud of him for just playing with the kind of effort that we were expecting from him."

The effort and motor are a big reason why the Panthers drafted Scourton, the Purdue and Texas A&M product, in the second round of April's draft. But the edge rusher knows that only goes so far in the league. And while Friday was one preseason game, the first for the rookie, it was enough to give him an idea of the learning curve he's going to have to tackle.

"I mean, just how they mess with us in the NFL is ridiculous," admitted Scourton. "Like lining guys up in our splits, you know, messing with our eyes; especially in this defense, we're asked to do a lot. It's just different, honestly, but I mean it's good."

The biggest takeaway for Scourton, walking off the field Friday night, was to hit the tape even harder.

"I think just formations for me, you know, I try to, like I said, I try to watch a lot of tapes, so you know, calling out formations and actually knowing what's happening, I think that was one of the biggest things where I was like, I did the same thing in college and it's going to work in the NFL."

The Panthers drafted Umanmielen in the third round to pair with Scourton. The rookies are playing behind experienced veterans D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones II, but in their limited debut, Canales saw a glimpse of what the duo can become.

"They take a lot of pride in how they come to work every day. I think (linebackers coach) AC Carter's doing a great job of giving them a foundational base with technique and what we're expecting in our schemes.

"I was really fired up to see both guys set great edges for us in the run game, and then they showed us some pass rush and kept the energy up. And, to see the kind of effort that he's showing us he's about was fantastic, and I think Princeley and Nic coming in together, you know, they've built a good rapport with each other of just pushing each other every day."

And for Scourton, that push and pull and challenge with teammates, with opposing quarterbacks, with himself, is the most exciting part of what's to come.

"I mean, I love to get better," said Scourton. "I love football and I'm just excited for this challenge and this journey that I have ahead of me."