CHARLOTTE — When Ryan Fitzgerald walks into an NFL locker room, he doesn't look like everyone else in the room. Which is fine, because his job is different than the other guys who beat their bodies into each other for 59 minutes and 57 seconds.

But in those last three seconds, he's quickly earning the rest of their trust.

The baby-faced rookie from Florida State hit his first walk-off game-winning field goal Sunday, helping the Panthers seal a 30-27 win over the Cowboys.

And to listen to those around him, there was never a doubt.

"I mean, he's got nerves of steel, man," tight end Tommy Tremble said. "And we believe every single time he goes out there, he's going to make the kick.

"And so him going out there icing the game, awesome. I'm really happy for him."

Others were even more confident, to an existential level.

"I trust that man with my soul," cornerback Chau Smith-Wade. "I know he going to knock it down."

They all were, because his doing his job meant they're 3-3, hitting .500 for the first time since mid-November of 2021, when they were 5-5.

For Fitzgerald, whose unassuming manner and youthful bearing make him look like a golf pro some days, he still has those hustler's nerves. He won some early confidence from his teammates via an offseason bet on the team's golf simulator, taking a win (on behalf of his investor) off one of the vets when he was challenged. It was just a golf game, but it was still a pressure situation, with someone's cash on the line.

But mostly, they trust him to hit his kicks.

He's 10-of-11 on field goals this season, including a long of 57 against the Falcons earlier this year. He also hit a 55-yarder earlier on Sunday, which gave them the confidence that a 33-yarder to win the game was money.

"Yeah, that was cool. That was good," veteran long snapper JJ Jansen said with a nod, very understated, in the same way Fitzgerald is proving himself to be.

"Very calm, very confident," Jansen added. "We talked about this back in training camp, what are the the non-measurable traits of a young kicker, and I think whenever you bring a young guy in, you're looking for confidence in big moments, you're looking for bounceback from bad days, bad kicks, bad games, and you're looking for someone that can hold up emotionally to your biggest kick of the game's gonna be at 4:05 p.m. after everyone else has beaten their bodies up.

"Now you've got to go make a 33-yard field goal like and very confident, very calm, no anxiousness in them at all."

Jansen saw the poise at the two-minute warning, when Fitzgerald walked out to the field to check the current wind conditions with punter/holder Sam Martin, on what was a gusty and breezy day throughout.

"That was very on-process for him," Jansen said. "He does that typically at the two-minute warning, in between quarters, whenever there's downtime, he stays very process-oriented. He and Sam had a really good plan all day. It was a pretty tricky wind, more into and with than a standard Panther wind. So even though it's a shorter kick, you've still got to have confidence in your line, and he and Sam were in great communication all day.

"Sam gave him a great hold, ball down, and you know, he didn't speed up, he didn't slow down, you know, you just stay on process, that's what you need."

That's why, after the game-winner, which triggered the celebration — it was the third straight home win, something they hadn't done since 2022 — he politely thanked the offense for putting him in position for the "chip shot."

"I couldn't ask for anything more," he said. "I mean, what's not to be excited about?"

Fitzgerald's still young, but he's also earning that reputation for being a low-pulse-rate guy. When asked if he heard fans in the moments before the kick, when he warmed up into the net on the sidelines, he just shrugged.

"I don't listen to that," he said. "I try to just stay focused on process and do my thing."

And since he's new here, one of 12 rookies on the roster and one of 11 of the 48 who suited up Sunday, he doesn't fully appreciate the history here.

For him, it's just an extension of what he's been doing since he's been here.

"Yeah, it's awesome; I mean, it's a lot of fun," he said. "I mean, I'm so competitive in nature and, just to be on a team that has that drive and that fight regardless of the score, regardless of the outcome, that these guys want to go to work, I'm so excited to be a part of that."

And mostly, he's not going to take anything for granted. He's an undrafted rookie, so he carries that with him, even though he's at a clean 90.9 percent all-time on field goals.

"I think I have to continue to prove myself," Fitzgerald said. "I mean, I haven't made it just because you know of one solid game, and every week I've got to keep finding new ways to get better and help this team. Offense did a great job giving me a chip shot, and at that point, I just needed to do my job. JJ and Sam did theirs, a great snap, great hold, protection up front was great all game, so I just got to do my job at that point."

And each of them doing their jobs was a theme on Sunday, even if only one of them had the game on his foot with three seconds left.