CHARLOTTE — Tetairoa McMillan is bigger, faster, and stronger than most skill guys on a football field. At 6-5 and 212 pounds, that's clear. But as a rookie in his first training camp, he can forget that at times.

Learning a playbook, understanding schemes, and adjusting to the game's speed can all be overwhelming.

Then a play will happen, and the Panthers' No. 8 overall pick will remember he's bigger, faster, and stronger than the guy across from him.

That's what happened Wednesday during a team drill.

Quarterback Bryce Young dropped back, waiting as McMillan raced downfield, then let one fly, perfectly arching through the air towards the rookie receiver. McMillan had Corey Thornton guarding him, using his 6-1 wingspan to box out McMillan from the ball. It was good defense, and it was working…initially.

Then TMac—who already had one highlight reel one-handed catch earlier in the day during drills — turned his body back towards the ball and took over. Using his height and frame, the rookie jumped well above Thornton, gaining the vertical space, and stuck his left hand out to pull in the ball. It bobbled for a moment, as it is apt to do during a play with a lot of contact, but McMillan kept his eyes there, pulling it towards his body and securing it between his hand and his legs as he went down, ensuring possession.

"I thought it was his best day at camp. So he's learning how to play that game and, you know, just continue to use his body," coach Dave Canales bragged of his Top 10 pick on that play and others.

"Just shows a lot of confidence and belief, you know, he's had some pretty bad plays throughout camp, and he's had some excellent plays, and I think, when you have a guy, he's teaching me stuff about him that I don't know, just looking at his character."

The play was made over Thornton, a rookie UDFA corner who has had a good camp thus far, making plays and stepping up on days Jaycee Horn and/or Mike Jackson are sidelined for rest or rehab. It's part of the reason, according to Canales, McMillan has had those days with "some pretty bad plays," as the Panthers' secondary pushes him ahead of the season.

"It's been just physical play," explained Canales. "Whether it's Jaycee or whether it's Mike Jack or Corey Thornton, who's having a great camp, Shemar Bartholomew been making plays, you know, Akayleb Evans, there's a really good competition in the corner room, and these guys are all big. They're all over 6 feet. They're all over 200 pounds, and so that's a good recipe against big receivers, and so, (TMac has) got his hands full every day and it's bringing out the best in him and he improves."

When the Panthers drafted McMillan at No. 8 overall in April's draft, they knew he was big, fast, and had the kind of soft hands some players only dream about. But when a rookie gets into training camp, it can come with reality checks, usually courtesy of those corners who have become experts at jamming.

But each day, he takes another step towards negating their play, elevating his own in the process. It's a good recipe for Tetairoa McMillan and the Panthers.

"When guys bounce back quickly, it speaks to their confidence," said Canales of McMillan. "They know they're good. I'll do it again. I'll be good again. And that's really powerful self-talk and something that we try to remind all of our guys is remember, good or bad play, I've done it before, I'll do it again, and have that kind of thought process, and he's showing that."