CHARLOTTE — Ryan Fitzgerald's never gone through anything like this before, so he didn't know what to expect. And they didn't know what to expect from him.

But he's already hit a couple of big shots in Bank of America Stadium — well, sort of — so they're beginning to like his chances.

The rookie kicker from Florida State won a job in training camp, but he may have begun to win over some teammates back in the summer on a fake golf course.

As the story goes, Fitzgerald and some of the special teamers were hitting a few balls on the team's golf simulator, where it is occasionally as competitive as it gets on the field.

A single-digit handicap golfer, Fitzgerald was getting heckled one day by veteran safety Nick Scott, who considers himself pretty good at this as well.

"And Nick was kind of busting his chops about not being very good, and Ryan said something to the effect of 'You want to bet on it?" long snapper JJ Jansen recalled. "And Nick was like, 'Sure, how much?'"

Numbers were exchanged, and it quickly got past the point that the undrafted rookie (without the same kind of guaranteed money as his veteran counterparts) was comfortable.

That's when punter/holder Sam Martin stepped in to spot the rookie.

"I've got to have my guys back," Martin said with a laugh.

To make a long story short, the rookie then proceeded to take Scott's money (on behalf of Martin), going to extra holes but making the shots he needed to make to win.

"It's like he didn't have any real fear about going and competing," Jansen said. "Look, I got in the league at 22, I don't know that I had the guts to go do that for the money. And you're not dealing with other specialists, you're dealing with leaders on the team, veteran guys, and he had no pause at all in going and doing it.

"And I think, OK, there's someone who exudes some confidence, and I thought that was a positive step. Now we don't really care how well he hits a golf ball. We care about how he kicks a field goal, but I think those sorts of things speak to temperament and competitiveness."

Scott just shook his head when first asked about the match, knowing that he's the Gatsby in this particular Fitzgerald story.

"I mean, I don't know if it really counts, he was playing with free money," he said, faux-dismissively.

But Fitzgerald rebounding on the screen of a simulated TPC Sawgrass — near where he'll play his NFL debut — was the first sign to his teammates that he had what it took.

"I'm still a little salty about that, so thanks for bringing that up," Scott said, not really meaning it. "So kudos to him, he's got a lot of confidence, which I love. He fits in, and he's a good dude. I picked up on that early. We went to dinner during the preseason. Ryan is just a natural; he just fits in. Like good conversation, wasn't nervous, was sharing experiences. Just was one of the guys and in my mind, shoot, I'm not an evaluator, but I'm like, I mean right now he has an edge in my book because he fits.

"So much of that trio of snapper, holder, and kicker is fit, how well you work together, the personalities, and I think Ryan fits the bill. He owns it, man. He carries himself like he belongs here, like he's supposed to be here, and the expectation was that he was going to be here. So I mean, more power to him, man."

It would be one thing if Fitzgerald were some swaggering golf hustler or a Shooter McGavin-style villain. But the rookie has a knack for understatement and has shown early evidence of being the kind of down-the-middle persona that the life of an NFL kicker demands.

In a business where "you can't get too high or too low" is one of the commandments, he appears to have that part down.

Asked how he found out he was the Panthers' kicker after the summer competition with veteran Matthew Wright, he shrugged and said there were no official declarations.

"I just heard about Matt leaving," he said. "And then I showed up to practice the next day and was able to practice, so I was super excited."

That gift of understatement will serve him well.

"I think what you're looking for in young kickers is beyond the raw kicking talent," said Jansen, who has seen a lot of kickers in his day, beginning with the Zen master John Kasay.

"It's the temperament, the ability to bounce back from a miss or a bad day," he continued. "The ability to handle himself in the locker room, in the media, in the meeting rooms, because that stuff all matters to a position that a handful of games are going to be on his foot at the end of the game. And I don't know exactly how they're all going to play out, but if you miss one, you need that guy to be able to stand up in front of the media and handle himself with dignity in class because he's going to get another opportunity. When he makes it you need that same guy to stand up there with dignity in class and because at the end of the day, the other 50 guys on the team are pushing and they're beating their heads in, literally and figuratively for three and a half hours and then it's it's kind of on the three of us there at the end.

"So you're looking for someone with the right temperament, you're looking for someone with the right ability. And what I found most impressive is that he seems like a very steady person. In the midst of a kicking competition in the midst of game kicks and stuff like that, so those are all the positive qualities you're looking for in a young guy, especially when it's undrafted and he's got to prove himself."

Martin, Fitzgerald's golf sponsor and holder, has also worked with a lot of unique personalities in that position. And he agreed that the rookie's personality is a positive in this situation, where nothing is guaranteed beyond the chance to kick this week.

"For his age and being a rookie and having no NFL experience so far, he's very poised, he's cool, I don't think the moment's too big for him," Martin said. "I think coming from a school like FSU, that helps. He's been in those big stadiums, had these pressure kicks, so yeah, I think he's coming into this with a pretty poised, chill mentality, which is one of those intangible things for a kicker."

He also has the self-awareness to see what's happening around him. After adjusting his swing to poor results in 2022 (when he made just 12-of-20 field goals), he recovered the rest of his career, making 32-of-34 field goals and all his extra points in his final two seasons for the Seminoles.

So the accomplishments are there, along with the attitude.

And now that it's his job, he's trying to stay in the middle of the fairway, so to speak.

"I mean, it was my first time going through it, so I didn't know what to expect," he said with a grin. "It's just a big learning process for me, but obviously, having Sam and JJ here has been leaning on them for their advice and all the things they've gone through as well. I mean, I went through a lot of competitions in college, so it wasn't anything new for me, and just focusing on myself and not what the other guys are doing and controlling what I can control.

"We're all human at the end of the day, we're going to have those emotions, not knowing if I'm going to be moving into a new place or not, or if I'm packing up and looking elsewhere. But you know, as soon as I knew I was the guy, quick turnaround, try to get a place, and I'm a Charlotte resident now."

He's been here before (he works with a kicking coach here, the same one Martin uses in the offseason), so he knows a little about his new home for the moment. And along with a new apartment, he's traded in his training camp 35 jersey for an actual kicker number (10) and a chance to build something here.

And while he doesn't know quite what to expect in his NFL debut, he at least has learned how to adjust. During his true freshman year at FSU, their first game was supposed to be in Jacksonville, but Hurricane Dorian forced the game to be moved back to Tallahassee.

"So I guess it's pretty fitting that my first NFL regular season game is going to be there," he said with a grin.

And since they're near the real TPC Sawgrass, perhaps the good vibes will follow him into the game as well.