CHARLOTTE — When Xavier Legette scored touchdowns as a rookie, he'd saddle up his horse Dolla Bill.

He's found someone else to ride with now.

With now-rookie Tetairoa McMillan alongside him, there are joint celebrations that they're enjoying together.

"Come on, man. You already know. We celebrate each other's victories, man," McMillan said with a grin of their recent high-fives (which are quite high, indeed, with the 6-foot-5 McMillan and the 6-3 Legette up in the air.

"It's been a blessing, obviously he's a great football player, but you know even better human, so you know those are the type of guys that you want to be surrounded by, the type of guys that you want in the locker room. So you know I'm fortunate to have such a high-caliber player, but also like a good character dude in my room."

Seeing them celebrating has become a common occurrence, as one or the other has gotten into the end zone during the three-game win streak.

Legette came off a two-week layoff to get one against the Dolphins, McMillan had a pair of scores in his low-yardage day of the season against the Cowboys, and Legette was back in the box last week.

And yes, they are both enjoying this very much.

"Me and TMac, we've been connected since he's been here, and I've got mad love for that boy," Legette said earlier this week. "It's just going to continue to grow."

Tetairoa McMillan and Xavier Legette receiving stats

Of course, that size is one of the things that will benefit any quarterback. And since the Panthers have some degree of uncertainty this week — with Bryce Young not practicing Wednesday but pushing to get back on the field, while Andy Dalton took all the work with the ones — that helps.

Dalton came in and hit the big play late to McMillan, a 33-yard strike that capped a career day for the second-year receiver. But he's also connected with McMillan through training camp and the preseason, so there's chemistry there that holds them in good stead this week.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales said Monday that Dalton's early work with the 6-foot-4 AJ Green in Cincinnati was a good indication of how size helps, even if these guys are too young to remember that connection in the Bengals days.

"I haven't," McMillan admitted, when asked if he had seen their tape. "I haven't dug too deep into that. I mean, I've seen some highlights."

Of course, McMillan was 8 years old and Legette was 10 when the Bengals drafted the receiver and the quarterback in the first two rounds of the 2011 draft, so they can be excused.

But working with receivers of this size is something any quarterback appreciates, especially when you can mix in a slot receiver like Jalen Coker (who returned last week), and take advantage of some secondaries that aren't blessed with the kind of size the Panthers have in Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson.

"We're all big targets; We're all confident, players," McMillan said. "So we're always confident to make a play if the ball goes to the other side, I know that anybody in our room will come down with it.

He then motioned toward the locker next to him and the 6-5 Brycen Tremayne, who has made some plays of his own in spot duty on offense this year.

"We got another big target in Brycen, so I mean, yeah, Andy has a lot of options," McMillan said.

Injured veteran wideout David Moore — a mere 6-0, 220 — has been in such rooms in the past, playing with DK Metcalf in Seattle and Mike Evans in Tampa, so he recognizes the advantage. (The Bills starting cornerbacks, Tre'Davious White and Christian Benford, are 5-11, and 6-1, respectively, and their nickel is 5-11 Taron Johnson.)

"It can help the QB out in a lot of ways; it'll give him a lot more radius to throw the ball," Moore said. "So when you get the bigs, man, you know it just kind of make its a little easier, a little more trustworthy to throw it. . . .

"When you start getting like that slot position at 6 feet and above, and it's like now you're really cooking with some guys here."