CHARLOTTE — The Panthers drafted Tetairoa McMillan for the things that he can do.

But now that he's here, there are people around him on both sides of the ball who are accelerating the rookie wide receiver's education.

From sharing meeting-room space and getting on-field pointers from a couple of veterans like Adam Thielen and Hunter Renfrow to having to line up across from Pro Bowl cornerback Jaycee Horn, the village is coming together around the first-round receiver.

And it's making him better, and they can already see a difference.

"He's really taken to the coaching, first and foremost," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said following Tuesday's OTA practice. "The goal is to get him comfortable with the system, the different types of plays, and the different formations. We're starting to make it more challenging in terms of moving it around in different spots. He's handling it great. That gives him his best opportunity to play fast.

"I can tell when a guy's not comfortable because they look a little methodical out there, you know, and so to see him be able to play fast, he looks pretty comfortable, but I know he'll probably be the first one to come up here and say. I don't feel like I have everything totally down pat. And that's the goal, is to get him to where he's completely comfortable."

The good news is that McMillan is surrounded by people who can help him get to the point where he can be.

It's a common sight during OTAs to see Thielen and Renfrow breaking down plays for McMillan and Xavier Legette on the sideline or during individual drills, and those veterans who have a couple of decades in the league of experience that's valuable to the younger ones. And you can tell they're absorbing it.

McMillan said he enjoyed being part of such a "diverse" room, and he and Legette have brought the energy throughout the spring, which has been one of the noticeable parts of practices lately. Rookies can't always take that kind of mentorship for granted, and vets can't always expect that rookies want to soak it in.

"It's a huge testament to everybody's humility that we have in our group; nobody's entitled," McMillan said. "At the end of the day, we all want to see each other succeed; if one person wins, we all win.

"I mean, it's a blessing. I'm the new guy around town. I've never played in this league and you know, Hunter's going on, I think Year (7), I think Adam's going on Year 13. For them just to have that that knowledge, that wisdom. I'm all ears when they speak. Just being able to find out whatever makes them great, find out whatever can make me better, makes me succeed at this level."

And one of the things they're working with him on is getting a release off the line of scrimmage, a process that's going to be more complicated for him than it was at Arizona last season.

"They play a lot more physical in the league," McMillan said. "I've got to get used to that just playing on my hands, playing a lot more physical at the top of my release is the top of the route. So, that's pretty much that kind of hump that I got to get over right now."

And if he was unclear about that, he gets a small taste of that every day in practice. Having a pair of big, physical corners in Jaycee and Mike Jack in the starting lineup gives him a chance to play against the kind of guys he'll see on a routine basis.

Horn, in particular, is a challenge. And as he's grown into his role as a leader on the defense, he's also a vocal player who will tell anyone what's up.

"I mean, man, it's a blessing," McMillan said. "I know he's gonna do everything in his power to make sure that I'm ready for anything that got thrown on me this year. I'm going to try my best to make sure that you know I can make him a better player, but I know for a fact that he's going to do that for me. Every day, we're chasing greatness and we try to make each other better."

Canales says that's by design and part of what he's working to build here, with players competing.

"We talk about it all the time; we make us," Canales said. "It's the matchups every day at practice that make us who we are. And if you look at what we've done up front over the last couple of free agencies that draft, just getting great players up front on both sides to challenge each other, certainly on the perimeter, TMac going against Mike Jackson, going against Jaycee Horn just makes him better at the line of scrimmage.

"When you got two big guys who can run, and they're fundamentally sound, it makes you elevate your game. That's exactly what we want, and we try to create that in every room."

And as it pertains to McMillan, there are signs of progress toward that goal for Canales as well.

"I think it's just his consistent ability to win at the top of the route; he uses his hands well. He's got great body control for having that kind of frame in size," Canales said. "A lot of times, guys do struggle with people in their space. And for a 6-4 guy to be able to control his body and then come back to the ball, he's such a friendly target because he attacks it whenever it's thrown to him. You'll see him come back towards the ball versus just receiving it, if you will. So those are some of the things that I'm excited about, you know, just continuing to see from him."