CHARLOTTE — Ejiro Evero and staff always knew Jaycee Horn could have a year like this one. He just needed the marriage of time on the field, not sidelined by injury, and opportunity.

"He's certainly grown," said Evero of his star cornerback on Wednesday. "Our first year with him was challenging just because there's so many games missed, and at that position in our defense, you really have to play a lot to kind of learn all the nuances and how we're going to feature him and all that."

Horn missed 29 games over his first three seasons with various injuries. In 2022, while playing 13 games, the first-round corner set a career high with three interceptions. In 2024, Horn had his best season to date, playing 15 games and posting a career high 68 tackles and 2.0 sacks.

But this season, the Pro Bowl corner is fully establishing himself as a ball hawk. He currently has 25 tackles, six passes defended, and five interceptions through 12 games. His five interceptions are tied with Kevin Byard III and Nahshon Wright (both of the Bears) for the most by a single player this season thus far.

"He's certainly grown into our scheme. And then, I think just him being on the field and if people want to test him, you know, there's a good chance he's going to make a play back there," bragged Evero.

That was the case Monday night, when Horn grabbed two interceptions off of Brock Purdy in the first half. Unfortunately, he then left the game with a concussion and wasn't able to return in the second half. The impact in those first two quarters, though, was unmistakable, as, along with Mike Jackson, the defense picked off Purdy on three straight drives.

Horn's two interceptions were a perfect snapshot, according to Evero, of how special the corner is as a talent, and how he's come into his own within this system.

"It was cool, he made one interception in man coverage, where he just did a hell of a job on the basic, and then the other was in zone coverage," explained the coordinator. "And so kind of showing both of his traits, the ability to cover man to man, and then the zone awareness was that second interception. Because he was over, Purdy never saw him, and he kind of broke out.

"It was great because it was something we talked about in the week. He identified the formation, the call that we were in, and putting it all together, understanding the concept that we might potentially get on the backside of that. And that's always going to be a hard play for the quarterback to see. So, I just thought it was incredible awareness by him."

The Panthers now await word on how Horn is progressing through the concussion protocol and whether or not he'll be able to play on Sunday against the Rams. Coach Dave Canales acknowledged on Wednesday that the short week would make things difficult.

In preparation for the possibility, as well as the loss of depth after Corey Thornton suffered a broken fibula Monday night, Carolina added two cornerbacks to the roster this week: Robert Rochell to the active roster off the Cowboys' practice squad, and David Long Jr. to the practice squad.

Rochell and Long were both with the Panthers for a spell in 2023 and have experience with the current defensive coaching staff. Rochell was a fourth-round pick by the Rams in 2021, playing under both Evero and secondary coach Jonathan Cooley, who were with the Rams at the time. Rochell has appeared in 50 games with five starts in his career.

Long spent four seasons with the Rams from 2019 to 2022, crossing over with the defensive staff.

On a short week, the familiarity pays dividends.

"It makes the onboarding a lot easier," admitted Evero. "So they come in, and I'm sure there's some subtle differences from last time we were with them. But at the end of the day, they know the keywords, they know a big bulk of the playbook.

"They're probably going to learn the little changes that we've made over the years, but it certainly makes getting them ready on a short week a lot easier."

Jake Curhan the latest reserve lineman to step up

Coaches love players they can trust in certain situations, but when you're in the middle of a game, or a season really, you have to be flexible.

So for offensive lineman Jake Curhan, his background with Panthers coaches from his time in Seattle didn't completely prepare him for his current assignment.

Curhan finished last week's game at right guard when Chandler Zavala was injured, and could be there again this week. Neither Zavala nor center Cade Mays practiced on Wednesday, so veteran Austin Corbett was still at center, which kept him from sliding back to his original position.

When the 6-foot-6, 316-pound Curhan played with Dave Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik with the Seahawks, he was primarily a right tackle, but showed signs of versatility that the Panthers are currently enjoying. He's working with new line coaches in Joe Gilbert and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin, and he's looked good when he's been on the field.

"One, he's really smart," Idzik said of the veteran lineman. "He does a really good job of picking things up on the fly. He played mostly tackle for us in Seattle, but then was available to us at all four spots, not necessarily center. The guy's really smart, he picks things up really fast, and he created a good amount of trust with Joe and Goody in a pretty short amount of time.

"And then just as a player, he covers guys up. He's a big guy. He walks in the room and you see it right away. He's big, can cover guys up and stay attached in his own way to get guys to the second level. So we're excited that he came in and he held his own.

If he has to start this week, that would give the Panthers 10 different combinations of starting linemen in 13 weeks, but the results have been more consistent than that level of turnover would suggest.

"The guys have done that in that room all year long," Idzik said. "Again, it's a testament to Joe and Goody, just how they train those guys and how they have every single guy ready on a weekly basis, and Jake's a perfect example of that."

Panthers using all available knowledge to prepare for Rams' special teams

The Rams have made updates with their special teams in recent weeks, bringing in a second kicker and changing how they handle some kickoffs. Luckily for Panthers' special team coordinator Tracy Smith, he's not completely unfamiliar with the newest Rams kicker.

Harrison Mevis spent the 2024 offseason in Charlotte, competing with Eddy Piñeiro for the Panthers' kicking job. After a season in the UFL and an offseason with the Jets, Mavis was signed by the Rams on November 5. (Where he now works for former Panthers linebacker and special teams coach Chase Blackburn,)

It's provided a new wrinkle to the Rams' special teams approach, particularly on kickoffs, and one that has Smith relying on his previous time with Mevis.

"(Punter) Ethan (Evans has) been doing punts and kickoffs recently," began Smith on Wednesday. They started the season with Josh (Karty) kicking off. Harrison kicked off three balls this week and one the week before.

"So, they all have their little kind of tendencies, what they're best at, so you've got to see kind of where it's landing, how's he getting it there? Where is he starting? It's different from kick and punt obviously, but yeah, you're studying kicker by kicker, and it helps to have a guy with an established background so you have more to go on.

"Harrison now has, he was here obviously, so we know that about him, but he has three NFL kicks, so that's the only thing I can really show the guys outside of our own stuff. So, it's nice when you play a guy like Ethan who's been punting there for several years, and you're kind of ready for what he's got."

Our own stuff would reference back to notes and intel the Panthers still have from their time with Mevis.

"I got that locked in," joked Smith. "But yeah, I know what, I know his strengths are for sure."