CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tetairoa McMillan last season became the first Carolina Panthers player since Cam Newton to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Jaycee Horn was the team’s lone Pro Bowl selection.Both believe the individual accomplishments would have meant more had the Panthers been able to advance in the playoffs.“It was cool,” McMillan said of his OROY award. “But there’s more ahead of us. It probably would’ve been a little bit better if we won that playoff game, little things like that. But it is what it is.”Horn heard McMillan’s comments Wednesday while waiting to speak with reporters following the second of three scheduled minicamp practices. The veteran cornerback approved of McMillan’s message.“That’s just the type guy he is. He’s never satisfied,” Horn said. “That’s just our goal as a team. We made it to the playoffs last year, now it’s time to go win in the playoffs and take the next step. That’s what you want to do every year. He hit it on the head with that.”The Panthers snapped a seven-year playoff drought in 2025 by winning the NFC South with a losing record. Carolina, Tampa Bay and Atlanta all finished with 8-9 records, but the Panthers won the tiebreaker despite dropping their final two regular-season games.The Panthers led the Los Angeles Rams late in their wild-card game at Bank of America Stadium before Matthew Stafford took the Rams down the field in the final three minutes of a 34-31 victory.McMillan, the No. 8 pick from Arizona, was a big reason for the Panthers’ success. The 6-foot-4 wideout set a franchise rookie record with 1,014 receiving yards, led all rookies with seven touchdown catches and ranked third with 70 receptions.But McMillan hasn’t watched any game tapes from last season — of his individual cut-ups or otherwise. “Not at all,” he said. “I feel like they play enough of last year’s clips in the meeting room.”McMillan has done a lot of watching during OTAs after injuring his foot during the team’s offseason program. He participated in individual drills for the first time Tuesday, then had the day off Wednesday as the training staff eases him back into action.Coach Dave Canales indicated McMillan would be involved in Thursday’s final minicamp session, and McMillan is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in July.“It’s just a little sore,” McMillan said. “But I feel good right now.”McMillan has gained back the weight he lost as a rookie. He’s added 17 pounds to get to 220, his playing weight at Arizona. The Hawaii native, who went to high school in southern California, isn’t sure if it was the grind of an 18-week NFL season or the Carolina humidity that caused his weight loss.“Maybe it’s just the Carolina air. It was a little different when I first got here,” he said with a smile. “But I couldn’t tell you what it is.”Quarterback Bryce Young said it’s “never as fun” in the offensive huddle without McMillan. But Young thinks McMillan’s absence has forced him to be more intentional in looking for other receivers in different route progressions.“For me, you have a guy like that that’s your safety blanket that you know, ‘All right, one-on-one, this is where I want to go,’” Young said. “(Now) it gives you that opportunity of like, ‘Hey, we get man (coverage) across the board, let’s work out some progressions. We get certain looks, let’s see everyone run all these routes.’”Third-year wideout Jalen Coker and veteran David Moore have seen the biggest uptick in targets with McMillan sidelined, but Young said the entire receiver group has stepped up over the past few weeks. Still, it will be good to have T-Mac back.“Obviously, when 4’s out there, my life’s always so much easier,” Young said, referring to McMillan’s jersey number. “We miss him. But now’s the time to develop. We need him for the season. We all know what he can do. We all know what he’s capable of. So they’re doing a great job of managing that.”Like McMillan, Horn also wasn’t all that interested in reliving a 2025 season that saw him establish a career high with five interceptions, which tied for the NFL lead among cornerbacks. Horn made his second consecutive Pro Bowl, but knows how unforgiving the corner position is.“You see it so much, especially at the cornerback position, guys will be considered one of the best in the league and fall off the cliff. So you’ve gotta reset and refocus every year,” Horn said. “Each year presents new challenges. There’s new faces in the league coming in every year. So you’ve gotta attack your work humbly and try to get better every day.”Often injured early in his career, Horn changed his offseason routine in 2024 to spend more time in the weight room focusing on “small muscles” he’d neglected. The result: After being sidelined 29 games over his first three seasons, Horn missed three games the past two years.Horn played in 16 of 17 regular-season games in 2025, sitting out a December win at home against the Rams while in the concussion protocol. Unfortunately for the Panthers, another concussion in the playoff game vs. L.A. landed Horn in the medical tent for Stafford’s game-winning drive.“It was super tough, especially just ’cause the timing, the situation of the game. But that’s one thing you can’t really play with — concussions,” Horn said. “San Fran, I had one and was throwing up on the sideline. And then that hit (against the Rams), I felt like kinda the same symptoms coming off of it. So just playing it smart.“But I definitely wish I had a chance to go out there and finish because that was a big drive at the end of the game for sure.”But Horn — and McMillan — are ready to move on, hopeful there are more playoff games in their future.