Bryce Young-TMac connection comes alive in Carolina Panthers practice with Jags
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The Carolina Panthers were being a little too “cute” to begin Wednesday morning’s joint practice against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
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At least, those were Tetairoa McMillan’s words.
How did they rectify that, you ask?
The Panthers found a way to get McMillan the ball.
Under the sweltering Florida sun, the Panthers participated in their first joint practice of training camp against the Jaguars in the franchise’s newly built practice facility. And after a slow start for the offense, starting quarterback Bryce Young did what made him most successful in 2025 and sought out the secure hands of McMillan, last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Young and McMillan flashed several times on Wednesday, and in all sorts of spots. There was a play-action pass in which Young found McMillan settled nicely in the middle of the field, finding an open pocket against a zone look. There was a play in which Young scrambled outside the pocket and flung the ball to the sideline, which McMillan hunted down and caught with two hands.
And then there was the highlight play: Young read that the Jaguars were sending an all-out blitz and knew that he’d have McMillan alone with a defender on the left side; so the fourth-year quarterback stood steady, stared down an unblocked pass rusher coming right at his face through the middle of the line and then lofted a pass to a spot in which “only I could get it,” McMillan said. Touchdown.
Wednesday wasn’t close to perfect for the Panthers’ offense. The electric crowd watching the practice reminded the Charlotte-based team of that. The first 11-on-11 series with Young saw four plays with a total of 8 yards gained; the final two-minute drill was underwhelming for the Panthers’ starters, too.
But toward the end of 11-on-11 drills — with the team’s two most explosive players dialed in — the Panthers had plenty of room to dream.
“It makes my job so much easier,” Young said of McMillan. “Just having a guy you can trust one-on-one. A guy you know you can go to. It’s huge. It just speaks to the player he is, the person he is, the work ethic he has. Obviously, he’s a huge part of what we do.”
Added Young on that “zero-look” McMillan catch: “The catch looked a lot easier, probably, than it was. That’s not an easy catch at all.”
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McMillan on the catch: “I was back-side, just one-on-one. Bryce saw something he liked. He checked out of it. And I guess he got me open on that one.”
Last season might not have been a year-long highlight reel for McMillan and Young, but in retrospect, it was close to it. McMillan broke a bunch of Panthers rookie receiving records; his 6-foot-5, 212-pound frame provided Young with a red zone threat and intermediate threat that the Panthers desperately needed. McMillan finished the regular season playing 17 games and notching 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns; he added five catches for 81 yards in the team’s lone playoff game.
Now, the wideout has added approximately 15 pounds, he told reporters earlier this summer, and he seems to have maintained his speed. He’s also been mostly healthy this offseason — a superpower of his through a rookie season in which he played all 18 games.
Young ascended just as McMillan did in 2025, putting up career-bests in regular-season passing yards (3,011), touchdowns (23), completion percentage (63.6) and passer rating (87.8). The two didn’t connect at all in the preseason game they both played against the Bills — those were a doomed nine snaps, weren’t they? — but their connection was alive on Wednesday. Head coach Dave Canales noticed, too.
“A little bit of a slow start in the first drive,” Canales said. “The Jags defense did a fantastic job against the (first-team offense). Then the guys just settled in, and Bryce just started finding TMac in different ways. … Bryce had to move a little bit (throughout the day), but TMac was where he was supposed to be, on time, and they made some fantastic plays today.”
McMillan was used in a variety of ways on Wednesday: both on the outside and in the slot, across all layers of the defense. That’s been a joy to do, McMillan said. It’s also helped him find the end zone a bunch this training camp.
“The coaches are doing a good job of moving me around, getting different matchups,” McMillan said. “Just making the game easier for everybody. I feel like everyone is getting a lot more touches, a lot more opportunities, and we’re making the most out of them.”
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