Jimmy Horn Jr., a rookie wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, made an impression during Fan Fest on Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium. More than 40,000 fans attended the event as Horn took the field and later scored two touchdowns during the scrimmage.
Reflecting on his experience, Horn said, “I feel like it’s really when you first walk out and you see all the fans and stuff like that. But once you’re in that field, well, once I’m on the field, it’s like it’s another switch that activates. I just be locked in and try to block out all the noise and just focus on what’s in front of me, not what’s on the outside of me.”
Horn credited a play-action call from coach Dave Canales for his first touchdown reception from quarterback Andy Dalton. “It was just a good call by coach; he dialed it up and we had a great drive and everything just worked in the flow, in the favor that it worked in,” he added.
He also spoke about appreciating such moments privately: “I celebrate the moments on the back end when I’m just vibing by myself, you know, just appreciating everything that God allowed me to do in this life,” Horn admitted. “I celebrate the moments and I pray about it. But on the field wise, like I haven’t played in no real NFL game yet. I still haven’t accomplished any goals or anything.”
Selected in the sixth round out of Colorado earlier this year, Horn has shown progress through training camp with notable performances both during practice sessions and at Fan Fest.
Coach Dave Canales praised Horn’s effort: “I think it’s the energy he plays with. He doesn’t quit on routes, he continues after the normal part of the protection he can count on, he continues to find space and play fast, and, it’s a credit to his fitness, but it’s also a credit to just the energy that he puts out there, that you want to throw to him.”
Veteran receiver Adam Thielen commented on Horn’s development within Carolina’s offensive system: “I think he’s just starting to get comfortable with the offense. I think he’s a guy that has all the ability to play at a high level, and I think as we start to see him get comfortable with the offense, you know, he hasn’t been here that long, right? So as he starts to kind of understand the big picture of this offense you see him start to make more and more plays.
“So that’s fun to see and is why you kind of give guys more time when they’re young players just to kind of feel the offense before you evaluate what they can do.”
Horn emphasized his commitment to improving his route running—a skill highlighted by coaches during camp—and thanked his offseason trainers for teaching him how to better control his speed.
“I take pride in route-running man cause that’s number one thing as a receiver being able create space get open,” shared Horn before acknowledging those who helped him refine his technique. “They helped me out on a lot throughout process learning real depth running routes stuff like that. I always been fast guy they teach me tempo teach me how control my speed run at good pace not only just being fast but being able create separation being able stop down with my speed which makes me even more dangerous.”
Despite growing attention from fans—spurred further by praise from former college coach Deion Sanders—Horn remains focused on personal improvement rather than external hype.
“I’ve seen it but I try not feed into it,” Horn said. “I appreciate all hype stuff but I feel still like haven’t done anything yet so I just want go out there continue prove myself every day become consistent player.”
“Once accomplish goals we win as team stuff like that it’s going feel good.”
