‘TMac, stop being so humble!’ Bryce Young, Panthers react to WR rookie’s big day
Tetairoa McMillan was busy cycling through questions like it was just any other day, even though it wasn’t, when finally someone tried to yell some sense into him.
The rookie wide receiver’s eyes widened.
It was as if a record had scratched in the locker room.
The bellow came from defensive lineman Derrick Brown, who was all dressed and heading out the door. The Pro Bowler and six-year NFL veteran, high off the 30-27 win over the Cowboys, smiled and didn’t mince his words:
“TMac!” Brown boomed. “Stop being f— humble! Tell ‘em you got two today!”
McMillan smiled and continued on with his availability in front of his locker, unabated. But such a directive was a reminder nonetheless that McMillan had a remarkable day.
It was also a reminder of something else:
If he wasn’t going to talk about it — other Panthers would for him.
The rookie wide receiver caught two touchdown passes on Sunday. They marked the first two from him in his NFL career. The first score was from 19 yards out. The second was from 2 — and gave the Panthers control of the game, and they didn’t relinquish that control. It wasn’t McMillan’s most prolific game. He wasn’t even the most prolific player on the team; that belonged to Rico Dowdle, who gained a record-setting 239 yards against his former team, or quarterback Bryce Young, who finished Sunday with three touchdowns and 199 yards in a nearly mistake-free day.
Still, all this considered, it might’ve been McMillan’s most important game to date. Maybe his most impactful. Just ask his quarterback.
“I mean, obviously he’s been just huge for us,” Young said of his fellow Californian. “Just a great player. Continuing to just get better and better and grow, and I’m super grateful that it was able to pay off today.”
McMillan’s first NFL touchdown a weight off his shoulders
The fact that McMillan had yet to find the end zone prior to Sunday was a discussion.
It made sense why. Coming into Week 6, McMillan had been targeted 43 times — tied for 10th most in the NFL — and was the only player in the Top 10 of that category without a touchdown. And that’s without mentioning that he’d played particularly well outside of being able to get into pay dirt. (After Week 6, he now has 27 receptions for 380 yards — miles ahead of his teammates.)
Still, before the Cowboys came to town, no score. And that was a question. He’d battled off the questioning and commentary all week, sticking with the “God doesn’t make mistakes” refrain that he reiterated postgame Sunday. He even added that he used to stress about getting his first score — when will it happen? — but that he just needed to let go, stop pressing, “change his mind’s scenery” for the touchdowns to find him.
And they did Sunday.
“I was fortunate enough to score today,” McMillan said. “It just so happened to be on my grandpa’s birthday. So that’s obviously a blessing.”
Everyone impressed by the way TMac ‘bounced back’
It didn’t start out so wonderfully, though. “Bad,” simply, is a better word for it.
On McMillan’s second target of the contest, a short slant, Young fired a pass that McMillan should’ve grabbed. It instead bounced off his hands and landed into the arms of Cowboys safety Donavon Wilson. The rookie postgame said “I just gotta be better on that for sure,” and didn’t elaborate much.
Fortunately others did. Particularly about his resilience.
“The catch was a little bit away from him; I’ve seen him make that,” head coach Dave Canales said. “He’ll be the first one to tell you, ‘I can make that play.’ ...
“But the way that he just responded, the way he bounced back: This is time on task. This is conversation between him and Bryce all throughout this season of just fine-tuning the different routes and the landmark we’re expected to be at how we adjust on things. And that really showed up on two plays that we’ve been working on, that those guys have been talking about: ‘If they play this, I want you to respond this way. If they play this one, find space here.’ And that’s the type of chemistry that we have to continue to grow.”
That chemistry was on display all day. Young said it all when recapping that second touchdown connection between the two of them.
“We had put the play in that he scored on that second touchdown,” Young said. “And when we designed it, he came in as the last in progression. We ran it, and he was like, ‘I love this play. This is great. Great design. If you get back to me, I’m gonna go win.’
“We had talked about it yesterday. And it’s just great to see the buy-in of someone who’s last in progression, still loving the play, still can’t wait for it to get called.
“And he said, ‘If it gets back to me, it’s going in.’ And he called his shot.”
McMillan wouldn’t tell this story, even when asked about his second touchdown. He didn’t have to. His results spoke on his behalf. His coach, his quarterback and others did, too.
This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
