CHARLOTTE— Deven Thompkins never stops moving.

Whether he's standing on the sideline during a game, when the No. 13 jersey can be seen bouncing from one spot to another, vibrating with an energy that's packed in a 5-8 frame.

"He like a little jitterbug," said fellow return man Raheem Blackshear.

Or working with quarterback Bryce Young on routes during walk-through, a phrase Thompkins just doesn't understand.

"It's funny, we have walk-throughs," offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, who was also with Thompkins in Tampa Bay, started, "and I kind of warned Bryce, like, 'Hey, I just want to let you know, DT on this route, his 50% is a lot of people's 100% and he doesn't, he is fast at everything."

"We had to tell him a couple of times at walk-through like, bro, walk through, like you don't have to give me a million moves every time," agreed corner Jaycee Horn.

Or getting ready for practice, stretching and warming up, which is a time when most guys keep things in a lower shift, electing to work up to practice. Not Thompkins.

"He's a race car ready to go," said offensive lineman Ikem Ekwonu.

Or even just sitting in the locker room, attempting to relax, another concept with which the third-year receiver is unfamiliar.

"He jittery as hell," laughed Horn.

Thompkins was a rookie undrafted free agent who signed with the Buccaneers out of Utah State. He arrived at offseason workouts to find a then 45-year-old Tom Brady, along with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, treating every practice as if it was their last. It shaped his entire approach to the NFL.

"There was a lot of greats that I got the opportunity to play with, like Mike (Evans), Chris (Godwin), being there with Tom Brady, just seeing how they also practice it was like, you know, who am I? I'm so young, so I got to keep that youth going," Thompkins recalled this week.

"(But) Chris Godwin, he was the number one for me. Just like the way he worked, my rookie year when I came in training camp, he was just on go, go, go."

When Dave Canales and staff made the transition from Tampa to the Panthers, it wasn't long before they brought Thompkins along with them. They wanted his versatility in Charlotte, but even more so, they wanted his spirit.

"Really valuable to me, and a guy that's got familiarity and then also just the spirit that he brings on a weekly basis, every day is like the best day of his life," Canales mused this week of Thompkins.

"He's on the field running around. He doesn't understand what walk through means. He's way too fast, but it's the spirit of his joy for being out there and it's infectious, and it affects me in a positive way. It affects his teammates also. And nobody can really take a play off because he's always going fast. And so, it trains everybody, we got to go, you know, and those are the type of guys that we love having."

Thompkins has seen his snap count increase over the last five weeks, filling in at receiver as various teammates dealt with late season injuries, and flashing his speed at returner. The jitteriness makes him a natural as the motion man in Canales' offense.

"For me, be the fastest," Thompkins said of his goal every time he steps on the field. "Because I'm the smallest on the field, be active and be able to move. So that's just been instilled into me."

Versus the Eagles, for reference, running back Chuba Hubbard ran an average of 17.23 yards per play, including pre-snap motion, according to Next Gen Stats. Jaycee Horn ran 17.15 per play.

Deven Thompkins, including pre-snap motion, ran an average of 29.83 yards per play.

There's another adjective teammates and coaches immediately associate with Thompkins: speed.

"His speed is different," laughed receiver Xavier Legette. "I think he going to outflank a lot of the defenses that we going to finish playing the rest of the season."

Added Idzik of the receiver's speed, which topped out at 21.19 miles per hour against the Saints in Week 9, "It's fun to work with. It's another element of the offense that you always love to have, is speed to stretch the defense, stretch the coverage.

"DT's done a great job as we expand his role a little bit, as the weeks go, and he gets more comfortable with our guys, but then the speed element is definitely something to get used to because it's real."

His speed coupled with his size though make defenses automatically put him in a box. And has been established, Thompkins can't stay still. He will tear out of that box in under 60 seconds.

"I can do things that bigger receivers can do too, so that's one thing I definitely believe I can bring to the table," Thompkins said.

"Because of my size and everything, like I always say my thing is like when the ball is in the air, I get taller because I can jump up. Anybody that is taller than me, I still feel like I have to beat them off of the ball."

Jaycee Horn has seen it in practice time and again this year, both in camp, when Thompkins was facing him on the scout team, and now as he runs with the first team. Horn hasn't only seen it, he's experienced it.

"A lot of guys that size, like that small and that fast, a lot of people just classify him as a gadget guy, like a reverse screen guy," Horn began. "But, you know, DT he runs good routes, he can do everything a big receiver can do, make tough catches. So, I've been proud to see him get more opportunities."

Thompkins has been used sparingly in the receiving game to this point, with four receptions for 20 yards. But with Blackshear exiting Sunday's game against the Eagles with a chest injury, the speedy Thompkins was sent back as the return man. He'll likely see his snaps there increase again this weekend against the Cowboys, since Blackshear is out on Sunday.

Against Philadelphia, Thompkins returned one punt for 15-yards and brought out two kickoffs for a total of 46-yards. It's the first time he has been able to field a kickoff with the new rules.

"I still got to get some more game set up," he said. "But I think that it's something that I can definitely evolve with and grow some."

Fast, twitchy, jittery, however you want to describe Deven Thompkins, it all translates to one thing: a spark. That's how Bryce Young classified his receiver, and it's what Thompkins is bringing to an ascending offense.

"Just a huge spark for us, obviously super explosive," said Young. "You could just feel the energy that he brings, practices super hard, takes the detail and walk throughs…and just, again, he just brings that spark, brings that energy, brings great juice for us. So, it's definitely been great to have him around."