NEW ORLEANS — Adam Thielen wasn't intending to break any news last week. And he wasn't even completely sure about what he was saying at the time, or that he meant it the way people took it.

But after acknowledging, "I have some more football in me," to an English newspaper at an LPGA golf tournament in Florida, the Panthers veteran wide receiver confirmed Thursday that he does plan on playing for the Panthers again this year, though it might have been a closer call than anyone realized.

"I wasn't expecting that to be a headline," Thielen said with a laugh, when asked about the interview with London's Daily Mail while he was in Orlando enjoying a round (also, he's a scratch golfer, because of course he is) .

But yes, Panthers fans, rest assured, he is coming back.

"I had said after the season, like I just need two weeks to really think about it," Thielen said Thursday at the New Orleans Convention Center after wrapping up an interview with Panthers Legends Jake Delhomme and Jonathan Stewart. "And then once I make that decision I'm like, I'm going to do one more year. Then that's my mindset, and here we go. I didn't want to be wishy-washy, like maybe, maybe not.

"So whether it was a yes or a no, I just wanted to know so I can attack my offseason."

The 34-year-old Thielen admitted that when the season ended, he thought his career had too. He made sure his family was all together in Atlanta for the regular season finale, thinking that if it was his final NFL game as well as his 162nd one, they'd be there to remember it.

When asked if anyone realized how close his decision was to being a "no," he shook his head.

"I don't think anyone does other than my family," he said. "To prove that, I mean my entire family came to my last game of the season last year because I kind of told them at that point this could be it. I was pretty exhausted, I think I'm to that point where I'm in the middle of the road like a a big part of me wants to keep playing and giving everything I got.

"And a big part of me is like I'm ready to move on and spend more time with my family and move on to the second career. But again, once I make that mindset of like, all right, I'm doing this, it's all in."

If that had been it, it would have been a remarkable career.

The former undrafted rookie from Minnesota State has caught 685 passes for 8,311 yards and 64 touchdowns, fifth among all undrafted players in league history in catches and yards and fourth in touchdowns.

But this year also came with a seven-week break because of a serious hamstring injury suffered while hauling in a touchdown against the Raiders in Week 3.

And those long hours of rehabilitation were on his mind as the season wore on, because the game's only fun when you get to play it, and his days were grueling without the payoff that comes on Sundays.

"Definitely, I think that's part of what led to the exhaustion," Thielen said of his nearly two-month stint on injured reserve, which didn't end until after the trip to Germany and the bye week. "Because what people don't understand is when you're hurt, and you're rehabbing, your time on the job doubles.

"You have to do your normal responsibilities, and then you have about two hours before and two hours after of doing extra stuff trying to get back, and especially if you want to do it right, to try to get back as quickly as possible."

But now, he can say those things with an easy smile, because now he has committed to being back. Thielen was in a good mood Thursday, bouncing around in a pair of shorts and a hoodie and a backward hat like always, enjoying the fellowship that comes with being on a stage like this.

The vibes were good.

And no one was happier to hear that he was coming back than his quarterback Bryce Young, who immediately ran over to Thielen and hugged him while he was doing an interview.

"It's huge," Young said of the news that Thielen would be back. "I mean, obviously what he's meant what he's meant for us these last few years, you see it on the field, but not just on the field. In the locker room, the professionalism, the leadership that he brings, I mean how consistent he's been.

"There aren't enough words to say how much he's meant to us, so I mean, I'm crazy excited. But yeah, it means a ton."

That works both ways.

Thielen said the way Young was playing the second half of the year, and the trajectory the team was on — winning two of the last three games in overtimes — was a big part of his decision-making process.

"I would say I would say that was 95 percent of the reason for wanting to play again," he said. "Because when you're part of something, I always said the reason I came to Carolina in the first place was I wanted to be part of building something. So if that wasn't being built and I didn't see that it was progressing and going in the right direction, it would have been a lot easier to be like, all right, I'm ready to move on and start the next part of my life.

"But when you start to see that progression, I would hate to be part of building and then not be a part of the next step. So hopefully things keep progressing, and I can be a part of the end of the building process."

And having him back will only help that process, however long it lasts or takes.

Thielen, who will be honored tonight at NFL Honors as the team's nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, has reached that stage where the future is still a bit of an abstract concept.

This week, while being surround with the other 31 nominees for the league's highest honor for players for their on and off-field accomplishments, he's very present. He was nominated for the award in 2022 when he was with the Vikings, so it's special for him to be recognized this way again.

"One of the biggest prides I take, my wife and I, we've been given a platform for a reason, and we want to make sure that we're not just hoarding it and just taking it all ourselves, but actually we feel like we don't deserve this and it's not ours to keep," he said. "It's ours to give back and be a part of the communities that we've been blessed to be a part of. So just trying to get more involved with the communities that we've been a part of, and this honor is just embracing that and giving more.

"Just to be around those guys and see what they're doing in their communities, it's really inspiring. Not only great football players, a lot of them are phenomenal football players and are receiving great awards on the football side, but to see what they're doing outside of football along with that is inspiring, and it makes you want to do more in your efforts."

But what he won't do is put any timeframes on how long he wants to do this.

He laughed again when asked if coming back for another year was a one-year proposition or whether he had even more football in him.

"Probably one more," he said with a grin. "I'd say 99 percent it's probably one more, but, I guess there's 1 percent of you never know, always."