CHARLOTTE — Following a standout season in a standout career, Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn has earned his first Pro Bowl selection.

It's an honor that his counterpart in the Carolina secondary, Mike Jackson, had come to expect, as the former Seattle Seahawk always admired Horn from afar.

He saw the interception in the Panthers 2022 win in Seattle from the other sideline when he was a member of the Seahawks and had a chance to work out with Horn in the offseason after that.

But when he arrived here this summer in a training camp trade and got to watch Horn daily, he found a new appreciation for his now-teammate.

He had heard the rumors. Then he saw the evidence with his own two eyes.

"Everything is true," Jackson said, eyes going wide when asked what he learned about Horn since arriving here. "It's like, with his ability, he could do anything. His potential is through the roof. There's just that one question, . . .

"But he could be one of the best cornerbacks in the league."

That was confirmed Thursday morning when the Pro Bowl rosters were announced.

It's a recognition of his ability, his intensity, but also his availability. After a career marked by frustrating injuries — the one question Jackson referred to, the unspoken context — Horn reached the level many had long anticipated for him.

Horn played in the first 15 games and barely missed a snap. He was on the field 1,036 of the Panthers' 1,062 plays (97.6 percent). Considering the amount of time the Panthers defense has spent on the field this year — the most in the league — he's still 10th in the league in total snaps played despite missing last week's game with a hip muscle strain.

It would be easy to make that a story about determination, but Horn didn't just talk himself into playing more than he has since entering the league as the eighth overall pick in the 2021 draft. He went about it in a very systematic way.

Whether it was the broken foot three games into his rookie year that ended his season, last year's hamstring injury which cost him 10 weeks, or the broken arm that knocked him out of the playoff-deciding game at Tampa in 2022, it seemed like there was always something.

Of course, the love of the game he was born with was also there. After that broken arm in the win over the Lions in 2022, he pleaded with doctors to find a way for him to go the following week in Tampa, with a playoff berth on the line. They made it clear that after seven days, playing with that injury would risk long-term damage. If they had won that game, however, his plan was to cast it up, Thomas Davis-in-the-Super Bowl-style, and play in the finale against the Saints with one arm. A loss that day to the Bucs (when Mike Evans went off for 10 catches for 207 yards and three touchdowns while being covered by not Jaycee Horn) made it a moot point.

But it was another game against Tampa Bay that made it clear to those around Horn that something had changed.

Passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley, who most closely works with the team's cornerbacks, said it was last year's finale against Tampa Bay (a 9-0 loss to end a 2-15 season) when he recognized what was coming this year. Evans caught an inconsequential three passes for 22 yards that day, with Horn draped all over him in a game that didn't mean much to anyone else.

"The turning point for me with his play on Sundays was really the last game of the year against Tampa Bay and how he played against Mike Evans," Cooley said. "The way he was talking on the sideline, an understanding of what the opponent was going to do. I looked at (former nickel) Troy Hill at the time, and I was like, 'We got one.'

"Just watching how he plays and like how tapped in he could be. I'm like, this guy can be really, really freaking good. That was the game that made me a believer, and this year has just been a carryover from that point on."

Of course, there was a lot of time between that season and this one, and time hasn't always been Horn's ally. He's worked every offseason to prepare himself, and the results haven't always been clear to see.

But this year, he came in with a focus on getting leaner, becoming more meticulous in the work than ever, going along with the determination that comes along with all the bad breaks he's endured.

"You talk about a guy with a plan, I think the biggest thing that I come away with is Jaycee had a plan for making it to these games," Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. "His plan worked. And he worked hand in hand with (director of health, performance, and nutrition) Andrew Althoff and (head athletic trainer) Kevin King. We talked through his rep plan for getting him through training camp so that he's strong and fast and healthy. And he was focused. He just maintained his focus and he stood for the messaging, he played so tough, like exactly what we're looking for."

The physical part of the preparation was easy for Canales to see. But the first-year coach was learning about his new cornerback on the fly, and after games, he'd see a regular stream of texts from Horn that proved to him that the guy with a world of natural talent was also all in.

"He'd send me texts after games, 'Coach, we're going to get this right, I got your back,'" Canales recalled. "He's meant so much to me, just having his support and then knowing that from here, this was about getting his world in order, and his world is in order now.

"And my high hope for Jaycee is that now that he's got this (Pro Bowl honor), that he can solidify that and then continue to take steps as the leader. Because guys look at him, and they see what he's doing, and that's going to impact everyone."

That's perhaps the most impressive thing about what Horn has done this season.

He has always had talent. The son of longtime NFL wide receiver Joe Horn could always run, he was always big, and he was always instinctive.

But on a team with its share of overachievers, Horn has also earned the respect of those around him in another way.

"I think the coolest thing about him was his work ethic and his mindset," veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "You could tell that he had that Pro Bowl mindset, work ethic, and the ability. So just staying healthy, and you knew that was going to happen. You go against him every day and practice, you see the ability and his consistency, right? Not just doing it one time or two games, but being able to do it over and over and over and have consistent production. He's had that mindset since I've been around him; his work ethic is all that.

"I think he's just learned what he needs to do to be available on Sundays, and he's really fine-tuned his approach, which is huge for us as a team."

Everybody sees it in the big moments when he's making plays in front of huge crowds on Sundays. Cooley has seen it on a lot of lonely Wednesday afternoons as well.

"It's just his demeanor and wanting to; like you notice it mostly in individual drills and the way he goes about his work," Cooley said. "Like his conditioning this year is so much better than it was a year ago. He's changed his body a little bit, his stamina is excellent and then like he's just willing to work every single day.

"You see, he tries to push himself to see what his body can do. Because there was a little trepidation coming off the (hamstring) injury, but once he got confident back in that, like, it's a day-to-day work. He doesn't miss practice and that's where I've seen it the most."

And Cooley can tell when Horn's ready, even though it's easy for Horn to get bored sometimes. He's reached that level of recognition when a lot of teams don't throw at him — he has just one interception this year — so he has to be internally motivated.

He's done that by getting involved in other ways, like the 2.0 sacks or his ability to come up against the run and post a career-best 68 tackles, or cover tight ends if that's what the team needs. But Cooley sees it before practices, too.

"He's very subtle; you know how I can tell?" his coach said with a laugh. "I can tell it's going to be a good one when he comes out with that bounce on Wednesday. Like in individual and he's got that bounce and may not be doing as much, and then next thing you know, he's doing every single thing. The availability thing's not really a question anymore."

As a result, he's going to his first Pro Bowl to be recognized among the best of the best.

Canales told him privately earlier this week, and then shared the news with the team in Wednesday's meeting.

There was a reaction, a celebration, a bunch of guys recognizing the work Horn put in because they've seen it every day.

Horn may have been born for this. He may have been drafted in the first round for moments like this. But he had to work for this one.

So the grinders in the room lit up when they heard it.

"I've been around a lot of Pro Bowl announcements," Thielen said with a grin. "But I think that's the most excited I've ever seen a group of people for somebody else."

Jaycee Horn earned that ovation. The hard way.