CHARLOTTE— Mike Jackson is in his sixth year playing corner in the NFL. He's appeared in 55 games and counting, starting 37 of them. He's still reaching his ceiling, but there isn't much he hasn't seen at this point.

Until now, that is.

"I've never played a left-handed quarterback," Jackson shared this week.

That will change this week when Jackson and the Panthers defense face Michael Penix Jr. The Falcons rookie quarterback is one of only two lefties active in the league, the other being Miami Dolphins passer Tua Tagovailoa. It's rare enough that even defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero had to think for a long second on Thursday, trying to remember if he had faced a leftie before. He had, in Tagovailoa last season. The point being, though, it's not a typical thing defenses are factoring into preparations.

In all the ways that matter, playing a left-handed quarterback won't change anything drastically on defense. It's why it wasn't important enough to have a leftie on the scout team this week. It won't change defensive schemes, plans, or assignments.

"I don't think nothing," corner Jaycee Horn offered as for what's different. "I mean, the ball comes out the hand a little different, but as a corner, you got the same job just covering and breaking the ball over or intercepting it."

While Horn—named a Pro Bowler on Thursday—is correct, the job stays the same, and the nuances of the play vary enough from a right-hander to cause the game to feel slightly different. And given that athletes are creatures of habit, repping a play hundreds of times and wanting to control as much as they can in a game, those nuances can seem larger than life if they are not mentally prepared for them to come.

"It's just, like, everybody says with a left-handed quarterback, the ball comes out different," Jackson said. "Like the spin on the ball, so it looks different right when you try to catch it. But other than that, it's still going to be just regular football."

Someone in the building who can confirm this is head coach Dave Canales. While a receiver in college at Azusa Pacific, he played with a quarterback, Sean Davis, now the receivers coach at the University of Texas San Antonio.

"The ball hits your other hand. So, imagine the spin of the ball…if you're like a righty, it smacks your left hand. The spin goes bam; you stop it that way," Canales explained this week, demonstrating the difference as best he could without a ball or quarterback readily available. "With the lefty, all of a sudden it's like, I didn't expect that, you know, the balls puts force on the other hand.

"So I guess for Mike, would be awesome if we get an opportunity to catch one of those balls and he'll feel the difference there."

There is also the matter of progressions, again seemingly a minor tweak to a game, but one that can cause initial confusion if a defense isn't prepared for it to happen.

"I think maybe with some primary reads kind of being out to the left side, we kind of throw it, you know, just based on field position and hash with right-handed quarterbacks," Canales continued, "so I think they probably take the same approach that way, but, yeah, it'll be interesting."

Penix has gone 40-67 for 463 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions while taking three sacks in four games (two starts) this season. According to Next Gen Stats, he's been pressured on 30.1 percent of his dropbacks. If Penix is dropping back to pass, offering opportunities for opposite progression reads and interceptions, there is also the opportunity for sacks and pressuring the rookie passer.

It's perhaps there where the left-handed aspect of the passing game will show up the most for the Panthers.

D.J. Wonnum can typically be sneaky, pass-rushing from his spot on the passer's blind side. It's why, despite only playing in seven games since returning from injury, he has four sacks and 21 quarterback pressures.

This week, though, the quarterback will know he's coming.

"It's different because the quarterback, he can see me," Wonnum explained. "Usually, they can't see me so I can come up, but now he can see me, so it's kind of different. I got to rush with more integrity, kind of be more careful. I can't just rush wild. But we don't know if he's a big runner, so that kind of plays into my hands."

After the quarterback change, the Falcons are still running much the same offense that was built around Kirk Cousins. That means play-action. Penix has attempted 12 plays off play-action, completing seven passes for 75 yards. His offensive line has allowed two quarterback pressures on those plays, both unblocked.

With a left-handed quarterback, Wonnum knows that puts the onus on him, playing from that side of the line.

"They do play action. They're more, I guess, more favorable to come my way, more favorable to come to my right. So I just got to play with discipline, just be ready to go, and we'll see how it goes.

"I'm not really looking at the eyes. I'm just looking at where he's going to run. I can't really give him a lane to run because if I'm rushing high, he's going to run right there because he can see what I'm doing. So, going to be a lot of power rushing this week, a lot of power rushing."

It's hard to find something most defenders at this level haven't seen before. But as the Panthers finish off their season in Atlanta on Sunday, there will be at least one new thing for a handful of starters, a tantalizing prospect for the ultimate competitors.

Said Jackson, "I feel like it's going to be kind of fun to take on this challenge."