Jaycee Horn knows Christian McCaffrey is going to be motivated to beat the Carolina Panthers.
The Carolina Panthers face the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football this week, which means we get to see Christian McCaffrey face his old team for the first time.
The Panthers traded McCaffrey to the 49ers in 2022 for a package of draft picks, none of which were a first-round selection.
Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn told reporters this week that he's excited to face McCaffrey, one of the top running backs in the NFL.
"I'm excited to play him. He's a helluva player. I know he's gonna be trying to get his get-back," Horn said. "He's gonna be running the ball hard. But we're ready for the challenge and it's gonna be fun."
McCaffrey has 707 rushing yards, six rushing touchdowns, 732 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns on the season. He's one of the greatest playmakers in NFL history.
A three-time Pro Bowler, McCaffrey appeared in 64 games with the Panthers. He racked up 3,980 rushing yards, 32 rushing touchdowns, 3,292 receiving yards and 18 receiving touchdowns.
The Panthers are 6-5 on the season. They are in the playoff race, which is why Monday's game against the 49ers is so massive.
"It's definitely different from that aspect, knowing that we're playing meaningful games. We haven't been doing that a lot in November since I've been here," Horn said. "But being over .500, having an opportunity to go into San Fran, a big-time, NFC matchup, still winning football games and keep growing as a team.
"It's still early. This week ain't gonna matter when it gets close to the playoffs. Nobody's gonna go back and say y'all was one game back if we don't make the playoffs. So we've just gotta keep our head down and just keep taking it one Sunday at a time and see where it ends up when it's playoff time."
Horn has three interceptions on the season for the Panthers. He's looking forward to playing on MNF and showing out on national TV.
"Any time you're under the lights it's special, especially for us. We have a lot of 1 o'clock games," Horn said. "So it's gonna be fun be able to be out there, playing under the lights. It is a big opportunity because everybody's gonna be watching. At the same time, for us it's just going and handling the business no matter what time we play or where we play at. We've still gotta go out and execute."