Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had 12 wide receivers to throw to during his first NFL offseason program. More than half of them hardly had more NFL experience than Young, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft.

Then there’s Adam Thielen.

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In his NFL career, Thielen has 534 receptions for 6,682 yards and 55 touchdowns. The other 11 wide receivers on Carolina’s roster have combined for 530 receptions for 6,763 yards and 34 touchdowns in their NFL careers.

Thielen hasn’t worked with a quarterback as inexperienced as Young as his primary passer since Teddy Bridgewater’s first two seasons in 2014 and 2015. Since then, Thielen’s No. 1 quarterbacks with the Minnesota Vikings have been Sam Bradford, Case Keenum and, for the previous five seasons, Kirk Cousins.

But Thielen said Young came to the Panthers from Alabama prepared to play.

“Obviously, you know, first overall pick with all the hype and all that, you know that there’s going to be a lot of potential and he’s going to have a lot of talent,” Thielen said on “The Rich Eisen Show” during the first week of Carolina’s summer break. “But I think he just kind of surprised a lot of guys with how prepared he was for the NFL game. And you know sometimes I think it’s hard to know in those moments because you’re in shorts and a T-shirt, so you don’t want to get too excited. Whether that’s your team or individually, you don’t want to get too excited in the summer because it’s a different game when you put pads on. But at the same time, the way that he moves in the pocket, the way that he adjusts and can get the ball out on time and accurate and he can make adjustments and things like that, it’s impressive.

“And again, it gets you excited to get back working together and to really try to start gaining ground. And you just need those reps. I don’t care who you are, how talented you are, you just got to have those reps. The more reps you get, the more confidence you get, and he’s a confident guy, which is exciting to be around.”

Thielen signed with the Panthers after being released by the Vikings in March. He had spent his entire 10-year NFL career with Minnesota and twice earned Pro Bowl recognition. But after Thielen started every game and caught 70 passes for 716 yards and six touchdowns in the 2022 season, the Vikings decided his $19.97 million salary-cap hit was too much for the 2023 season and released him. Thielen landed in Carolina with a three-year, $25 million contract.

While the Vikings posted a 13-4 regular-season record and went to the playoffs in 2022, the Panthers went 7-10 and missed the postseason for the fifth year in a row.

But with new coach Frank Reich taking the reins in Carolina and the Panthers pulling off a trade for the No. 1 pick to select Alabama’s All-American quarterback, Thielen thinks his new team could be a surprise in the 2023 season.

“I’ve been around a lot of great coaches, a lot of great players in my 10 years going on 11, and I kind of just reiterated to these guys that this is special group,” Thielen said. “And I’ve been a part of special groups, but this is a special group that has an opportunity. Now at the same time, you can do all the talking you want. Everybody’s feeling great in July, in June. It’s a great feeling in June and July because you have zero losses and you have zero wins and you got a lot of potential.

“But I just wanted them to know how excited I am to come to work every day to be a part of that group and then challenge them. What kind of sacrifices are you willing to make now that you know how good we can be? And depending on those sacrifices and the work you put in is what’s going to really help us get to those outcomes that we all want to get to. Everybody that walks into that building in every single NFL locker room, whether it be a coach, player, staff member, has one goal in mind, so it makes it very difficult to win games in this league.”

The Panthers hit the field for their first practice at training camp on July 26 at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

“I’m excited to get back around him,” Thielen said about Young during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I’m excited to start preparing and go into battle with him. It was such a great start of OTAs and minicamp, and you could see why they drafted him No. 1 overall and traded up to get him. There’s a reason for that and you could see it day in and day out. I’m just excited to continue to progress with him and as a team.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.