Robert McClain has been here before.

After the Carolina Panthers had made him their final pick of the 2010 draft, the cornerback played in all 16 games as a rookie, making two starts. But he was a victim of final cuts in 2011.

Four years later, the Panthers on Tuesday brought McClain back to fill the void left by Bené Benwikere’s broken leg. Because he hasn't played since last season, his career was given a lifeline when Carolina called.

“I value it all,” McClain said after Wednesday's practice. “I’ve been cut before. I know the feeling. You got to take advantage of your opportunities. And this is another opportunity in my career that I got to take advantage of.”

McClain latched on with the Falcons from 2012-14, but he found himself without a job this fall after he was released by the Patriots. Since then, he has focused on doing everything he could to extend his career.

"I’ve just been training hard. Conditioning myself and keeping the weight down to where I’d play if I was on a team," McClain said. "I was just trying to stay in shape cardio-wise and strength-wise just in case a team picked me up. I’ve been preparing for this moment."

Now that he has another moment, he has to be a fast study. Though he’s been a Panther before, that was with a different coaching staff and completely different terminology.

During the media portion of Wednesday's practice, McClain was shadowing Charles Tillman, picking the brain of the 13-year veteran. With the Panthers giving a Tillman a chance to return from his knee injury this week, McClain could have more of an adjustment period than Cortland Finnegan had three weeks ago.

“Hopefully, we’ll get him a few snaps in the game,” coach Ron Rivera said when asked about plans for McClain's playing time against the Giants. “Probably not as many as [the 33] Cortland got his first game, but we’ll certainly find an opportunity to rotate Robert in and get his feet wet and get him going.”

Late last month, with Colin Jones struggling at nickel corner, the Panthers brought McClain, Finnegan and Bradley Fletcher in for a workout. It was one of 10 tryouts McClain estimated he had this fall.

He didn't get the call to restart his career then, but three weeks later, he's suddenly 13-0.

“Yeah it’s exciting,” McClain said. “But as coach says, it’s one game at a time. You can’t overthink things or look ahead. You just have to focus on the game on Sunday.”