Moments after the Panthers’ season ended in Seattle, receiver Kelvin Benjamin was asked to summarize his rookie year. “I feel like I had a bad season,” Benjamin replied.Considering he crushed Carolina rookie records with 73 catches, 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns, Benjamin’s self-evaluation seemed a bit harsh.Three months later, his sentiment hasn’t changed much.Benjamin, who finished with 11 drops and went the final four regular-season games without a touchdown, admits he left a lot of numbers out on the field after he hit a rookie wall.”I probably felt it around the seventh of eighth game. But I tried not to miss any games or practices. It was tough because of the difference between pros and college,” Benjamin said Monday.”I felt that mentally I got tired, so that’s the part I’m trying to fix, just keeping that tempo that I started with.”

NOTES:

• Benjamin also wants to get in “tip-top shape” and hopes to improve how he comes out of his breaks in curl and comeback routes.
• He spent most of the past three months working out near in Florida. He hasn’t yet hung out much with his best bud from last summer, quarterback Cam Newton: “He had his own thing going on, but that’s what [offseason workouts are] for.”