Bryce Young was on the sideline during the final moments of Carolina’s 47-10 loss to New Orleans when his teammate Miles Sanders came over, gave him a quick handshake, and tapped him on the helmet.
Young, feeling down, managed a brief smile. “I’ve been in this league for a while, and this isn’t my first time with a young quarterback,” Sanders said, referring to his experience with Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia.
“He’s the top pick, and everything he does is closely watched, not just here but around the league. He’s competitive, and I know his confidence might dip a bit, so I wanted to let him know, ‘I’m here for you.’”
The Panthers are trying hard to keep Young’s confidence up after he had a tough rookie season and a rough game against the Saints.
Young completed 13 of 30 passes for 161 yards, threw two interceptions, and didn’t manage to get a touchdown pass for the third game in a row, including the end of last season. The game got out of hand quickly after the Saints took a 17-0 lead before Young made his first pass.
Coaches and teammates had mentioned they saw significant improvement in Young during the offseason, which made his first game under new head coach and offensive play-caller Dave Canales more worrying.
“For me, looking in the mirror first, we all want to be better,” Young said. “You look at plays that could have been done better. You need to learn from it.”
The Panthers have been supportive of Young since he joined the team.
And, honestly, the reality is that the Panthers are committed to the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner from Alabama, having moved up eight spots to pick him and trading away four draft picks and wide receiver D.J. Moore.
One of those picks ended up being the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, which the Chicago Bears used to select quarterback Caleb Williams.
Many people have questioned why Carolina chose Young over C.J. Stroud, who was the No. 2 pick and is having early success with the Houston Texans.
But Canales has no intention of sitting Young out.
“The best experience you can have is to be on the field and just live it,” Canales said. “He has 16 games from last year and another one on Sunday, so we’ll keep building on those experiences. There’s no way to replace that.”
Young will always face pressure.
After Young was drafted 18 months ago, Panthers owner David Tepper entered the team’s interview room at Bank of America Stadium and told reporters he expected Young to win multiple Super Bowls.
At the moment, the Panthers would be happy just to win a few games, starting with Sunday’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Young has a 2-15 record as an NFL starter and has more interceptions (12) than touchdown passes (11). Carolina is tied with the New York Jets for the worst record in the league since 2018 at 31-69 and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017.
Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen hasn’t lost faith in Young.
He pointed out that Young was voted team captain this season as a sign that his teammates believe in him. He also said he is confident that Young and the Panthers will turn things around eventually.
“He doesn’t take losing lightly,” Thielen said. “He’s hard on himself and that is what it takes to be a great player in this league. I think he does a great job of showing up the next day, doing what he needs to do to get better and focusing on being that leader.”
Young stays positive despite his challenges and said he plans to keep it that way.
“Personally I draw my faith from God and I trust in Him through everything and I know everything happens for a reason and everything is going to happen how He wants it to,” Young said. “I draw my faith from Him.”
