For the second time in three games, former No. 1 NFL Draft pick Bryce Young played the final series in a lopsided loss for the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers replaced Young as their starting quarterback with Andy Dalton after the second game of the season. During the five games since, the two cameo appearances have been the extent of Young’s playing time.

Despite Carolina’s four-game losing streak and his assertion that Dalton’s play in Sunday’s 40-7 loss to the Washington Commanders “wasn’t good enough,” Panthers coach Dave Canales has no plans to switch back to Young as the NFL team’s starting quarterback.

For Carolina’s game against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Canales said he’s “committed to Andy.”

With Young in the second season of a four-year guaranteed contract and Dalton eligible for free agency after the season, Canales was asked at his postgame press conference if there was a point where he and the Panthers needed “to find out what Bryce has got.”

“Right now, it’s hypothetical. You know?” Canales said. “We got to get prepared, we got to look at this film, get ready for the Broncos right now, and Andy will be playing next week.”

In Sunday’s game, Young took the field with 4:55 remaining. The former Alabama All-American handed off on first down, completed a pass for a 2-yard gain to tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders and another for a 6-yard loss to running back Miles Sanders.

The Panthers punted, and the Commanders ran out the final 2:34 on their fifth victory of the season.

Canales said he wanted to get Young in the game earlier, but the Carolina defense couldn’t get off the field – a recurring theme as Washington scored on all but one of its full possessions, even though starting quarterback Jayden Daniels left the game after one Commanders series because of a rib injury.

“After the (Carolina) touchdown drive (which ended with 11:38 to play), if we would have gotten the defense off, we would have put Bryce in,” Canales said, “and, hopefully, to get a couple of series there. Just get him out there to play. These are those opportunities to do it. Unfortunately, we didn’t get off the field, so we were just relegated to that last drive.”

After opening the season by losing to the New Orleans Saints 47-10 and Los Angeles Chargers 26-3, Carolina defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 36-22 in Dalton’s first start on Sept. 22. Since then, the Panthers have lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 34-24, Chicago Bears 36-10 and Atlanta Falcons 38-20 before Sunday’s loss to Washington.

Young took the field with 4:23 remaining in Carolina’s loss to the Bears. He completed 4-of-7 passes for 58 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions and had an 8-yard run. The drive ended when Young was sacked on fourth-and-2 at the Chicago 8-yard line.

On Sunday, Dalton completed 11-of-16 passes for 93 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. Carolina’s first possession ended with a 67-yard interception return for a touchdown by Commanders linebacker Dante Fowler Jr.

“It just wasn’t good enough,” Canales said of Dalton’s performance. “That’s true. And he knows that, and so that’s something that, again, we just got to be honest about our tell-the-truth Monday and look at the things we can do better from an execution standpoint.”

After trading to choose Young with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Panthers posted a 2-15 record in the quarterback’s rookie season. Young missed one of those games with an injury, but across his 18 starts before getting benched this season, Young played all but seven offensive snaps.

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