Carolina coach Frank Reich doesn’t know if quarterback Bryce Young will be ready to go when the Panthers play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The No. 1 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft sustained an ankle injury during Carolina’s 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Monday night and did not practice on Wednesday.

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“You play that position, you’re going to get banged up,” Reich said, “and you’re going to have to miss a day or two. …

“He didn’t take the reps today, but he was out there locked in on every call like he was under center, so he’s getting ready to play whether it’s this week or whenever because every rep is important.”

If the former Alabama All-American cannot play on Sunday, the Panthers would put Andy Dalton at quarterback. In his 13th NFL season, Dalton has started 163 NFL regular-season games and is a three-time Pro Bowler.

“If Andy’s the starter, we got a lot of confidence,” Reich said. “This is why you bring somebody like Andy in.”

Reich didn’t predict when a decision on Young’s status would be made nor did he disclose when it would need to be made for the rookie QB to get sufficient practice time.

“One thing I’ve learned about these kind of decisions as a head coach,” Reich said. “It’s a threefold decision. It’s the doctor, the player and the head coach, so all three have a say in the decision, obviously, weighing most heavily on the doctor and then the player and then the coach.

“What I’ve learned over the years is, A. I’m not a medical doctor, so trust what the doctor says. B. Trust the player because players know their body. So, C. As the head coach, try to navigate and do the right thing for the team and the player.”

In his NFL debut, Young completed 20-of-38 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran for 17 yards on three carries in a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 10.

Against New Orleans, Young completed 22-of-33 passes for 153 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran for 34 yards on three carries.

Dalton came in for Young twice on Monday night in quarterback-sneak situations. Reich said Dalton came in for “strategic reasons” when asked if he had switched quarterbacks because of the differences in the quarterbacks’ sizes.

Dalton was going to take the snap on fourth-and-1 at the New Orleans 32-yard line when a false-start penalty brought out the field-goal unit to tie the score at 6-6 with 9:10 to play in the third quarter.

Dalton also came on the field on third-and-1 at the Carolina 25-yard line in the fourth quarter. He didn’t run a quarterback sneak, but instead flipped the fall to running back Miles Sanders, who ran 5 yards for a first down.

“Andy’s a very experienced QB, a winning QB,” Reich said. “We think it adds a little bit of an element of mystery and surprise and to keep defenses off-balance. Why’re they bringing this guy in? I’ve done that before in past years in other offenses with other quarterbacks.”

Reich said the quarterback substitution works best when the new QB doesn’t necessarily have to run the quarterback sneak.

“It’s not like you’re just bringing a guy in to do one thing,” Reich said. “He can do multiple things.”

Dalton had the temperament to handle the spot duty, Reich said.

“His pulse doesn’t change,” Reich said. “Like on Monday night, when I said, ‘Hey, let’s go. You’re in.’ His pulse doesn’t change. There’s five plays that we got for him. OK, which one of these are you running? And boom, he knows what his menu of plays is. If we continue to do that, that’s kind of the approach that we’ll take.”

The Panthers and Seahawks will square off at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sunday at Lumen Field in Seattle.

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