Is this the last time that Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young will have to answer questions about last season?

The Panthers picked Young from Alabama with the No. 1 choice in the 2023 NFL Draft. Carolina posted the worst record in the NFL at 2-15, and Young had the worst passing-efficiency rating among the league’s regular quarterbacks.

Young starts his second season on Sunday

“It’s definitely part of it,” Young said on hearing about last year. “It comes with the territory, and, again, that’s what sports is. I fully understand it. But for us as a team, the outside of the media is going to — whether good, bad, indifferent, whatever it is — always going to be a narrative, and it’s the beauty of sports. Everyone is going to have talking points, things to talk about.

“But for us, we know within the building what we’re focused on. We’re focused on this year, focused on building from who we are and continuing to show that, to start that, to continue this or start this season, which is it’s exciting for us.”

The Panthers started putting last season behind them in January, when Carolina hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as its head coach.

“We watch the film, we talk about things, and then we got to turn the page,” Young said. “… You get in that habit of turning the page and knowing that everything resets. And our coaches do a great job of kind of ingraining that in us and relaying that message of every day being a new day. Every day, us having to earn that result, and, again, whether it be good or bad, we’re not entitled to anything. We have to go out and earn it every week, every Sunday.

“So I think we get in that habit through practices and through our philosophy. And then we lean on ourselves, we lean on our teammates to kind of pull us through that.”

Young has a lot of new teammates to lean on. The 53-player active roster for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints has 23 different players from the roster that lost the 2023 finale 9-0 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Free-agent additions Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis at guard, A’Shawn Robinson at defensive end, Jadeveon Clowney at outside linebacker and Josey Jewell at inside linebacker are expected to be in the starting lineup on Sunday. So is wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who came aboard in a trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 2024 draft picks included wide receiver Xavier Legette and tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders.

“The guys that we brought in, they’re great guys, great teammates, guys that, for us, we all have the same goal,” Young said. “Wherever we were at last year, we all come from different backgrounds, different places, different schools. That’s kind of the beauty of football. So every year on every team I’ve ever been on there’s going to be shuffling of guys and be different people. That’s always how it is. …

“I think we’re all super excited just to go out there and play together. You have little flashes in preseason. You’ve got joint practices, and those are all great. But to be able to put four quarters together, the offense and the defense playing off of each other, us trying to play complimentary football, you know, special teams, all that tying in. I think just for us, this year’s Panthers team, just to go and take the field is something that we’re all super excited about. Obviously, I think every year you always have different players, different coaches. Every year is a new team throughout the league. And this just being an opportunity to have our first chance at a regular-season game, we want to come out strong.”

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The Panthers kick off Young’s second season against the Saints at noon CDT Sunday at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

Carolina lost to the Saints twice in Young’s rookie season. Young completed 35-of-69 passes for 290 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions and ran five times for 74 yards in those games. New Orleans also sacked Young four times in each game as the rookie QB was sacked 62 times during the season.

“Last year is last year,” Young said. “We have a ton of respect for their defense, for their defensive line, for the players on their team. They have really good players. But for me, I have all the confidence in the world in my offensive line. I have a ton of confidence in the scheme we have and the guys up front, everyone who’s a part of the pass-pro game. I have all the confidence in the world in them.”

Young said the Panthers would need to start the season with “a ton of urgency” because Carolina kicks off with an NFC South rivalry game. The Saints and Panthers will have their rematch in Charlotte on Nov. 3.

“Going up against a really good team in a really tough environment, and it’s a divisional game,” Young said. “Obviously we know how important those are just in this league, so there’s no easing into it for us. We have to make sure we’re at our best on Sunday.”

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