Bryce Young made his NFL debut on Sunday in the Carolina Panthers’ 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and the No. 1 selection in the 2023 NFL Draft and his coach had different things to say about the former Alabama All-American’s performance.

“Not good,” Young said when asked to assess his performance. “Not good enough to win, obviously. I made crucial turnovers, which again you can’t do, especially where they happened. We didn’t score enough to win, and again that falls on me, that falls on my shoulders, so I need to improve, I need to be better. Going to learn from it and continue throughout the week to grow.”

Carolina coach Frank Reich was less critical.

“He handled himself great,” Reich said of Young. “He was in complete control. Even after we had turnovers, he was never down. It was just next-play mentality, so the kind of pro we expected. …

“Bryce is the last person I’m worried about how he’ll handle this. He’s got the maturity of someone way beyond his years. He’s a team-first person. He’ll be hard on himself, and all of us should be.”

Young completed 20-of-38 passes for 146 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran three times for 17 yards and was sacked twice at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Young’s touchdown on a 4-yard throw to tight end Hayden Hurst capped a 12-play, 75-yard drive that allowed Carolina to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:09 left in the first half.

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Safety Jessie Bates III had both the Falcons’ interceptions. He set up the Atlanta offense at the Carolina 17-yard line in the second quarter and the Carolina 36-yard line in the third quarter. The Falcons scored a touchdown after the first interception and got a field goal after the second.

“Especially where the turnovers happened, they led to points and that’s unacceptable,” Young said. “I think our defense played great. We gave them some short fields, and that’s on me and things I can’t do moving forward, so, obviously, I have to clean that up.”

Carolina was stopped on downs after reaching the Atlanta 11-yard line on its first possession. The Panthers also lost a fumble at the Atlanta 39.

Carolina outgained the Falcons 281 yards to 221 yards in the game.

“Maybe I’ll feel differently when I watch the tape,” Reich said, “but I felt like there were a lot of good things moving the football on offense, and we just hurt ourselves a few times. But not good enough.”

Young completed 10 passes in each half. In the first half, it took 16 throws, and the completions produced 89 yards and a touchdown. In the second half, it took 22 throws, and the completions produced 59 yards.

“Losing’s never going to be acceptable,” Young said. “It’s a lot for us to learn from, to grow in. A lot I have to improve at, be better at. I have to be better for us moving forward. We’re going to watch the tape and learn from it.”

Carolina faces another NFC South rival in its next game, when the Panthers open their home schedule against the New Orleans Saints in the Week 2 Monday night contest on Sept. 18 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“I’m super excited to be a part of this team, super excited for our future,” Young said in closing his postgame press conference on Sunday. “I’m excited to work to be better, to improve, to do the work that it takes and, obviously, that’s needed, and so definitely have a lot of excitement moving forward.”