Bryce Young turns the page to NFLâs Thursday night game
With the Carolina Panthers reaching the midpoint of their season, rookie quarterback Bryce Young was asked on Sunday what his most significant lesson had been so far in the NFL.
“I think it’s just understanding that good or bad you have to be able to turn the page,” Young said. “Whatever it is you’ve done, positive or negative, doesn’t entitle you to anything next week, doesn’t entitle you to the next opponent, so just the importance of context. …
“Once you walk out the building, it’s over with, it’s done. It’s just a lesson and things you can grow from. And again, that’s with good or bad.”
Sunday, it was the bad.
In Carolina’s 27-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Young completed 24-of-39 passes for 173 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns. After throwing four interceptions in his first 226 passes, Young has been intercepted three times in past 26.
“It’s stuff that’s inexcusable,” Young said on Monday. “It’s not winning football. But again, it is what it is. In a couple of days now, we have to be ready to play another opponent that demands us to be at our best, that requires us to work throughout the week. It’s something that’s in the past. It is what it is. You watch the film. You learn from it. You figure out what you can do to grow from it. We don’t have the luxury of time to dwell or to think about what is, what isn’t. …
“You always take lessons. You always learn from them. Obviously, stuff that I want to do better, we all want to do better. But now it’s about applying it. It’s a short week. We have to have urgency on that.”
The Panthers return to action on Thursday, when they meet the Chicago Bears at 7:15 p.m. CST at Soldier Field in Chicago. Prime Video will televise the game.
“This is the NFL,” Young said. “No one feels sorry for anyone. We have the opportunity where we have to turn the page, and we have to do it quickly. It’s a great opportunity for us to bounce back.”
Among the NFL’s 32 teams, Carolina ranks 26th in scoring with an average of 17.5 points per game and 28th in yards with an average of 283.4 per game.
“We need to execute,” Young said about the Panthers improving their performance. “The coaches do a great job of putting us in positions, and as a quarterback and as a leader, I need to do a better job of executing and making sure that we’re all clicking on all cylinders. I think we all share that mentality. Plays are plays. We’re put in good positions. It’s on us to finish and execute.”
At 1-7, the Panthers are last in the NFC South. At 2-7, the Bears are last in the NFC North.
Chicago played a big part in connecting Carolina and Young. The Panthers traded the ninth and 61st selections in the 2023 draft, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second-choice choice and wide receiver D.J. Moore to the Bears for the first pick in the 2023 draft. Carolina used the No. 1 pick on Alabama’s All-American quarterback and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner.
Moore had 309 receptions for 4,413 yards and 19 touchdowns for Carolina over the previous four seasons.
This season, Moore leads the Bears with 47 receptions for 735 yards and five touchdowns.
“Those are really hard decisions,” Reich said on Tuesday about trading Moore, “and especially what makes it harder is with a guy, even though I didn’t know him, I know that would be even harder for everybody else who did know him. But when you find a quarterback you want, you have to be willing to make that deal, and that’s just part of the business that stinks. But you’re taking steps to build a championship franchise, and getting your quarterback is a big deal. And so that’s the move we made.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.