Bryce Youngâs pro debut set for preseason opener
NFL No. 1 draft pick Bryce Young will make his pro debut as the Carolina quarterback on Saturday when the Panthers kick off their preseason schedule against the New York Jets.
After practice on Sunday, Carolina coach Frank Reich said Young would play when the Panthers and Jets square off at 3 p.m. CDT Saturday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina. NFL Network will televise the game.
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Carolina also has preseason contests against the New York Giants on Aug. 18 and Detroit Lions on Aug. 25.
“I do have an idea,” Reich said when asked how much Young would play in the preseason games. “I really don’t want to talk about exactly what that plan is right now, but we’ve talked about that as coaches. There is flexibility in the plan. There has to be, right? That’s just being smart about it, so we have a general idea of how many plays we want to get through the whole preseason, but that can be adjusted by 10 or 20 percent depending on how things go.”
At the beginning of training camp, Reich named Young the Panthers’ No. 1 quarterback. The Alabama All-American and 2021 Heisman Trophy winner joined Carolina on April 27, when the Panthers led off the 88th NFL Draft by selecting Young.
“You just want to see consistency in execution, and you want to see playmaking,” Reich said about what he’ll be looking for from the Carolina offense during the preseason. “Those are the two things that it takes to win. You need consistent execution day in and day out, and then you need guys to make plays. And so, we’ve had good flashes of that all through camp.”
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The Jets will come to the Panthers’ training camp at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, on Wednesday and Thursday for joint practices with Carolina.
“It’s going to be really good to get the Jets in here,” Reich said, “and for us to have a chance to compete against them.”
The Panthers are scheduled to start the season with an NFC South game against the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 10.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.