General
The NFL trade deadline passed on Tuesday without the Carolina Panthers moving Bryce Young. Instead, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft will start at quarterback against the New York Giants on Sunday.
“We never got into any discussions,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said on Wednesday about trading the quarterback. “I never opened that door. Didn’t want to trade Bryce. Still don’t. And committed to working with him and helping him grow and helping him develop.”
Does that mean Carolina is re-committed to Young as their franchise quarterback?
“I think every week, you know, we’re assessing Bryce,” Morgan said when asked that question. “We’re just seeing, just taking it day by day, really just seeing him grow, seeing him develop, be under coach and work with him, learn under Andy (Dalton). I think we do see him growing every day. We’re excited to work with him and keep working with him in the future. And at the end of the day, we’ll have those conversations once the season ends, and we’ll see where we’re at.”
After trading up to spend the No. 1 pick on Young last year, the Panthers had the former Alabama All-American in their starting lineup for 16 games in 2023. But when Carolina opened with two losses in 2024, new coach Dave Canales benched the second-year signal-caller for Dalton.
The 14-year NFL veteran started the next five games. But when Dalton sustained a thumb injury in a traffic accident on Oct. 22, Young returned to the starting lineup. After the Panthers’ 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos on Oct. 27, Canales kept Young in the lineup for another game.
Carolina broke a five-game losing streak by beating the New Orleans Saints 23-22 on Sunday, and Canales announced on Wednesday that Young would make another start.
“This is about the progress from one week to the next,” Canales said. “And then I preach finish. I talk about finish all the time. That’s finish everything — finish plays, drives, quarters, halves, finish games. He did a fantastic job of finishing that game the right way, finding a way to win and really battling that way, so I was really proud of Bryce for that. And just took all the information in and wanted to give him another opportunity to get out there and face the Giants this week in Germany.”
But like Morgan on next season, Canales won’t commit to Young beyond Sunday’s game.
“We have an opportunity here to play this game,” Canales said on Wednesday, “and we’re going take all the information in and then we’ll make a decision after that. …
“Again, right now, because of the progress he’s showed, I want to just focus on this week, I want him to play again. This gives us an opportunity with the bye week to take all the information and then make another decision after that.”
Young called it “part of the business.”
“I’m just here to do my job, whatever that job is called to be,” Young said on Wednesday. “I know what it is for this week, so grateful for that. And then just I have to, you know, I’m a pro no matter what it is. Just bring my best every single day and just lean in on that. …
“I just want to do everything I can to help the team. Obviously, my play being evaluated is out of my hands. I want to do everything I can to help the team win. I lean on my teammates, the coaches and all that and just try to execute. And I know after every week, obviously it’ll be evaluation, so I try not to think about that. I just try to do everything I can to help the team.”
Over the past two games, Young has completed 40-of-63 passes for 395 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
“Finding throws down the field,” Canales said of Young’s improvement since the quarterback opened the season by completing 13-of-30 passes for 161 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions in a 47-10 loss to the Saints on Sept. 8. “A lot of it’s chemistry with the guys he’s been working with and finding completions, some really cool explosive plays that showed up in the game. It’s just, again, just our third-down operation. I know we didn’t have the best third-down day that we wanted to, but I saw progress there just with the whole group, getting up and operating that way and a lot of the other specific things.
“Again, I won’t go into those details. Those are private conversations in the QB room, so I’ll keep it at that. But just the steps forward, the progress, and then the finish. And that’s what we look for. We’re looking for that finish.”
The Panthers trailed New Orleans 22-17 when they took possession at their 36-yard line with 3:26 to play on Sunday. Young hit a third-down pass to wide receiver Xavier Legette for a 26-yard gain, and a 22-yard defensive pass interference penalty on the next snap moved Carolina to the New Orleans 16. Running back Chuba Hubbard covered that distance to the goal line to give Carolina a one-point lead with 2:18 remaining.
“I think it was great for us as a unit, as a team, just to finish that way,” Young said. “But also not downplaying the defense coming up with a huge stop and a huge moment. Again, it was a one-point game. They had time. And for the defense to come up big like that, too, again, full team win. So I think it was great for us just to be able to do it and play off of each other, play complementary and both sides of the ball step up.
“And now, again, it’s just building off of it, making sure that we can harness it, continue to grow, continue to build off of it. And it was great while it lasted. Now it’s just: What can we do better to continue to improve?”
The Panthers and the Giants will square off at 8:30 a.m. CST Sunday at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany. NFL Network will televise the game.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
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