The knock against quarterback Bryce Young coming out of Alabama was his size. At this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, Young measured 5 feet, 10 and one-eighth inches tall.

Only four quarterbacks who stood 5-11 or shorter have started at least 68 NFL regular-season games – the equivalent of four years by the current schedule.

That didn’t prevent the Carolina Panthers from making Young the No. 1 selection in the NFL Draft on April 27.

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The concerns with a quarterback of Young’s height are his ability to see down the field and vulnerability to having his passes knocked down by defensive linemen.

As the Panthers neared the end of their offseason program, Carolina coach Frank Reich said what he’d seen at practice left him unconcerned on those counts.

“I would have actually thought we would have seen a whole lot more balls batted down,” Reich said on Tuesday, “because we’re not going live and we’re telling them not to hit the quarterback, so the defensive line, they rush and then they pull off and they’re standing there, more guys standing with their hands up. To be quite honest, I expected a whole lot more balls batted down from all the quarterbacks, so, yeah, I didn’t think much about it. Thought the quarterbacks were seeing the holes well.”

The Panthers are holding a three-day mandatory minicamp this week, and Thursday’s practice will conclude their offseason program. Carolina won’t practice again until the team gathers for training camp late next month.

Reich said he thought “Bryce adapted well” to the NFL work after joining Carolina.

Asked which boxes he had been looking for the rookie QB to check during the offseason program, Reich said “command of the offense, understanding the protection scheme and then just showing accuracy and being able to handle the offense in general. It’s been good. We’ve still got a ways to go, but he’s been on point.”

In his first season as the Panthers’ coach and sixth as an NFL head coach, Reich said his offense gave the quarterbacks a lot to learn as it has been installed this offseason.

“We really give the quarterback a lot of latitude to check, to move things around,” Reich said. “We know Bryce is the kind of guy — and so is Andy (Dalton) — that can do that and can manage that. But it just doesn’t happen overnight. This is a new scheme, new offense, and that’s happening and like the direction that’s taking.”

Brian Burns, a two-time Pro Bowl pass-rusher, said Young had made an impression on his teammates in less than two months with the team.

“He put quite a stamp on the locker room,” Burns said. “He walks around with this kind of humble, excuse my language, humble but I know I’m the (expletive) type of swag. He knows he got it, but he’s humble with it. He always, like, he’s always happy. I don’t know. I mean, it ain’t nothing to be really mad about, but it’s hard not to like that kid. He’s a good kid, a good guy.”

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