Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales and general manager Dan Morgan held press conferences at the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday. Canales fielded one question about quarterback Bryce Young. Morgan didn’t face any.

Young already answered the questions over the second half of the 2024 NFL season.

At last year’s combine, Canales and Morgan had been at their jobs for less than two months.

Carolina traded for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft to obtain Young. The former Alabama All-American started 16 games as a rookie. The Panthers won two of those games, so the questions at last year’s combine press conferences centered on Canales’ plans for the young quarterback and Morgan’s options for building around him.

When Carolina totaled 13 points in losing its first two games of 2024, the Panthers pulled Young out of the lineup in favor of veteran Andy Dalton.

After five starts, Dalton sustained a thumb injury in a traffic accident. Young started the final 10 games of the season. With a 1-6 record when Young returned to the lineup, Carolina won four times.

“Just toughness,” Canales said on Tuesday about what Young showed in the second half of his second NFL season. “You know, mental toughness, emotional toughness, physical toughness. Took some good shots there and showed he can just stand in there and play good football. And just watching the weekly progression of it … as we finished each week, there was improvement each week, there was improvement, and you can imagine if you could just get one week better for a long time, how good you can become, so I got a lot of excitement, a lot of appreciation for the way that Bryce just took a leadership role in this, too, and really made statements to his teammates in that locker room.

“And you can feel the respect, I’m sure all of you of you around the team. The guys started to feel that. Like, this guy’s real, and so I’m excited to go into this offseason knowing we have this quarterback. Now let’s start building this team, and let’s become the 2025 Panthers.”

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Carolina closed its season on Jan. 5 with a 44-38 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons. Young threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more in the Panthers’ highest-scoring game since a 45-21 victory over the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 13, 2017.

Young and 2024 NFL MVP Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills were the only players with at least three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs in the same game this season, and Young became the first Carolina player to accomplish the feat.

“That was exciting,” Canales said. “But it was also pretty scary, just kind of seeing (Falcons quarterback) Michael Penix step up and make those plays and just really going drive for drive, battling that way. But it was an exciting feeling to come off of that field, for sure, because we won, but also because you could just feel the sense of, like, all right, here’s what we have to look forward to, here’s the challenges that we have to meet, and so it does add to the urgency for all of us to first and foremost, it starts with our division, and there’s some really good teams in our division.”

Through the first 18 games of his career, Young averaged 173.4 passing yards, completed 59.3 percent of his passes, totaled 11 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions, compiled a 70.9 passing-efficiency rating and ran for one touchdown. Carolina won two of the games.

In the final 10 games of the 2024 season, Young averaged 210.4 passing yards, completed 61.8 percent of his passes, totaled 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions, compiled an 88.9 passing-efficiency rating and ran for five touchdowns. The Panthers won four of the games.

“The way that he handled the challenges last year,” Morgan told CBS Sports on Tuesday, “getting benched after the second week and then returning and playing the way that he did, it just shows how resilient he is. It just shows how much he loves football and how much he loves competing, so to see him come back, I was just like a proud dad.

“I love the kid. I can’t wait to see what he does in the future. I think big things are ahead for him.”

Morgan already has made one offseason move he thinks will help Young in 2025. Carolina re-signed Dalton to a two-year contract extension to retain the 14-year veterans as a backup and mentor for Young.

“I think, obviously, Andy, just his resume and what he’s done in this league,” Morgan said, “to have a quarterback in a backup role that’s won as many games. He’s been in playoff games. He brings that experience. So first and foremost, having him back for that reason.

“And then also him and Bryce have such a good relationship. The chemistry’s great in the quarterback room, so that’s not something that we really wanted to mess with, and we’re just excited to get him back.”

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