Bryce Young's rough NFL debut for Panthers is no reason to panic about the No. 1 pick
ATLANTA – Bryce Young would not make excuses. He did not seek pity. He didn’t point fingers,
Except at himself.
“It’s on me,” the Carolina Panthers quarterback said, solemnly, after his NFL debut on Sunday, when the lessons came hard, fast and furious during a 24-10 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
“It’s unacceptable. Definitely a lot of things I wish that I could get back. All I can do now is grow from it, learn from it. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but we have to turn the page. You’ve got to figure out how you build from it.”
As Young, 22, beat himself up in front of the cameras and the notepads inside Mercedes-Benz Stadium – facing the music like a pro, a class act – he seemed so relatable. So human.
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The young man, with a Heisman Trophy on his resume, has thrived at every level. Now, after earning the honor of being picked No. 1 overall in April, he finally plays his first game and there is no mercy.
It was quite the welcome-to-the-NFL experience for Young.
No, we don’t know what it’s like to win the coveted award as the best player in college football. But we’ve all probably had days that we looked forward to with great anticipation, only for the bubble to burst when things didn’t quite turn out the way we would have drawn it up.
Young, who passed for just 146 yards and posted a meager passer rating of 48.8, will never forget what happened against the Falcons. He took a pounding, which included two sacks and seven QB hits. He could never connect on the deep ball, with his longest completions netting just 14 yards.
And maybe the worst part was that crafty standout safety Jessie Bates III took Young to school on his two interceptions. On the first one, Bates flew in from the backside to cut in front of the intended target. On the next one, Young obviously didn’t see Bates waiting in the middle of the field. As the rookie seemingly locked in on the receiver crossing underneath, Bates stepped up and demonstrated just how well he read the quarterback’s intentions.
Was it faster than expected?
“I wouldn’t say faster,” said Young. “It’s just things that I can do. Critical mistakes. Turnovers. They made great plays and I didn’t. I didn’t do a good job of taking care of the ball. I think it was just overall execution.”
Young looked disappointed but didn’t seem defeated. After he met the press and showered, he mingled for a few minutes outside the locker room with his parents, then headed alone for the buses.
It’s probably of little solace for Young to know that the other two rookie quarterbacks to begin their careers as Week 1 starters – C.J. Stroud for the Houston Texans and Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts – didn’t win their debuts, either.
Young was hoping to become the first quarterback drafted No. 1 overall to win his debut since David Carr with the Texans in 2002, but that didn’t happen either.
So, what now? There’s next week. The Panthers get an extra day to prepare for the New Orleans Saints in their home opener next Monday night. Hello, learning curve.
“I was on the sideline making corrections when he was out there, but I’m sure he wants some of those throws back,” linebacker Justin Houston, a 13th-year veteran, told USA TODAY Sports. “And I’m sure he won’t do it again, knowing the kind of guy he is.”
This is a long-term deal. There will be better days. One day, he’ll look back on his debut and realize just how much he’s grown with experience. Barring injury, the quarterback we’ll see next month for the Panthers won’t be the same player who debuted on Sunday. The quarterback we’ll see in December won’t be the one we saw in Week 1. Part of his learning curve will involve rolling with the punches.
“I’m proud of him,” said receiver Adam Thielen, beginning his 10th NFL season. “He battles every single down. We have so much faith and trust in him to be able to play this game at a high level. This game is not going to change that.”
Panthers coach Frank Reich, who spent 13 seasons as an NFL quarterback, clearly knows what it’s like to play the first game on the pro level at the most important positions. Despite the mishaps, he never saw his rookie get flustered.
“He handled himself great,” Reich said. “He was in complete control. Even after he had turnovers, he was never down. The kind of pro that we expect.”
Reich knows the debut will sting for Young, who tends to be his own toughest critic. But in his postgame address, Reich made it a point to remind his team that the burden is shared.
“The next 24 (hours), it should not taste good,” Reich said. “And we need to eat every bit of it. Otherwise, you don’t learn and get better from it.”
When someone asked Reich, the former quarterback, if he was eager to engage on the learning process with his young pupil, the response was too obvious.
Reich said that of all the possibilities, “there’s not another guy in the world.”
Not now.
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