After snagging him at the trade deadline, the Carolina Panthers are sticking with Bryce Young for now.
The Panthers will start Young on Sunday against the New York Giants at Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany, head coach Dave Canales announced Wednesday. It will be Young’s third straight start after taking over for veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, who is recovering from a thumb injury suffered in a car accident.
Young led the Panthers to a tight 23-22 win over the New Orleans Saints last week on the first game-winning touchdown drive of his career.
“This is about progress from one week to the next,” Canales said, via ESPN. “I talk about finishing all the time. That’s it. Complete plays, practices, quarters, halves. Finish games. He did a fantastic job on the finishing touches [last week’s] playing the right way, finding a way to win and really competing that way.
Young went 16 of 26 for 171 yards with a touchdown and an interception in their win over the Saints, marking Young’s first win of the season. The Panthers have just a 2-7 record.
Young was benched after leading the team to back-to-back losses to start the year in favor of Dalton, and was the subject of trade rumors ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
But after Dalton was injured in a car accident, the Panthers turned to Young and have stuck with him ever since, even when Dalton was cleared to return. General manager Dan Morgan said he “never opened the door” to talking about trading the former No. 1 overall pick because he “didn’t want to.” However, whether Young remains the Panthers’ quarterback in the long term remains to be seen.
“Every week we evaluate Bryce, day by day, seeing him grow, seeing him develop, being under coach and working with him,” Morgan said, via ESPN. “We are excited to see him grow every week. We look forward to working with him in the future.
“Eventually we’ll have those conversations [about long term] Once the season is over, we’ll see where we stand.”
The Giants are also just 2-7 heading into the game in Germany. They have lost four straight and are at the bottom of the NFC East standings.
While Young’s future in Carolina is still up in the air, he has a chance Sunday to do something the Panthers haven’t seen since the start of the 2021 season: lead them to back-to-back wins.
