While Bryce Young went 3-of-6 for 35 yards passing in his second preseason start for the Carolina Panthers, the 22-year-old quarterback was more disappointed by his lack of play, than by his play itself. That’s according to Panthers coach Frank Reich who said following the team’s 21-19 loss to the New York Giants on Friday that Young wanted to be there longer than he was.
Of course, the Panthers clearly don’t want to risk any unnecessary injury in the preseason and are keeping his load light. That doesn’t mean that Young won’t play more, in fact, the third preseason game on the calendar is generally when starters play either the first quarter or the entire half. We’ll have to see if that’s the case with Young, but his limited playing time on Friday didn’t stop Reich from praising what he saw from the first-round pick.
“I thought Bryce looked sharp,” Reich said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think he wanted to throw the ball more. He wanted to throw a little bit more, but I thought he looked sharp.”
While Young was sacked once, Reich was impressed with how the former No. 1 overall pick handled the pass rush from one of the more talented defensive lines in the NFC.
“I think he was seeing it really well. They did blitz a few times. We’ll see the film but I think we made the right protection call every time. I just felt like he was comfortable and poised in the pocket and seeing what he was supposed to see,” Reich said.
Young will only continue to get more and more reps, but the Panthers are gonna keep the training wheels on until Week 1. Then, it’ll be time to see what the Alabama Crimson Tide product is made of.
