Prior to kickoff of this past Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions, CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones reported that the Carolina Panthers were looking to simplify their offense for struggling rookie quarterback Bryce Young. So, is it really that simple?
Head coach Frank Reich was asked about that ahead of Wednesday’s practice.
Buy Panthers Tickets“Every coach would tell you, when you’re 0-5, what’s the answer? Do more? No. The answer is do less,” he said. “Every coach. The history of the NFL. Hey, we’re 0-5, we’re 0-3, we’re 0-4—do less. Do less. Does that mean you gave him too much? Maybe, maybe not. I don’t know the answer to that.
“I just know we gotta get better—because insanity is doin’ the same thing over, right? So, that’s what we do as coaches. Not for the quarterback, for the whole team. We did it on offense, we did it on defense, we did it on special teams. Simplify, simplify, simplify. Do the basics. Let the players play fast. Sometimes, it takes that to do it. And sometimes, that was the answer and that’s why. Sometimes, it just works out to get you back on track and in rhythm.”
Young got into a little bit of a rhythm to close out the 42-24 loss. In rebounding off the first three frames of what had been another rough start, the 22-year-old completed nine of his 12 throws for 101 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the game’s fourth quarter.
Reich, who later said they’ve gone to using a wristband over the past few weeks to help Young, then expanded on his thoughts about the growing passer.
“You play quarterback in this league and throw it 40 times a game and are handlin’ every game and have to make 75 decisions a game, obviously a lot more than that, you’re gonna make some mistakes,” he replied. “Everybody does. Nobody plays a perfect game. So, that’s a conversation we’ve had—we gotta move on to the next play. If you make a mistake, just move on to the next play.
“We all know this guy is incredibly mature and has a great perspective. We know he’s hard on himself, like all great players are. So, I just think that’s all normal and part of the process.”
