Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales named Bryce Young as his team’s starting quarterback for Week 10. But is he willing to name Young as his team’s starting quarterback for the rest of the 2024 season?
On Wednesday, Canales told reporters that the former No. 1 overall pick will be under center against the New York Giants on Sunday. He explained why.
“This is about progress from one week to the next,” Canales stated. “I preach ‘finish.’ I talk about ‘finish’ all the time. Finish everything. Finish plays, drives, quarters, halves. Finishing games. He did a fantastic job of finishing that game the right way, finding a way to win and really battling that way. So I was really proud of Bryce for that.”
Young, in his second start back since being benched, led the Panthers to a 23-22 victory over the New Orleans Saints this past Sunday. He completed 16 of his 26 attempts for 171 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Canales was then asked if he’s ready to commit to Young as the starter moving forward.
“Well, ya know, we have an opportunity to play this game, and we’re gonna take all the information in and then we’ll make a decision after that,” he replied.
Veteran Andy Dalton headed the offense in the five games following Young’s early-season benching. The Panthers went 1-4 in those outings, with the last seeing the 37-year-old throw for only 93 yards and two interceptions.
Young took the reins back in Week 8, after Dalton sustained a right thumb injury from a minor car accident. He’s since gone on to complete 63.5 percent of his passes for 395 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Sheena Quick of FOX Sports Radio would later ask Canales if carrying on with uncertainty at the quarterback position has had an effect on both Young and Dalton.
“I mean, it has an effect on the whole team, for sure,” he replied. “We’d like to have that consistency and all that. But we’re in a situation where . . . I made a move early in the year to put Andy in and then we kinda had five games to collect some information. And then this situation put us to where we have a chance to evaluate Bryce and where he’s at.
“I know the challenges that it does face. So to be fair to your question, yes, it does present some challenges. But, again, like a bunch of positions on our team this year—I look at the opportunities, I look at the experience and all those things that we talk about. So, these are valuable games for us.”
Carolina will enter their Week 11 bye following this weekend’s trip to Munich, Germany.
