After a one-game absence from the Carolina Panthers’ lineup, Bryce Young will be back at quarterback for Sunday’s contest against the Green Bay Packers.
“Handled the week really well,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said of Young on Friday. “Each day just kind of ramped up some of the things we were exposing him to. He looked awesome working with his guys, just getting in there leading, communicating, and physically just looked like he’s ready to go.”
The former Alabama All-American sustained an ankle injury in the Panthers’ 13-6 victory over the New York Jets on Oct. 19 and missed Sunday’s 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Andy Dalton went all the way at quarterback against Buffalo and will serve as Young’s backup against the Packers, even though he sustained a broken thumb on his throwing hand early in the game against the Bills.
“He demonstrated the ability to control the ball, throw it,” Canales said. “Really amazing, unbelievable. I’m very grateful that he’s able to play through stuff like this and wants to be there for his team, and he showed that he threw well yesterday, came back today, threw well again, so excited to have him there.”
The Panthers signed quarterback Mike White to their practice squad on Oct. 21 and brought him up to the 53-man active roster this week, which will enable him to serve as the emergency third quarterback. Under that designation, White will not take up a spot on the game-day active roster, but he won’t be able to play unless Young and Dalton can’t.
White has played in 15 regular-season games since entering the NFL in the fifth round of the 2018 draft.
“It gives us a great chance for him to be the emergency third on game day and be able to count him that way, especially just in the situation that we’re in,” Canales said. “And if it gets to that point, then I got full confidence having him here for a couple of weeks, being able to work through things on the call sheet and levels of comfortability with what we’re doing and all that. And had a couple of really nice practices, threw the ball well, so I’m excited for Mike and see what he can do for us as well.”
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The 4-4 Panthers play the 5-1-1 Packers at noon CST Sunday at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Against the Packers, getting the football out on time in the passing game will be paramount for Young.
“Micah Parsons is a great player,” Canales said of Green Bay’s top pass-rusher. “We take that approach every week, and I want that ball to come out. I want great decisions, I want anticipation, those types of things. And that’s what really has led to Bryce being really decisive — owning the concepts, owning what the design of the play is, how to attack certain different coverages and where the ball should go. And that’s really just a part of that.
“Also, it’s a part of the group making quick decisions for him, presenting themselves in zones, creating separation versus man and giving him somewhere to go with the ball. So I always kind of take that approach regardless of who we’re playing. Certainly this week with Micah, we got to know where he’s at at all times and make sure that our plan fits that.”
In two previous games against Young in the NFL, Parsons has registered 4.5 sacks.
“We got to get in the QB lanes,” Parsons said on Thursday. “We got to make it as hard as possible for him. I have a good history with Bryce, and I understand he’s an elite competitor. He’s one of them Bama guys. I know how he prepares, and I know how he’s going to come in and try to exploit our team. … When he’s on, he’s on, and we don’t want to see that happen, so we got to get after the quarterback. But most importantly, we got to stop the run.”
The Panthers have won three consecutive games with Young as the starting quarterback. Young completed 51-of-80 passes for 535 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions in those games while Carolina ran for 580 yards.
“I just think when he’s feeling confident that these guys is blocking for him, like, we got to get him to the point he’s looking at his O-line,” Parsons said. “Like, we got to get him instead of looking downfield to looking in front of him. And then, I mean, you can make any quarterback do that, you have a good chance.
“Like, I think there was a clip, you know, when we was playing the Commanders, Jayden Daniels was looking back at me like, ‘Is he coming through? Did he break through?’ And I think those type of things changes the game. Like when he’s constantly like, ‘Oh my God. Like, I keep getting hit. They’re getting back here.’ Like, those things that throw the quarterback off, it’s impossible for him to look at his second read or his first read if he’s worrying about the front. So that’s how we got to affect him and get after him.”
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