Before even taking an NFL snap, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young had a plethora of flattering adjectives thrown his way. And on Sunday, in his regular-season debut, he brought one of those many superlatives to the forefront.
Unflappable.
Buy Panthers TicketsAfter throwing his first pro pick, on a pass intended for tight end Hayden Hurst, Young bounced right back just two touches later. The 22-year-old led a strong 12-play, 75-yard drive to get the Panthers into the end zone—a trip that ended, ironically enough, with Hurst.
Here to witness Bryce's first NFL TD 🙌 pic.twitter.com/tzeI1KvUC0
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 10, 2023
Bryce & Hayden are gonna be fun to watch 🤩 pic.twitter.com/7OkV4ojkpn
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 10, 2023
The 4-yard score helped knot the game at 7-7 with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter. Young completed each of his six passing attempts on the possession for 51 yards.
Here’s what general manager Scott Fitterer said of Young’s unflappable mindset back in July:
“Everybody talks about the intelligence and the processing. It’s reaffirming, ’cause we saw that in an NFL offense. We saw him in a huddle, going up to the line of scrimmage and managing line calls. And then, not only managing the line calls, but post-snap—being able to process and go through it while you’re dropping back. It’s not just out of the gun like you are in college, grabbin’ it and throwin’ it. He’s going through the progressions of an NFL offense and that was really encouraging.”
Encouraging indeed, Scott.
