Carolina coach Frank Reich thinks franchise NFL quarterbacks have to travel “a long road” to reach that status, and while he acknowledged Panthers rookie QB Bryce Young took “a step backward” on that journey on Sunday, he doesn’t doubt the former Alabama All-American is going to get there.
In Carolina’s 27-13 loss to Indianapolis on Sunday, Colts cornerback Kenny Moore II intercepted Young twice and ran both back for touchdowns.
“Listen, I’ve seen this happen to the best quarterbacks in the history of the game,” Reich said. “They all have games like this. Sure, it’s easy to put it on the quarterback, but you bounce back. That’s what makes the great ones.
“It’s a long road. I’ve said this many times, the quarterback journey, developing into a franchise quarterback, it’s a long road. I-slash-we believe very strongly in Bryce.”
Young completed 24-of-39 passes for 173 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
“I turned the ball over three times,” Young said. “Two of them turned into 14 points. That’s how you lose a game. Everyone else around me did a great job, and so it’s on me.”
Young threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver DJ Chark to cap a 15-play, 77-yard drive as the Panthers reduced Indianapolis’ lead to 20-10 with 4:34 left in the third quarter.
But the next time Carolina had the football, Moore returned an interception 66 yards for a touchdown
With 20 seconds left in the first half, Moore returned an interception 49 yards for a touchdown.
“Bad throws and bad decisions on both,” Young said.
The Panthers lost even though the Indianapolis offense gained only 198 yards. But in falling to 1-7, Carolina couldn’t build on its first victory of the season – a 15-13 win over the Houston Texans on Oct. 29 – as Young had the first three-interception game of his career. He had thrown four interceptions in his first six games.
“This is a step backward for us as an offense,” Reich said. “I thought we had several games in a row where we were making good strides, and then we went out and laid an egg today offensively. …
“Bryce has been playing good football. This is one game.”
Carolina will be able “to turn the page even quicker,” Young said, on this loss than usual with the Panthers scheduled to play the Chicago Bears at 7:15 p.m. CST Thursday at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Young said Sunday’s performance won’t shake his confidence going into that contest.
“It doesn’t change that,” Young said. “Obviously, I have be better. Obviously, you have things you want back. But it’s part of the game. It is what it is. It’s a long season. You can’t carry any of that over. You got to take from it, watch the film. We’ll go over this stuff, learn from it, correct it, and then after that, it resets. It’s one game. Obviously, it’s a lot of stuff that I need to do better, but it doesn’t change who I am. That’s just the mentality we all have.”
Moore turned in the 29th game in NFL history in which one player returned two interceptions for touchdowns.
Young had the 149th game in which one NFL player threw at least two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns, including four quarterbacks who had three.
Before Sunday, the most recent had been Young’s backup, Andy Dalton, who had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the New Orleans Saints’ 42-34 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 20, 2022
After the game, Reich was asked if he would consider starting the 13-year veteran over Young, who came to Carolina as the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft on April 27.
“I suppose that’s a fair question,” Reich said, “but I can honestly tell you that thought has never even come close to entering my mind.”
