CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales announced on Friday that the starting players will participate in the first two preseason games. This plan includes quarterback Bryce Young, who had a regular season start in 2024 that led to him being benched after the first two losses. Carolina will begin its preseason schedule on Friday at home against Cleveland, followed by a game on August 15 in Houston and August 21 at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Canales indicated that he will evaluate after the first two matches if the starters will play in the third match.
Carolina didn’t play Young and the rest of the starters in the first two preseason games last season, losing to the New York Jets and the New England Patriots. The idea at the time was that the starters had enough good work during the joint practices before those games. Canales had the starters play in the third game and they won 31-26 against the Buffalo Bills. Young completed 6 of 8 passes for 70 yards in that game. However, Young had a Total QBR of 8.9 in the first two regular season games, the third lowest in a two-game period since the metric began being tracked in 2011.We have a young team. I can’t pass up opportunities. Repetitions in games are valuable.
Dave Canales
It’s simply experimenting with an approach. There’s a lot that goes into getting your mind right to go out and play this game. That’s as valuable as anything else.
Dave Canales
