NFL first-ballot Hall of Famer shares key advice with Panthers QB Bryce Young
Ahead of quarterback Bryce Young's first Carolina Panthers' preseason game against the New York Jets Saturday, the team is competing in a series of joint practices throughout the week. Young is facing his first non-Panther NFL defense. Already, the Panthers' rookie has attracted the eye of Aaron Rodgers, the first-ballot Hall of Famer quarterback who recently […]
Ahead of quarterback Bryce Young's first Carolina Panthers' preseason game against the New York Jets Saturday, the team is competing in a series of joint practices throughout the week.
Young is facing his first non-Panther NFL defense. Already, the Panthers' rookie has attracted the eye of Aaron Rodgers, the first-ballot Hall of Famer quarterback who recently joined the Jets during the offseason. On Wednesday, Rodgers opened up regarding the career advice he has shared with Young, who has the task of turning around a Panthers team that hasn't won the NFC South since 2015.
"Be gentle with yourself," Rodgers said when asked what advice he'd give to Young. "It's a long journey. It feels like every little snap and practice is the end of the world if it doesn't go right. It's just not true. It's a long journey. It's about holding on to your confidence, enjoying the ride, and doing the little things every day. But I think he's got a good head on his shoulders, and he'll be just fine."
The respect is mutual. Young is viewing his time in joint practices with the Jets as a prime learning opportunity from one of the NFL's best signal callers.
"It's great being able to see him work and see him operate," Young said ahead of the first joint practice. "That's someone that I've observed and always looked at and watched for a long time growing up. So being able to watch him in person — we were on different fields, so I didn't get to see all his reps — but being able to see the things that I saw. And he came up to me before and was really nice, and we had some words."
There is a clear affinity growing between the old guard in Rodgers and the new kid on the block in Young. And it is a relationship that will only boost Young's confidence heading into his rookie season with the Panthers.
By all accounts, Young had a productive day during the first joint practice with the Jets.
Young displayed good touch throughout the morning. He finished having completed 14 of his 22 attempts, including a nice dime to fellow rookie Jonathan Mingo.
“I thought Bryce looked good today,” Reich said. “Listen, the Jets have a really good defense—and that showed today, at times. Their defensive front is top-notch. I thought Bryce handled it well. Our offense overall—it was a good day. The Jets made their share of plays. Defensively, they had a good rush at times. So we have to get that cleaned up.
“I thought Bryce made good decisions. As a receiving group, I thought our spacing and distribution was good. We’ll check it out on tape, but we’ll clean up the things that we need to. I thought Bryce made good decisions and good accuracy.”
As it turns out, Rodgers' advice, Young's admiration, and the rookie's commitment to learning are already showing up in on-field results.
The Panthers will get an opportunity to see Young in live game action come Saturday.
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Feature image via Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports.
