Bryce Young’s injury status gives the Panthers some sense of optimism after an otherwise demoralizing start to Week 4
Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young was a full participant at practice on Wednesday as the team prepares to face the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
It’s been a tough start to the week to say the least for the Carolina Panthers with all of the injuries that continue to mount up for this team. It’s always a next man up approach, but man, the Panthers have been stretched thin going into Week 4.
The latest major injuries that were announced this week include starting cornerbacks Jaycee Horn (quad) and Mike Jackson (groin) landing on the injured reserve while starting left guard Damien Lewis (elbow) is expected to miss Sunday’s game later this week.
During Wednesday’s practice, the Panthers got a bittersweet update on other injuries lingering throughout the roster, including some optimism involving quarterback Bryce Young.
Bryce Young practiced on Wednesday after coming out of Week 3’s loss banged up
Week 3 was a rough game for Young, who still managed to put up some solid numbers on the stat sheet, but it was still a long day at the office in Cleveland. Young was pressured on 26 of his 50 dropbacks against the Browns, according to Next Gen Stats.
Not only that, Young was also stepped on by left tackle Rasheed Walker at one point early in the game and was checked on a few times on the sidelines after multiple drives. Young managed to finish the game but it was clear his play was limited due to some lower body issues.
“We’re making sure that everything’s right and we don’t want to just assume that he’s OK because he finished the game,” head coach Dave Canales said of Young earlier this week. “So we’re going to take a look at that, but I expect Bryce to be playing (in Week 4).”
On Wednesday, Young was a full participant in practice and was listed with a knee injury on the report. Seeing him full participating certainly adds some confidence for this offense.
“It got sore on him and he’s getting a lot of treatment,” Canales said after Wednesday’s practice. “But, he was able to get out there today… He was able to do the whole thing. So, really confident that he’ll be good to go.”
Other injury updates for Carolina after Wednesday’s practice
While Young being a full participant is good news for the Panthers’ offense, the bad news is that multiple other starters (outside of Lewis) did not participate such as WR Jalen Coker (quad), WR Xavier Legette (knee), and rookie right tackle Monroe Freeling (concussion). Canales shared that Coker is “day-to-day” while Legette is “week-to-week.”
Veteran TE Darren Waller (rest/toe) did not practice either, along with starting RB Chuba Hubbard (not injury-related).
Defensively, the only name that did not practice on Wednesday (outside of the two CBs placed on IR) was OLB Princely Umanmielen (ankle). Some good news, LB Devin Lloyd (calf) and S Nick Scott (ribs) did return as a full participant after missing last week’s game.
Carolina is clearly going to need a lot of players to step up and get through this week heading into a big Sunday night matchup against the Detroit Lions. Once the Panthers get through that game, Carolina will have a bye week to hopefully get as many players as possible healthy and back on the field.
“The challenge to the whole group — coaches and players — is, OK, we got some stuff we’re dealing with right now. Let’s see how good we can be, and this is where the margins matter; the untimely penalties, the discipline, and just execution and different things- all of this stuff is really, really a crescendo; it comes to a head,” Canales said on Monday. “So we all have to pull together, to continue to find really good football even if a couple of guys have to stay in there and finish the game like we did.”
