Panthers second-year QB Matt Corral played in his first game in a year: 'It felt good'
A little over a year ago, the Carolina Panthers selected a quarterback in the NFL Draft. That quarterback went on to miss nearly every snap of his rookie season. On Saturday, Matt Corral played football again. In the Panthers 27-0 loss to the New York Jets, Corral collected 126 yards and an interception on 15-for-22 in the […]
A little over a year ago, the Carolina Panthers selected a quarterback in the NFL Draft. That quarterback went on to miss nearly every snap of his rookie season.
On Saturday, Matt Corral played football again. In the Panthers 27-0 loss to the New York Jets, Corral collected 126 yards and an interception on 15-for-22 in the passing game. It was his first game since sustaining a fracture in his foot during the 2022 preseason. And following his return, despite the unsavory result, Corral was basking in the reality of finally being back to playing the game he missed desperately through the dark days of rehab.
“Ah, man, it felt good,” he said. “It felt good to finally get back out there and be out there with the guys. Bullets are flyin’, you get that adrenaline rush. It was good. It was good to be back. Lot of stuff to clean up.”
Though Corral had better counting stats than rookie quarterback Bryce Young, who was 4-for-6 with 21 yards, he still had to fair with a lackluster offensive line that led to a number of dropbacks winding up in sacks.
Exhibit A:
Still, Corral was merely happy to be back on the field. He doesn't feel like he is close to being a finished product either. Following the game, he admitted to a few areas of the game he still feels like he can improve on ahead of the start of the regular season.
“I gotta clean up my eyes,” he stated. “A lot of guys in the locker room were sayin’ . . . the O-line was comin’ up to me and sayin’ they could make it a lot easier. It’s my job to get the ball out. And, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what they do. I can help them a lot more just by cleaning out my eyes and making quicker decisions.”
There isn't much of a quarterback competition, but Corral is trying to force the Panthers' hand. He won't come close on that mission. But he does feel successful getting back on the field after suffering a similar injury to former franchise quarterback Cam Newton. And in a roundabout way, the Panthers' wild-card quarterback may have just earned his keep with the team.
Bryce Young earns praise from the real culprits in the preseason loss to the New York Jets
For all the blame that could go around rookie quarterback Bryce Young is dodging most of it.
Panthers fall flat in Bryce Young’s debut against Jets; no cause for worry
For all the fanfare Carolina Panthers rookie quarterback Bryce Young possessed going into the first preseason game of his NFL career, it didn’t go as well as planned.
Feature image via Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports.
