The Carolina Panthers’ veteran players reported for training camp on Tuesday, accompanied by the standard social-media posts of the expected standouts walking into the NFL team’s headquarters.
The video of Bryce Young garnered more attention than the rest, and not just because he’s the Carolina quarterback, drawing comments such as “Bryce Young pulling up to his first day of seventh grade” and “My bro look like he got a big times-table test coming up.”
At Young’s Tuesday press conference, one of the first questions addressed the quarterback’s size, but in the opposite way. A reporter said Young looked bigger than during his rookie season.
“I’m not a big, like, step-on-the-scales-every-day type of person,” Young said, “so, honestly, I don’t know what I weigh at now. I don’t know what I weighed at before. But I try to work out, you know, for my job.”
More stories on the NFL
Young was big enough in 2023 to absorb 62 sacks and miss only one game.
“I feel good,” Young said on Tuesday. “I’m healthy, which is a blessing, and trying to do everything this offseason, same thing through OTAs, physically, mentally to get prepared for the year.”
Whatever Young’s poundage, he’s not carrying the weight of the Panthers’ recent past. Carolina has had six consecutive losing records and went 2-15 last season, the former Alabama All-American’s first after the Panthers picked him No. 1 in the 2023 NFL Draft.
“True, yeah, a fact,” Young said about Carolina’s streak without a postseason appearance. “But that’s not something we, one, control, and also it’s not going to help us. I think everyone in the league knows every year things change, and for us, we’re just focused on us earning the right to get to where we want to be, to accomplish our goals, and whether we won a Super Bowl last year or whatever happened last year happened, it’s not really going to help or hurt us this year. We have to do everything we can.
“In this league, you got to earn it every season, so that’s all we’re focused on.”
That’s not to say Young isn’t determined to end Carolina’s losing streak.
“I think Bryce is one of the hardest-working men in that locker room right now,” Panthers general manager Dan Morgan said. “I know he’s on a mission. I know he’s committed to being great. I know he’s committed to this franchise and making this franchise great, so we’re going to do everything in our power to surround him with the best players, the best protection, receivers, running backs, so we got to do our part as well.
“But I know Bryce is hungry, he’s focused and we’re super excited about him.”
In his first NFL season, Young had the league’s worst passing-efficiency rating among players with at least 240 passes in 2023 as he completed 315-of-527 passes for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Carolina hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as its head coach in January with Young in mind.
“I think every day working under coach Canales he got better and better with what coach Canales wanted him to do,” Morgan said, “whether it’s footwork, whether it’s timing, just all the little details. He’s very coachable, so I think him working under Dave, I think it’s a really good match.”
The Panthers also signed guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis in free agency, traded for wide receiver Diontae Johnson and drafted South Carolina wide receiver Xavier Legette in the first round, Texas running back Jonathan Brooks in the second round and Texas tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders in the fourth round this offseason.
Young said the improvement in the receiving corps already had been noted.
“Obviously, we get more reps, more opportunities in training camp, but I think it’s already evident,” Young said. “I’m super grateful for the receiving corps that we have. I’m super excited. A group of great guys, great competitors. I think we’re all on a mission to be as good as we can.”
The expected improvement in personnel is also expected to be reflected in Young’s performance.
“I think that for me, there’s always like an urgency,” Young said. “There’s always a sense of wanting to be the best I can be, the best we can be every day, and that’s definitely something that I don’t want to lose and I want to make sure we’re at. I don’t feel like for me, I guess, I don’t look at it as pressure from outside things. I think really for us it’s making sure we can be the best we can be every day and accomplish our goals throughout the year, and that’s a big-picture thing. And it’s not something that’s really going to change.
“We can’t get that done tomorrow. We’re not going to get it done next week. It’s going to be throughout the year. Because of that, I try to keep my focus on just the small stuff, what I can do right now. We have a meeting in however many minutes. Trying to make sure I’m locked in for that. So I think that’s kind of the mindset, and because of that, I don’t really feel this overhanging pressure, whatever it is, that may come from the outside.”
The Panthers open their three-game preseason schedule on Aug. 8 against the New England Patriots and kick off their regular-season slate on Sept. 8 against the New Orleans Saints.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.