Frank Reich shares details on Bryce Young's ankle injury
Bryce Young won’t be gone long. On Friday, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich provided an update on his rookie quarterback’s condition.
“Docs are saying one to two weeks,” Reich said following the team’s final practice ahead of their Week 3 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. “Bryce has done well this week. I’m optimistic that he’s on the right path and that whatever the soonest he can get back is, he will get back. And when he gets back and when he’s cleared, he’s our guy and he’ll be ready to go.”
Young struggled through his first two NFL contests, recording 299 passing yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while completing 59.2% of his passes. Both performances resulted in a loss for the Panthers.
Hiccups are expected for a rookie quarterback. Nonetheless, they must be able to work through them. Now, Young will have to wait. Reports of an injury first arose earlier this week when Young missed practice on Wednesday.
He is yet to return to full-speed practice. Since Young finished the Panthers’ Week 2 loss against the New Orleans Saints, Reich claims he is unaware how his quarterback suffered the injury.
“No clarity of when or how,” Reich said. “To Bryce’s credit, just played with the adrenaline and the competitor in him. Listen, every player, probably everybody here at some point has kinda worked through a sprained ankle—and different kinds of sprains and all that stuff.
“But I’m sure playing on it during the game, it just got worse and worse. And then, of course, when you stop movin’ around, it really pops its ugly head. But a credit to Bryce—we really feel good about the path he’s on.”
Frank Reich sticks by Bryce Young
Reich has stuck with his quarterback through the early highs and lows. Following Young’s disappointing professional debut, the 61-year-old head coach defended the former Alabama standout.
“Bryce is the last person I’m worried about,” Reich said. “He’s got the maturity of someone way beyond his years.
“He’s a team-first person. He’ll be hard on himself and each of us should be,” Reich said. “That’s kind of the message that we talked about in there. Every one of us, players and coaches, should be hard on himself in the next 24 hours. It should not taste good and we need to eat every bit of it. Otherwise, you don’t learn and get better from it.”
Andy Dalton will start at quarterback on Sunday in Young’s absence. The Panthers will face off against the Seahawks at 4:05 p.m. ET on Saturday against the Seahawks. The game will be broadcast on CBS.