The Carolina Panthers responded to a 17-point halftime deficit by driving to the doorstep of a touchdown on the first possession of the third quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
On third-and-2 at the Jacksonville 6-yard line, Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard gained 1 yard on a draw. On fourth down, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young failed to connect with wide receiver Xavier Legette.
As the Carolina QB came off the field, Panthers coach Dave Canales patted him on the head and shoulder and said something to the former Alabama All-American. Young’s response was to slam his helmet to the ground and say something over his shoulder.
It was that kind of game for the Panthers, who opened the 2025 NFL season with a 26-10 loss to the Jaguars.
Young said he wasn’t mad at his coach.
“Just competitive nature,” Young said. “That’s all. Probably could do a better job – definitely could do a better job with body language there. It’s on me, but, you know, just competing and that’s all.”
Canales said frustration was the theme of the day in a game that had a 77-minute lightning delay in the second quarter.
“I’m never going to share that kind of stuff with, you know, publicly,” Canales said when asked about the incident. “I think that’s just something that he and I will work through and talk about. But his frustration wasn’t directed at me. We were just talking about we got to keep playing ball. …
“I think it was just a frustrating day in general, so I think there’s a lot of guys that would come up here and tell you they wish they could do better.”
Young also had an incompletion on fourth-and-5 at the Jacksonville 33 later in the third quarter, and he lost a fumble at the Jaguars 32 at the end of a 7-yard scramble in the second quarter.
Young threw interceptions at the Carolina 32-yard line in the second quarter to set up Jacksonville’s first touchdown and with 44 seconds to play.
Carolina went for it again on fourth-and-10 at the Jacksonville 32 with 5:08 to play, and safety Andrew Wingard ran back an interception 75 yards for a touchdown. But the Jaguars lost the score to a defensive-holding penalty, and on the next snap, Young threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Hubbard with 4:47 remaining.
The game was the seventh of Young’s career with at least two interceptions. Carolina has lost all those contests.
“Obviously, can’t turn the ball over like that,” Young said. “It cost the team. I have to be better than that in just bare decision-making.”
The Carolina offense converted on eight of its 15 third-down snaps on Sunday.
“When you have a 50 percent or better day on third down, that typically means longer drives,” Canales said. “That typically means more rushing yards, more chances for explosives as the defense start to show us their hand and what they’re doing. To end in turnovers, you know, we weren’t able to capitalize on a day that could have been a really consistent, complementary day of football.”
Young completed 18-of-35 passes for 154 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions and ran five times for 40 yards. He was sacked once in the opening game of his third NFL season.
The Panthers play the Arizona Cardinals at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sept. 14 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“Obviously, no one likes to lose, but it’s Week 1,” Young said. “We’re going to watch it tomorrow, and we’re going to wear it. We’re going to see where we can grow from, and then after that, we’re going to flush it. We have a long season ahead. We’re going to push our best to be the best we can be every single day. That doesn’t change.”
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.
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