Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young did not practice with his teammates this week, but the NFL team has not ruled out the former Alabama All-American from Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.
The Panthers designated Young’s playing status as doubtful on Friday’s injury report.
“He’s made progress every day,” Carolina coach Dave Canales said on Friday, “and we want to just keep our options open right now. Didn’t want to rule him out. Just wanted to say, ‘OK, he woke up today. Feels better than he did yesterday. So tomorrow we’ll move him around.’ We rested him pretty good today. He had two good days of work on that ankle, so we’ll take a look at him again tomorrow, and then we’ll make the best decision from there.”
In the Panthers’ 13-6 victory over the New York Jets on Sunday, Young sustained an ankle injury with 3:56 left in the third quarter.
“Felt it walking off, going to the sideline,” Young said, “and, obviously, it was frustrating not being able to come back. Again, you just want to be out there with your guys. You want to go out there and battle. But I was super, super proud of the team, just how they finished -- finishing on our terms.”
Canales said “it would be tough” for Young to serve as the Panthers’ starting quarterback without having practiced this week. That would put Andy Dalton in the starting lineup for Carolina on Sunday.
“Bryce and I talked early in the week,” Canales said, “and said, ‘Hey, let’s just push this thing every day. Let’s see where we’re at’ for my own sake, for the team’s sake. All the guys, they’re pulling for Bryce to be out there to play with us, play with this group. And, again, we got to be smart. But it’s wise of us to just take it day-by-day and see if we can get him back out there and continue to build and continue to push our football forward.”
The Panthers play the Buffalo Bills at noon CDT Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, riding a three-game winning streak. Carolina hasn’t had a four-game winning streak since the third through sixth weeks of the 2020 season.
After playing the Bills, the Panthers have nine games remaining on their regular-season schedule. Young has missed one game because of injury during his NFL career. An ankle injury kept him off the field during a 37-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sept. 24, 2023. Young returned to start the remaining 14 games of his rookie season.
“I leave it to the experts in the training room to make those calls,” Young said about being cleared to play. “I trust them. They’re going to see the big picture. They’re going to make the best decision. And for me, all it is is: What can I be executing there in the training room? How diligent can I be? And then I I’ll leave that stuff up to them.”
If Young cannot play, even as a backup, on Sunday, Canales said Hendon Hooker would serve as Carolina’s No. 2 QB behind Dalton on Sunday.
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