CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - It was a rainy Tuesday morning in the Queen City, but nothing would dampen the mood of the Carolina Panthers as they started phase 3 of offseason workouts.
Organized team activities or OTA started out on the practice fields at Bank of America Stadium and unlike last year, these practices had some pace and confidence due to the fact that it’s the second year under head coach Dave Canales.
“We can just focus on working and practicing versus the format and structure of it,” said coach.
From breaking the huddle the right way, to the actually plays and where guys need to be, the players know the expectation on the practice field now and it is leading to more crisp workouts.
And the player leading the charge is quarterback Bryce Young.
It’s the first time in a very long time that the Panthers organization has the same offensive playbook from one year to the next. It’s the first time in Young’s pro career that has happened and it has led to a great start for the third year signal caller.
“It’s been great just being able to start at a higher level in the offseason,” said Young. “Being able to focus on growth rather than learning. Focus on knowing what’s expected. Knowing the things you have done well and continue to have to do well to improve on. You have the conversation with the coaches and you know what to expect and because of that you have such a more clear direction. When you have a new system, you just want to overall get better because you are not 100% sure, but having this opportunity has been great.”
On a national level, Young is getting a lot of praise on how he handled his benching during last season and coming back to thrive the final weeks of the season. Coach Canales sees that confidence already in the first few weeks of offseason workouts.
“Especially as he goes in there with command like he has been doing this offseason and just leading the guys,” said coach. “There were some great plays out there, some great timing throws, but also just the level of confidence with the offense. Knowing the words, making different tweaks, and he’s a part of the process. These are the conversations we have had with him going back to the end of last season that we want to implement. We want to become ‘the Bryce Young offense’. We want to become this collective thing and getting the chemistry going so I feel really confident about what I saw today especially going against the defense and the speed we were playing with.”
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