The Carolina Panthers are ready to give Bryce Young his first preseason action of 2026.
Head coach Dave Canales plans for Young and Carolina’s starters to play approximately 10 to 20 reps against the Buffalo Bills, according to The Athletic’s Joe Person. The decision comes after Young and the bulk of the Panthers’ first-team players were held out of the Hall of Fame Game against the Arizona Cardinals.
That makes the Buffalo appearance a brief but notable checkpoint for Young and an offense preparing to build on Carolina’s breakthrough 2025 season.
Canales had previously elected not to expose his starters to the additional preseason game Carolina received by participating in the Hall of Fame matchup. The Panthers instead opened the preseason with Kenny Pickett and rookie Haynes King handling the quarterback work. Carolina went into that game specifically planning to rest its established starters.
Now Young gets his turn.
Bryce Young Gets First Live Test of 2026
Ten to 20 snaps may amount to only a few possessions, but Carolina does not necessarily need volume from Young.
The value will be in seeing the starting offense operate at game speed, handle substitutions and communication and finish possessions against a defense it has not been facing every day in training camp.
It also gives Young another opportunity to continue developing the timing he has built with Carolina’s skill-position group before the games begin to count.
That relationship is significantly different from where the Panthers stood around Young entering previous seasons.
Young posted career highs in several major categories in 2025, finishing with 3,011 passing yards, 23 touchdown passes, a 63.6% completion rate and an 87.8 passer rating. Carolina also returned to the postseason for the first time since the 2017 season.
His performance convinced Carolina to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie contract in April, keeping Young under team control through the 2027 season.
That makes this preseason less about determining whether Young belongs atop the depth chart and more about preparing an established starter for September.
Panthers Changed Course After Sitting Starters
Carolina’s plan against Buffalo represents the next phase of a preseason schedule that began unusually early.
Because the Panthers participated in the Hall of Fame Game, Canales had an additional exhibition to manage. He chose to use the opener primarily to evaluate players fighting for roster spots rather than subject Young and other starters to an extra game’s worth of exposure.
The strategy also created an opportunity for Carolina’s reserve quarterbacks. King made the most visible impression in the 33-30 victory over Arizona, scoring the game-winning touchdown on the final play.
Buffalo should look considerably different.
Young won’t be asked to play anything resembling a full game, according to Person’s report. But the 10-to-20-rep window is enough to potentially give Carolina’s starters multiple series and allow Canales to evaluate the operation of his first-team offense under live conditions.
And for Young, every meaningful preseason possession now serves a different purpose than it did early in his career.
Carolina spent much of Young’s first few seasons trying to establish what it had at quarterback. After a division title and playoff appearance in 2025, the question heading into 2026 is increasingly about how much further the Panthers can take it with him.
His first answer on the field is expected to come in Buffalo.
Carolina Panthers Announce Bryce Young Decision Ahead of Bills Matchup