Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young suffered a knee injury in the team’s Week 3 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Young has been on the injury report since then, but has practiced in full. While the team is 2-2 since his injury, head coach Dave Canales noted that the knee might be impacting his play, which has led to a two-game losing streak.
“Maybe. I would say that he certainly doesn’t look like he’s got that quick make-you-miss type of deal, but he was able to create some space for himself,” said Canales on the lack of quickness that Young lacks right now. “But the rush got after us, you know, and the bottom line is we got to take care of that first part of it so we have an element of time to be able to execute the play.”
Young tied a career-high by taking six sacks in the Panthers’ loss. Canales is not shying away from the idea that Young’s health, along with the offensive line, had a role in the sacks.
Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young Limited by Knee Issue
Young’s pressure-to-sack rate is 17.3% this season, per PFF. His career average is 18.4%, and his pressure-to-sack rate was 24.5% in his rookie season. Still, his rate was 13.2% the year prior and 16.9% the year before that, so it is a bit up since his second year.
That is mostly due to the past two weeks. Young had a 35.7% pressure-to-sack rate in Week 7, then had a 27.3% pressure-to-sack rate in the Panthers’ loss to the Packers.
It might have been impacting him since Week 4, but as Canales notes, the make-you-miss aspect of his game is not as strong, which shows in him taking more sacks.
Panthers Quarterback Says He is Fine
When Young was asked about his knee issue, he downplayed the issue, noting that every player has an injury at this point of the year.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” said Young, avoiding any excuse. “Everyone’s dealing with something at this point of the year; it is football. Nothing like that as an excuse. Go out there and play the game. Blessed to be able to do that.
Young was asked if it was impacting his ability to scramble or avoid sacks, and he denied any impact from the knee.
“No, I’m not thinking about that at all,” said Young about not scrambling. “Yeah, just not think about that.”
He is scrambling on 2% of his dropbacks this season. Last year, he scrambled on about 6% of his dropbacks. In his rookie year, it was 5%, and the year after that it was 8%. He is not known for scrambling, but is not taking off from the pocket at nearly the same rate.
Young is never going to say that he is not healthy and look for sympathy. However, his coach made it clear that this is not the complete version of Young we are used to seeing. The issue is that the team already had their bye, so he is unlikely to get a lot of time to rest.
Panthers Coach Makes Concerning Bryce Young Admission