The 2023 season was a rough one for the Panthers, but wide receiver Adam Thielen has been able to find a silver lining to the 2-15 campaign.
During an interview with Paul Allen of KFAN, Thielen said that going through such a rough season provided him and other players with the chance to “find out truly who you are” and that he saw that process as a positive for him because it forced him to be the leader that he believed himself to be.
“It was probably the biggest growth I’ve ever had as a person, as a player, ever in my life just because I had to be the person that I say I am day in and day out,” Thielen said. “I had to kind of check myself at the door every single day because things weren’t easy, things weren’t going smooth.”
Thielen had been through better times in the NFL, but the 2023 season was quarterback Bryce Young’s first pro experience. Thielen told Allen that he thinks the year will turn out to be “a great blessing” for Young because he’ll be able to look back and say he “got so much more mature” as a result of the adversity the Panthers experienced.
It’s an optimistic outlook coming out of a nightmare season and we’ll learn soon enough if it’s the appropriate one.