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Adam Thielen: This is not a Bryce Young issue, this is an offensive team issue

Through two games, things are not going well for the Panthers and their young quarterback, Bryce Young.

The No. 1 pick of last year’s draft, Young finished Sunday’s loss to the Chargers 18-of-26 passing for just 84 yards with an interception. He also had one run for 6 yards.

The Panthers have scored just 13 points over their first two games, converting only 2-of-22 third down attempts. The club has 18 first downs.

Things are already at the point where new head coach Dave Canales was asked in his postgame press conference if Young would still be the starting quarterback for next week’s game against the Raiders.

“Bryce is our quarterback,” Canales said. “We’re going to just continue to shore up and fix the things we need to fundamentally, from a scheme standpoint, all those things. These are all valuable reps, all valuable games. We’ll learn a lot from this game and hopefully will take another step [next] week.”

Veteran receiver Adam Thielen defended Young when speaking to reporters in the locker room after the game.

“I love Bryce, man. He works his butt off. He’s a great player,” Thielen said. “This is not a Bryce Young issue. This is an offensive team issue. We are all in this together. I know football is — it’s why I love this game with everything I have — because it is the greatest team game. It’s not about an individual. It’s not basketball where you can have one or two good players and have success. In this league, in this game, you have to have 11 guys on the same page to have individual success. There is no individual on this offense that is to blame. It’s a collective thing.

“I’m excited about where we can go, but we need to figure out how to have urgency to get that done.”

As for maintaining Young’s confidence, Canales said, “It’s about the process.”

“Just go right back to work regardless of the outcomes,” Canales said. “We have to continue to have that discipline, to go back to our fundamentals, to fix our basics, to continue to become us, figure out the things that we have to do to be successful.”