Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen was asked if the team hit “rock bottom” with Sunday’s 28-6 loss to the Saints and his response summed things up pretty well for the 1-12 team.
Thielen said “we’ve been at rock bottom for a while,” but Sunday’s performance still jumped out as a low point for rookie quarterback Bryce Young and the offense. Young completed 36 percent of his passes and posted his worst passer rating of the season while failing to lead the Panthers to a touchdown. That poor performance unfolded while the team ran for 204 yards and the defense played well enough to keep Carolina within a score until a couple of late touchdowns in the fourth quarter broke things open for the Saints.
“Again, lack of execution, especially for myself,” Young said, via the team’s website. “I missed a lot of things. I thought we played well on the perimeter, played well up front. But I’ve got to continue to get better. . . . I mean, we’re all sick of it. We’re all tired of it, but that doesn’t entitle us to anything. It’s on us, ultimately, why we’re there. And we have to do a better job to prevent that. So no matter how tired we are, you know, we’ve got to be better.”
Thielen said the team has “a lot of confidence” in Young and that he believes these tough times will make Young better in the long run, but the fact that things haven’t gotten better over the course of the season makes it hard to buy into the idea that those better days are right around the corner.
