Panthers, QB Bryce Young dominated by Texans defense in 'lopsided' joint practice

The Carolina Panthers received a hard lesson on Wednesday.

This morning, they welcomed in the Houston Texans for what was their second and final joint practice of the summer. And the visitors made themselves at home, as Houston’s suffocating defense absolutely stifled quarterback Bryce Young and Carolina’s first-team offense.

Per Chase Justice of WYFF News 4, Young ended up completing just nine of his 17 throws—with a pair of interceptions finding the hands of Texans safety Calen Bullock. He also took seven would-be sacks during the disappointing outing.

Head coach Dave Canales was asked about Young’s performance on the day.

“He’s just competing, just trying to make something happen,” Canales replied. “Days can get frustrating like that—and he and I kinda talked about it two periods in with a little football left to go in the practice and said, ‘Hey, look, there’ll be days like this. We can make adjustments. We can use chip help. We can run the ball. We can throw quickly to manufacture.’

“And we’ll wait for those right moments, because he’s so opportunistic. When he finds those moments, he knows that he can take his shots and get those one-on-ones. There’ll be days like this—and you gotta be patient, you gotta move the ball and you gotta find those explosives when you can get ’em.”

Those explosives were few and far between for Young and the Panthers. In fact, the second-team offense, led by backup Kenny Pickett, seemingly moved the ball much more efficiently against the elite Houston defense.

Canales would go on to acknowledge the bitter truth of the workout.

“Yeah, it was pretty lopsided today, I’ll be honest,” he later added. “I would say that—in general, over camp—I’m very excited about where we’re at as an offense in our scheme, the variation in the run game, the actions tied into that, the drop-back pass game, Bryce’s rhythm with a lot of our guys.

“Today did not show that. Today, there was a couple of flashes of some nice throws and catches, but that was a good group today. Again, I try not to just take it all in a microcosm—but if we wanna be good, we have to be able to play against teams like this.”

Young, who also spoke with reporters following the session, agreed with that sentiment.

“They got after us today, and that’s not a good feeling,” he stated. “But it’s not frustration, it’s not angry about the circumstance or situation—it’s us not performing at a level we want to. I look in the mirror, we all look in the mirror. Again, a day like this—you gotta grow from it. But again, we’re excited for that process.

“It sucks to have a day where you don’t feel like you produced very well, but it’s a great learning opportunity. This is what these training camp practices are for.”

That practice marked the last of training camp for Young and the Panthers. They’ll host the Texans for their preseason finale from Bank of America Stadium on Friday.

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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers, QB Bryce Young dominated by Texans defense in ‘lopsided’ joint practice